John Barleycorn - Lyric Video

Check us out on social medie: Instagram -   / cruel_mother   Facebook -   / cruelmother   Bandcamp - https://cruelmother.bandcamp.com/ Listen to the track here: https://artists.landr.com/cruelmother... Track Information: "John Barleycorn" [Roud 164], a traditional English and Scottish folk song, tells of the brutal treatment and murder of its namesake; the personification of barley used to make ale and whisky. Each stage of Barleycorn's life and death - being sown and reaped, roasted in the kiln, crushed between millstones, thrown in the mashing tun - corresponds to stages of the brewing process. The story has travelled through many creative hands, from poet Robert Burns to novelist Jack London to comedy anthology show Inside No. 9, and remains popular among folk revival artists and pub landlords alike. Different versions portray Barleycorn as variously vengeful, intoxicating (much to his killers' misfortune) or heroic, whose potency brings happiness and joy to his drinkers by causing them to forget their woes. The personification invokes the sinister, ritualistic aspect of legendary British folk rituals (the popularly-recognisable 'wicker man'), but can be interpreted as a joyful drinking song to be sung in the ale house, celebrating the death-and-rebirth cycle of the harvest. Cruel Mother version infuses the folk tale with their signature doom riffs and driving drums to evoke the bouncing rhythm of classic drinking anthems. Although a metaphor rather than strictly a murder ballad, John Barleycorn is one of composer Becky's favourite folk ballads as it can be adapted and interpreted in many different ways. With its harvest cycle imagery suggestive of ancient rituals, it's simultaneously fun, joyful, satirical, mysterious, sinister and disturbing. And of course it relates to one of the band's shared pastimes - drinking beer! - and we all love a good drinking song! credits: Becky Loughead - vocals, bass James Chester - vocals, guitar Kirstie Summers - guitar David Garner - violin Daniel Speight - drums, Recording, Mixing and Mastering Art by Robert Maltby