My new single ‘Barbary Allen’ is out today.
The video was shot in our house by my videographer husband Mick Paulusma, whose cult indie feature film ‘Clear Lake’ starring Roddy Piper continues to grow an underground following since the actor’s death in 2015.
The video was shot in our house by my videographer husband Mick Paulusma, whose cult indie feature film ‘Clear Lake’ starring Roddy Piper continues to grow an underground following since the actor’s death in 2015.
In this subtle, simple and evocative study of a folk singer singing a folk song, I deliver this possibly ancient song of tragic lost love before an eerie woodland scene.
‘Barbary Allen’, also known as ‘Barbara Allen’, is one of the giant songs of the folk tradition. It tells the story of a girl who refuses a boy’s love because he’s a player; he dies for love of her and so she dies for him, and they are buried in the churchyard together, where roses entwine on their graves.
Immortalised by F. J. Child in his famous collection of songs affectionately known as ‘The Child Ballads’, ‘Barbary Allen’ enjoys many cultural references, including a nod from Samuel Pepys in his diary of 1666 — “…but above all, my dear Mrs Knipp whom I sang; and in perfect pleasure I was to hear her sing, and especially her little Scotch song of Barbary Allen.”
Joan Baez released her version of it in 1961, and it continues to be recorded by artists to this day, partly because the timelessness of the subject matter.
Watch the video now: like, comment, share, do all that good stuff.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujt1QDPTsqM[/embedyt]
