War+Ballads+-+from+class

Ballads are songs that tell a story. In preliterate times, ballads provided people with entertainment, news, and an easy way to memorize and recall important information. People are apparently hard wired to respond to stories, enjoy them and remember them. The addition of music enhances both the enjoyment and the mnemonic (memory fixing) component. Conflict animates all compelling stories and ballads, therefore, always have conflict at their center. They also deal with the most conflicted arenas of the human condition - sex, aggression, dominance, and transgression. Thus the categories of ballads are love ballads, murder ballads, outlaw ballads, war ballads, rebellion ballads, transportation ballads (horse, car, train, ship, plain, etc.), protest ballads, and ballads of narcissistic self pity or boasting. Many ballads, of course, blend love and murder, protest and war, etc. And then there are some that are basically journalistic - just the facts, Mam. - but these generally address the aforementioned human preoccupations. War ballads provide human beings with the opportunity to explore the many facets of war and they have done so, no doubt, for hundreds of thousands of years. We listened to a bunch of war ballads in class. I chose these to get a variety of subjects and emotions and I tried to choose songs that you are unlikely to have heard before. Here they are ( in rough historical Chronology) - the downloadable pdf files are the lyrics - you can right click, download and open the lyrics and then click on the player to hear each song. Remember too, this is fair usage of the works for educational purposes and I encourage people who like a particular piece to purchase the song or the album that houses the song from a retail outlet.

media type="file" key="Archie Fisher - Otterburn.mp3" width="240" height="20" media type="file" key="04.Dominion Of The Sword.mp3"

media type="file" key="CHIEFTAINS & NATALIE MERCHANT - THE LOWLANDS OF HOLLAND.MP3" width="240" height="20"

media type="file" key="Roger McGuinn - Sinclairs Defeat.mp3" width="240" height="20"

media type="file" key="Del Coury band - The Kings Shilling.mp3" width="240" height="20"

media type="file" key="Highwaymen - The Devil's Right Hand.mp3" width="240" height="20"

media type="file" key="June Tabor - The Band Played Waltzing Matilda.mp3" width="240" height="20"

media type="file" key="Wolfe Tones - The Foggy Dew .mp3" width="240" height="20"

media type="file" key="Jimi Hendrix - Machine Gun.mp3" width="240" height="20"

media type="youtube" key="aHMlAYeFeYw" width="560" height="315"

media type="file" key="10.The Patriot Game.mp3" width="240" height="20" The Patriot Game

media type="youtube" key="m5WJJVSE_BE" width="560" height="315"