Appalachian Song - Dan Cunningham
Track 7
MABEL is set in Appalachia but has a swampy blues feel about it. Yes, they get the blues in them there hills. A slim ray of hope offered, but it is still a sad song. Many thanks to Josh Arthurs who added the dobro to this track. Also thanks to Kathryn Madison who encouraged me to re-record this song and make it more blues-like. Along with Jenny Wilson, she also suggested I keep the arrangements on the whole album project simple and use fiddle and mandolin on the appropriate tunes.
MABEL is a 2017 Just Plain Folks Music Awards finalist in the Roots category
here are the lyrics:
When the sun hangs low in the evening
Mabel so pretty and so pale
She lugs her scuttle, with flowers painted on it
To scavenge coal along the rails
Mabel doesn't laugh a lot
Don’t much hear her complain
A little gift might bring a crooked smile
some berries or sorghum sugar cane
(chorus) I saw Mabel crying by the rail road tracks
I moved up close and took her hand
Her eyes glued to the ground
She said, "Someday"
(bridge) She had a shiner when I saw her at the spring
She tried to hide it best she could
She didn’t say a word, and neither did I
I hope she knew I understood
chorus
I said, "now Mabel, with your momma gone
let's wed and get away"
She shook her head
She said "we're so young"
“And baby brother still at home”
“I pray that day might surely come”
“May-be Someday…..”
© 2010 pickndawg music
words and music by Dan Cunningham
Dan Cunningham: guitar and vocal
Evan Lintz: bass drum
Dobro: Joshua Arthurs
recording info :
guitars: Larrivee SD50
Mic: RodeNTK
preamp: Art Digital MPA Gold
Dobro recorded at Zone 8 Studio
guitar and vocal recorded in the BOOM CLOSET Morgantown WV
mixed and mastered at Zone 8 Studio Morgantown WV by Mark Poole
VIDEO BELOW
basic video - guitar and vocal