Folk Alley Sessions: Anaïs Mitchell & Jefferson Hamer - "Tam Lin (Child 39)"
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- Опубликовано: 18 мар 2013
- Anaïs Mitchell & Jefferson Hamer perform "Tam Lin (Child 39)" at Folk Alliance International in Toronto, ON. February, 2013.
Filmed and recorded by Beehive Productions for FolkAlley.com
More Folk Alley Sessions at folkalley.com
Anais Mitchell: anaismitchell.com/
Jefferson Hamer: www.jeffersonhamer.com/ 
Видеоклипы
This song has been sung in Folk Clubs in the UK since the early 1960's folk revival by many accomplished performers but I would argue that none have ever performed it as melodically and sensitively as these two Americans. Simply outstanding.
the line 'hold me tight and fear me not i am your own true love' invented romance
It amazes me that no has commented on the fact that the woman singing this is literally the writer of one of the most popular musicals of our time. Anais Mitchell literally wrote Hadestown.
Oh, i guess thats why the song was reccomended to me on spotify after listening to hades town.
*!!AH!!!* ... and I didn't recognise the name until this too, I was brought to see Anaïs LIVE when visiting Bristol town (UK) last year... Fab.
And then she went on a road trip and wrote the entirety of hades town
Being from the borders of England/Scotland, the most beautiful rendition of this story I've heard.
Have you heard Faun's version?
I love this version. I love this story and ballad. My only wish would be for a longer version that includes the Fairy Queen and the Tithe to Hell... But this is absolutely a wonderful song.
Inclined to agree the story isn't complete in this version, but I can forgive it because of those beautiful harmonies
It's weird that this version pretty much removes all openly preternatural imagery, it even goes out of the way not to call Tam Lin an elf, no Queen of Fairies and even the transformations are self-imposed and maybe even "symbolic" in which his beastial transformations could be interpreted more abstractly as some aspect of his personality maybe.
It's still a lovely rendition and I probably like some of the words here better than some other versions.
@@Rodrigo_Vega yes, I LOVE this version but it isn’t complete without the Fey. My favorite part was always when the queen told Tam Lin what she would have done with Tam Lin had she got her way. They do call Tam Lin a “shade” in this version so I guess that counts. You got the symbolism right too. The transformation is the symbolic taming of man by women, that men find responsibility and maturity through the molding of woman and the responsibility of raising a child. So the message is still the same, and I do adore this version, but who can’t miss a wicked faerie-sorceress queen?!
@@LucasGonzalez-rj9bk Tam Lin is called a 'shee' not a 'shade'. Shee is a variation of sidhe, which is a fairy in gaelic folklore.
@@andaswewindondowntheroad and thus banshee (bean shí, fairy woman)
More likely, the ones who gave a 'thumbs down' do not know the story of Tam Lin or Carterhaugh. I love this version.
This song still makes my knees go weak whenever I hear it. Anaïs Mitchell's voice is not of this world.
I agree. I am listening to this in work and I'm tearing up. Better stop for a while..
@@wdirtymonkey I am at home ... tears flowing
I agree 💗
How can this only have 650 views?
The performance is mind boggling, the video is great, the song is fantastic, and to top it off, the audio production sounds sweet and silky. Amazing work to everyone involved.
Check how many it has now (2021). I've been listening to this since 2013, so probably several thousand of the views are mine.
@@artsfols at 444,169 views now. Such a brilliant rendition! I wouldn't mind at all if they'd make it twice its current length.
This guitar work is gorgeous.
Glad someone else noted that. One expects simple fingerpicked chord accompaniment with maybe a couple of solos, but this is all sweet and elegant and fits the song perfectly. (and is gorgeous!)
This is a hauntingly beautiful abridged version of Tam Lin (Child Ballad 39). Both the fairy Tam Lin and the human Janet break the rules of their own societies to cross the barriers between their worlds and be together. The song communicates the compelling danger of human-elfin contact even without the verses about the angry queen of the fairies.
Good analysis. So many of the old ballads involve true love and rule-breaking. Of course a lot of them also involve death, pregnancy and somebody becoming an orphan too. This (and Willy O' Winsbury) are the rare 'happy endings'.
One of the best songs my 63 year old ass has heard .
Listening again, I am impressed with the eye contact, the communication while playing. If this song is centuries old, it has never been played with more sincerity in all that time.
yep , beautiful people playing beautiful music :-)
a lot of folk music involves this sorta nonverbal communication between players, they are songs that are designed to be malleable and repeated, so when playing with others you have to figure out how the others want to do it based off vibes… it’s quite beautiful honestly, the music itself being something old made anew in that moment, revitalised
These two voices complement each other so beautifully..
I swear this is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard
The Child Ballads are a collection of 305 ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, collected by Francis James Child in the late nineteenth century. Tam Lin is number 39 on the list.
Hello Dancing Molly, this is 10 years later, but thanks very much for the lyrics! I don't see a Part 5 set of lyrics here in the comments. Do you happen to have the Part 5 lyrics that you could upload?
This version is lovely. It may leave out part of the story, but I think it encapsulates the feeling better than any other.
Folk is back with a vengeance!!! So glad it's with us again! This duo has a great sound--peaceful, melodic!
I grew up with the great Fairport Convention version of this song ... This new one is so good, I love it so much, how wonderful that talented musicians still sing the old songs and bring something new to them. Thank you! (Anais you are certainly worthy to follow in Sandy Denny's footsteps IMHO.)
I saw Anais open for Richard Thompson in Northampton, MA about five years ago. I knew she was something special. I can't stop listening to this haunting song.
Did she play this song? It takes big balls to play an iconic song - in front of one of its best known creators! I think Richard would like it.
I just found her, but it's not surprising Richard Thompson would be aware of her. One of the best songwriters of my lifetime.
Beautiful. I studied Child ballads for one semester in college. Never forgot them. Thank you for this.
This is one of the most beautiful thing I have ever listened to.
FYI for the guitar players out there, I believe he plays it one whole step down (tuning DGCFAD) and she plays in standard tuning with capo on 5th fret. Song is in Dminor, chords Dm F C Bb Am (D) with a changeup that goes Bb Dm C Bb Am (D). Transpose chords per capo position/the tuning you are in. Beautiful arrangement, great performance!
Thanks, Tim. I confess I was lost.
As for the changeup, I got Bb - - - Dm - - - C - - - Dm - - C (1 count) before repeating - on the "he has took her by the hand," etc parts. Sometimes instead of Am on the main part they switch to C, listen for it in "that I would treat so well," and "that I have got with thee." I've been working out the arrangements for both vocal parts - what gorgeous lines!
The Bb can kiss my ass
@@invitingfreedom5602 ´zactly!
Reading the comments about this, I see it is not only me captivated by this beautiful rendition of 'Tam Lin'... The melody, lyrics and vocals all combine so well.... what enhanced it all was how Anais and Jefferson stand facing each other and looking at each other as they sing and play... It raises the ballad to a new, wonderful level....
Jefferson Hamer is killing it with that harmony.
I've listened and loved this song for years, and recently was reading the Oddysey and found a connection between the two.
Ok, so this is really obscure, but I think interesting. So in the section Menelaus and Eidothee trap Proteus, he has to wrestle with the Wise Old Man of the Sea: "When you see him settled, summon your strength and courage, and grasp him, however hard he struggles and tries to escape. Try he will, taking on the forms of everything on earth, of water and glorious blazing fire. But hold him bravely and grip him all the tighter. When he is finally willing to speak, and assumes the original shape in which you saw him resting, and questions you, then cease your violence, set the old man free, brave hero, and ask what god it is you have angered, and how you might return over the teeming waves.” So basically, hang on and you'll get what you want.
In Tam Lin, there are these verses:
She's pulled him down into her arms
And let the bridle fall
The Queen of Fairy she cried out
Young Tam Lin is away
They've shaped him in her arms
Into an roaring snake
She's held him fast and feared him not
To be her lovely mate
They've shaped him in her arms again
Fire burning bold
She's held him fast and feared him not
Till he was iron cold
They've shaped him in her arms
To a wood black beast so wild
She's held him fast and feared him not
The father of her child
They've shaped him in her arms at last
Into a naked man
She's wrapped him in the green mantle
And knew that she had him won
Seems like the same idea, only 2000 years later, right?
Maybe the lyrics were inspired by The Odyssey?
It's actually quite a common theme in many fairytales and legends! I can't recall any of them at the moment, but I remember reading fairytales with spirits struggling to escape the hold of the hero, or a woman holding her future husband while he transforms. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that it's a theme both present in the Odyssey as in scottish folklore. Many ballads took inspiration from older folklore, even from completely different countries :)
There is also the tale of Thetis and Peleus. Thetis was a sea nymph and a shape-shifter, and the wrestler Peleus wanted her as his wife, so he seized her on the beach where she sat. She turned into a dolphin, fire, a lion, water, and load of other things, but Peleus held on tight and gained her as his wife.
If you ask me, I believe there must have been some story that follows this formula in the ancient culture of the Proto-Indo Europeans (the base culture for all modern Europe and a lot of the near East) over thousands of years of oral tradition, the original tale was lost, but also transformed into a hundred different other versions spread across the world.
Do some research on the Proto-Indo Europeans! It’s so interesting and important that so many cultures were once one. It’s a shame it isn’t taught in schools.
beautiful
Gems of Francis James Child collection, ballads older than a century, have been discovered, dusted, polished and presented true to English and Scottish folk tradition by two very talented artists. How wonderful!
this made me stop what I was doing, so I could sit down to listen. I love the chemistry, enhanced by them facing each other. Such a simple tune, makes me want to listen to this on a swing beneath a big oak tree........
I've been listening to this song on repeat for the past two days haha
What a beautiful song . :-) Anais and Jefferson s voices are stunning together :-) x
I know the voices stand out, but he guitar work is also fantastic, if relatively subtle. Just can't resist pointing that out, because it's so excellent.
From today's Ballad class I am here. It is nice to hear.
The first section's cadences resolve to the tonic minor. But in subsequent verses, the half cadences resolve to momentary and fleeting picardy thirds.
I don't know why, but this little harmonic idea seems to beautifully support this fantastic tale, exquisitely realized by these two musicians.
(I grew up with Fairport Convention's rendition, but i must confess that I'm now hooked on this performance!)
I love this interpretation, I've listened to it probably 25-plus times since the album came out. Gorgeous perfection!
I think I've listened to it 25 times TODAY.
I always keep coming back to this song, after hearing Olivia's you cant catch me now reminded me of this melody
Angel's sing on earth all the time if you're awear....
This has changed my life.
Too romantic, so romantic. Thank you.
My favourite version of this song. My fiddle player friend and I used this arrangement as the basis for our warm up jam song.
Beautiful. One of the Best songs I ever heard
Unbelievable pure folk. Perfect diction and instrumentation.
Another amazing ballad passed to us from generations of story tellers. The poetry is scary and exquisite. It is one among many ballads of shape shifting and magic and spells.
This is something special.
This really impressed me.. I cried when i heard it.. I am just wiping my tears
ditto....you must have a heart of gold....they say that "LOVE is the fortune of the fortunate"....if you have love in your heart...your life will be full of bliss and joy.... Namaste.
I'm late to the game on this one as far as commenting. I have to say though this is a masterpiece. Like others have mentioned the chemistry here is incredible. If you're a practiced musician most likely you've tasted this kind of magic with other musicians as you play together. It's not with everyone but sometimes you play with one or two or three musicians over a period of time and something amazing happens. The harmony between instruments and voices almost takes on a life of its own. These two clearly experienced this. Between their amazing voices and their instruments it's truly awesome. I don't know if they still sing and play together, I've only heard this one recording of them and its been a while. But I hope their friendship has been blessed. And I hope many who hear this are inspired to experience this in their own life.
Nice version. Always nice to hear a Tam Lin song from anywhere.
Thanks Graeme, my Grandmother is Scottish, mabe I have the Ole Scot Ballad in the jeans.
Notice how far away fields are always greener, young folks in the US playing our music,while we play theirs. Makes me think about that young lad Mick Jagger, he likes singing like he was from New-Orleans.
Huh. Yeah Americans playing this, and earlier was listening to some kids from Norway do a jaw-dropping job on "Wayfaring Stranger". Cultural appropriation at its best and all welcome!! (It was the Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra)
Love the inter-weaving of guitars.
This is so beautiful it makes small eyes water every time I listen to it
Anais Mitchell, always brilliant
Just love this version, they are so sincere when singing it!! Brilliant!
First time I'd heard this version of "Tam Lin" - loved every note of it. Many thanks!!
Beautiful. Brought a tear and then a smile.
Super performance of this classic folk ballad.
Father: "Is he rich? Cause that would be okay."
Ye Olde School. Ref. "Annachie Gordon" for an even more cynical take on the disposition of marriageable daughters.
Rich. More like Noble. Which comes out as rich generally, but isn’t. Merchants could become rich. And Nobles did not generally think of them as good to marry. Middle classes are just low classes with money.
@@chickenmonger123 I've got to be honest in most versions of this tale, the father is described as "meek, mild" and Janet nearly the opposite - "I'll come and go all as I please and not ask leave of any". I always perceived this verse more Janet's father asking if her partner was going to stick around and if he was able to provide for her. If the father were say, someone of no means of monetary income, or was some traveller who up and left her, it would bring trouble for Janet, much like she mentions later - "if a gentleman, and not some wild shade" (as, as far as she knows, he's essentially got no income, no intention of leaving the forest, and in most versions of the tale, a ...uh. history with local maidens.) I read it as concern for her, though given past perceptions and such it is able to be read more cynically. Really mostly up to interpretation of course.
@@emilyb5307 For sure - also, women couldn't vote or own property on their own. Becoming pregnant and being abandoned or marrying a drunk could mean you and your kids ended up in the workhouse or starving to death. Also you had a fair chance of dying in childbirth. I think it's supposed to be a moral warning to young women about the virtues of chastity and the perils of 'sin', needs to be read as of its time. Short version: contraception and voting rights are brilliant.
Also, the 'rose getting plucked' is a pretty obvious metaphor, sometimes made more explicit, e.g. in the Ewan MacColl version:
There's nane that gaes tae Carterhaugh
But pays to him their fee,
Either their rings or green mantles
Or else their maidenheid.
You have to leave the local sprite a gift or else Tam Lin takes your virginity, essentially.
Janet: father I bring home my baby daddy, don't worry he's a complete gentleman 🤗
Naked Tam Lin: hey😁
Father:🤤
Heaven’s voice Anais,
Beautiful and lovely song
This bowles me over every time I hear it.
Listening to this with rainymood. I may actually die.
it's a good death
A masterpiece. I love the interesting interplay of guitars at the 2 min. & 4:20 breaks & end especially--as nice as the voice harmonies.
cheers Jon! thanks for that. It's very interesting how folk music becomes our history books, the songs seem to dig into the mind with more force. This wonderful tradition shows no sign of dying out , when we listen to Anais & Jefferson.
I'm now remembering the face of one of the greatest English folk singer/song-writers Jake Thackray, now he was boy who could tell a good story.
breathtakingly good .
LOVE THE INVISIBLE HARMONY. VERY GOOD. SOUNDS LIKE ONE VOICE. BEAUTIFUL.
Nice version. There are lots of versions. This one... yep, number 1. Folk music improves over time just like a laid down bottle of fine wine.
I liked the song as soon as I started listening to it. As usual, I was just listening to the music and the sounds of their voices. Just as the second half of the song began, I had an experience as if the translucent film blocking my comprehension of what they were singing simply fell away. For me, the lyrics to every song are incomprehensible as part of the music. It usually take years of listening to any particular song for for me to see them standing with the music. The lyrics of this song almost immediately began to stand up proudly and say what they meant.
It has been a long, loooong time since that has happened. Thank you so much.
+turameykusham It is indeed a beautiful version, but it is in fact, an ancient traditional Scottish song. There are many versions-my particular favourite is by Fairport Conventon (1969 album 'Liege and Lief') with (in my opinion) the incomparable Sandy Denny on vocals. Although it is still called 'Tam Lin', it is a very different version to this one with different lyrics. I know exactly what you mean about listening to some songs for years before the lyrics stand apart. It is perhaps, one of the main differences between poetry and song lyrics.
Sounds like a great experience. Odd that it happened with what is a relatively opaque song. By comparison, most lyrics are pretty simple and easy to understand.
Amazing harmonies and guitar playing
Im a 35 year old metal head, but i have the softest spot for Anais. First heard her on Saturday or Sunday NPR 10 years ago. I've never forgotten this artist.
Awesome! I'm becoming a fan of this duo.
Such a gorgeous performance...
That was absolutely, amazingly, BEAUTIFUL! Thank you!
What these two people are doing is just beautiful & so different from what you hear commercially.
BEST VERSION OF THIS SONG EVER.
The woods of Carterhaugh are guarded by Tam Lin, a man who demands payment of all maidens who pass through, in the form of a belonging or their virginity. A maiden named Janet travels to Carterhaugh and picks a rose, causing Tam Lin to appear. He questions her presence, to which she relies that Carterhaugh is rightfully hers. She then travels to her fathers house where she exhibits the early signs of pregnancy, much to the concern of the household. She states that her lover is elven, and then returns to Carterhaugh, once again encountering Tam Lin. He reveals he is not elven, but a mortal captured by the queen of Faeries, and that he may be sacrificied to hell as part of the faerie tithe. He then details how she can save him to be her mate, if she will undergo a trial on Halloween night. She must pull him from his horse as the faeries process through the woods, and hold onto him as he is transformed into various beasts, then plunge him into a well when he turns into a brand of fire. When he regains his own naked shape she must cover him with her green mantle and he will be free. She does all of this, much to the anger of the watching Queen of faeries.
+Andy Peace
The lyrics seem to vary depending on who has performed it... I have to say Anais's rendition is lovely and although I get the hopeful tenor of the lyrics sung in this version, your narrative, Andy, filled in all the gaps in my understanding :-)
Thank you :-)
+Andy Peace This is always happening to me, i've given up walking in the woods.
+Queen of Swords You have to hold on and when he turns into human form, cover him with your green mantle. That is the only way to a happy ending.
First heard in the early 70's from Fairport, the lyrics and meanings were a always a bit of a mystery. A mantle of green? 30 years later, the Net solved most of the mysteries. I wish Andy had written these cohesive liner notes, way back then! Thanks
Andy, thanks.
ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS
I've listened to this at least 7 times in the last 3 days. Just can't get enough! Transcending.
Beautiful music (beautiful) I really like the way they interact together. Went and bought all Anais’s available work after this and I just fall into it an it carries me along xxx. Big luv an thanks guys
this s amazing! the history, the story, the emotion - beautifully delivered by honest troubadours. Bravo!
Very beautiful song and voices. Have been listening it for few weeks and still it's fresh
Those two are making music. Harmony, interaction, beautiful timbre in her voice, ease. Just beautiful!!!
I've heard dozens of versions of this ballad, and this one's pretty nice, with more verses than most. The Fairport Convention version on "Leige and Lief" is still the Gold Standard for me.
In case a reader is too young to remember, here is that version with the late Sandy Denny on vocals and with the missing Faerie Queen verses. She passed too soon. ruclips.net/video/47z5n7p9B3I/видео.html
Anaïs is breathtakingly beautiful and a sublime folk artist -- a unique combination of grace, warmth, softness and melancholy. For me, she's up there with Joni Mitchell in her 'Blue' period, Sandy Denny, Cara Dillon , Mary Black and Karan Casey. She melts my heart, hypnotises me and blows me away every time I hear her sing and play. The combination of her style with Jefferson Hamer's is perfection. This is a radically different interpretation to the Fairport Convention version I grew up with, but no less lovely.
truly amazing.....lyrical...vocal..instrumental ... greatness in motion.
Magical song and guitar duo accompaniment.
Hot as. And they are beautiful.
In a world of disturbed noise now called music this is a trip to the stars
What a joy to hear instruments played like this.
How their voices blend
The best musical version of Tam Lin.
They are singing to each other. Unheard of. Very lovely.
This album was covered on NPR. I bought it immediately. New to folk music I am. Anais is beautiful!
Since I heard this last week, I've been thinking about the 'where is the queen?' comments. Valid, yes. But this is a quieter, more gentle version. Most of us know the Fairport version. The angry queen doesn't need to be in every one. I'm fine with this version - which is more like a hug.
I agree, it's the nature of ballads like these to exist in many versions, accentuating different parts of core the story... it's not always the longest (or "most complete") which are best. The queen isn't even in all of the versions Child collected.
You can tell there's an underlying dynamic, or story, that remains untold in this version. It's already alien enough, from the distant past of our culture, and the unexplained elements just add to the strangeness. Love it.
Really good version, I love it.
BEAUTIFUL
stunningly beautiful
Love this. I heard it first several years ago and my thoughts bring me back here from time to time. Beautiful version.
haunting lyrics and beautiful harmonies - I never get tired of listening to this album.
This performance won me over when I first saw it. I am now a fan. Impressive singing, and really beautiful interplay with the two guitars...
The relative major changes in the turnarounds is what angels sound like.
Wow that's an absolutely beautiful rendition. Thanks for sharing with us!
😍 I'm in love... This is perfect
I always enjoy posting, or reading comments when someone discovers a new band or artist. Mostly I see Teens and 20yo's, finding music from the 60's. It's never too late to discover old music. For me, too. I'm often looking for something new and different. And this recording has been around for 5 years! I first heard Fairport in the late 60's. Most versions of Tam Lin I hear are poor imitations, as I expected this to be. This rendition is very different, and just as good. Glad I took a chance and the time to listen.
Quite amazing & unique sound these 2 musical geniuses make. Must watch for them back in Glasgow.
I loved this! You both work so well together... Great guitar parts and voices. I could listen to you both all night. Thanks!
This is a truly beautiful piece of music. I love to sit on the dock and relax with her music.
Gorgeous.