SCARECROW (June Tabor)

Ah-ha! You thought I had "passed the curtain and joined the choir invisible", didn't you? Nope! I've just been having one batch of tech problems after another, and it's not like I really need anymore headaches, huh? (hee-hee) The latest is that my laptop won't recognize my video chip when I insert it to offload my raw vlog footage. Damned annoying, I say! Until I get the kinks worked out, I thought that I'd return to my slide show / music video roots with my all-time favorite song performed by June Tabor (and so beautifully, too). The very first time I heard this piece on a contemporary Celtic folk music show on radio (back in the late 1980s), I instantly fell in love with it. And my affection for it has remained undeminished throughout the years. In truth, I've had the rough beginnings of this project stuck away inside my project files for a couple years, either in the form of digitally altered photos or partially cobbled together opening fragments. So now, it finally gets its big premiere. My intention was basically to make an already dark song even DARKER, which should come as no surprise to anybody. The visual story differs from my interpretation of the song itself, but we can merely chalk it up to artistic license and leave it at that. Also, the video footage stuck in here is from my archives, and it features some of the crows which occupy the area outside our house, many of whom are occasionally fed by yours truly. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. The lyrics are as follows: "Scarecrow" As I walked out one summer's morn, Saw a scarecrow tied to a pole in a field of corn. His coat was black, and his head was bare, When the wind shook him, the crows took up into the air. Ah, but you'd lay me down and love me, Ah, but you'd lay me down and love me if you could. But you're only a bag of rags in an overall That the wind sways and the crows fly away and the corn grows tall. As I walked out one winter's day, Saw an old man hanging from a pole in a field of clay. His coat was gone, and his head hung low, Till the wind flung it up to look, wrung its neck and let it go. How could you lay me down and love me? How could you lay me down and love me now? For you're only a bag of bones in an overall That the wind blows and the kids throw stones at the thing on the pole. As I walked out one fine spring day, Saw twelve jolly dons decked out in the blue and the gold so gay. And to a stake they tied a child newborn, Then the bells were rung and the songs were sung and they sowed their corn. Now you can lay me down and love me, Now you can lay me down and love me if you will. But you're only a bag of rags in an overall But the wind blew and the sun shone too and the corn grew tall. As I walked out one summer's morn, Saw a scarecrow tied to a pole in a field of corn.