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about
This song came back to my attention when doing the 2018 'A Christmas Celtic Sojourn' with Brian O'Donovan and a lovely bunch of folks in Boston. It was brilliant to come up with a fresh arrangement with the fab house band which featured Owen Marshall, Maeve Gilchrist, Seamus Egan and Natalie Haas. I first heard this from the singing of Dick Gaughan on his fantastic album, Handful of Earth.
From Northumbria, the song is a tale of a woman scorned which uses the imagery of Winter melting into Spring.
lyrics
The snows they melt the soonest when the wind begins to sing,
The corn it ripens fastest when the frosts are settling in,
And when a young man tells me that my face he'll soon forget,
Before we part I'll wage a crown he's fain to follow yet.
The snows they melt the soonest when the wind begins to sing,
The swallow flies without a thought as long as it is spring,
But when spring goes and winter blows my love then you'll be fain,
For all your pride to follow me across the raging main.
The snows they melt the soonest when the wind begins to sing,
The bee that flew when summer shone in winter cannot sting,
I've seen a young man's anger melt between the night and morn,
So it's surely not a harder thing to melt a young man's scorn.
So don't you bid me farewell here, no farewell I'll receive,
For you will lie with me my love, and kiss then take your leave,
And I'll wait here 'til the moorcock calls and the martin takes the wing
For the snows they melt the soonest when the wind begins to sing.
The snows they melt the soonest when the wind begins to sing,
The corn it ripens fastest when the frosts are settling in,
And when a young man tells me that my face he'll soon forget,
Before we part I'll wage a crown he's fain to follow yet.
And the snows they melt the soonest when the wind begins to sing...
credits
released March 20, 2020
Vocals - Hannah Rarity
Piano - John Lowrie
Guitar - Innes White
Double Bass - Euan Burton
Produced and Mixed by Euan Burton
Mastered by Peter Beckmann @ TechnologyWorks
Recorded at GloWorm Studios, Glasgow
Artwork and Photography by Elly Lucas Photography - ellylucas.co.uk
Combining sublime vocal timbre and uncanny interpretive empathy, Rarity ranks as one of Scotland’s finest young singers, having toured internationally with US supergroup Cherish the Ladies as well as appearing and recording w RSNO, Blazin’ Fiddles, Rura & Niteworks....more
supported by 21 fans who also own “The Snows They Melt The Soonest”
So pleased to see your second album on its way. I’ve just about worn a hole in your first CD because I love it so much. Cannae wait due the whole thing to appear on 4th May. The taster track is AWESOME!! 🙏 floradouglas
Old-fashioned fiddles harmonize with rippling synths on the Scottish singer-songwriter's latest collection of original folk songs. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 30, 2022