John Barleycorn Must Die (traditional)

This song is a an old traditional folk song from Scotland, going back to at least 1620 and to a Robert Burns poem in 1787. Traffic released this song in 1970 to reach #5 in the US and #11 and my version uses Traffic's arrangement. This song personifies barley as a human figure whose metaphorical torture and death represent the planting, harvesting, and brewing process of beer and whiskey. While the song has John Barleycorn being manipulated and tortured by mankind, in the end he wins out over mankind because of the power that alcoholic drink has over humans. I had to get a new computer recently, and so I did this video as a multi-track affair to test out that everything is working okay on my computer. Starting at the 2nd verse I added a high-strung guitar, a bass, and a mandocaster to fill out the sound. Later I added some percussion and synthesizer tones, some Jupiter 8 strings and a bottle-blow sample. To help those interested in learning this song I have also added lyrics and chord diagrams. Thanks for listening! Glenn