Jack-in-the-Green / Constant Billy

by Traditional Graffiti

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$2 AUD or more

about

This original track, is from the Wheezer's second album, 'Traditional Graffiti'. Jack-in-the-Green was inspired by a tune that the Sydney Morris Men inadvertently 'collected' from the Kirtlington Morris, Oxfordshire, in 1982. As it turned out, the tune was wrongly recalled and so we ended up with an original of our own. We follow the song with a favourite morris, Constant Billy. The Green Man artwork is by graffiti artist Ronan Macintosh

lyrics

Jack-in-the-Green.
EVERY YEAR ABOUT THIS TIME HE WILL COME OUT TO SPORT AND PLAY,
THROUGH LEAF AND TWIG HE'LL DANCE A JIG AND CHASE THE GIRLS AWAY,
WHEN EVERY LEAF IS BENT WITH DEW IT'S THEN HE CAN BE SEEN,
EACH GIRL AND BOY WILL SHOUT FOR JOY
"HERE COMES 'JACK IN THE GREEN'!".

THE SHADOWS IN THE WOODLANDS HOLD A SECRET OLD AND VERY QUEER
THAT FARMER, GYPSY, WOODCUTTER, WILL TELL FOR ALL TO HEAR,
A MEMORY HAS BEEN HANDED DOWN, THAT'S FELT BUT SELDOM SEEN,
THE SPIRIT OF THE FOREST DEEP
THEY CALL 'JACK IN THE GREEN'.

BY GROVE AND COPSE AND WINDY HILL HIS PRAISES ONCE WERE LOUDLY SUNG,
BUT TIME HAD CAUSED HIM TO RETREAT AND HIDE FROM EVERYONE,
YET EVERY BERRY ON EVERY BRANCH, EACH REED IN EVERY STREAM,
WILL BOW ITS HEAD OR SO ITS SAID
TO PRAISE 'JACK IN THE GREEN'.

EVERY YEAR ABOUT THIS TIME THE BOYS COME OUT TO SPORT AND PLAY,
THEY DRESS THE TALLEST OF THE GANG IN LEAVES AND GARLANDS GAY
FROM DEEP WITHIN HIS LEAFY BOWER HIS EYES ARE BRIGHT AND KEEN
EACH GIRL AND BOY WILL DANCE FOR JOY
"HERE COMES 'JACK IN THE GREEN'!".
FROM DEEP WITHIN HIS LEAFY BOWER HIS EYES ARE BRIGHT AND KEEN
EACH GIRL AND BOY WILL SHOUT WITH JOY
"HERE COMES 'JACK IN THE GREEN'!".

credits

released March 19, 2023
Lyrics: Ian 'The Pump' Macintosh.
Tune: Jack-in-the-Green - The Sydney Morris Men.
Tune: Constant Billy - traditional.
Trevor Sutton - Concertina, vocals
Lol Osborne - Fiddle, vocals
Ian Macintosh - Melodeon, Lead Vocal.
John Milce - Percussion
Rhonda Mawer - Concertina, vocals
Peter Kerawn - Hammered Dulcimer, Concertina, Ram's horns, vocals.
Traditional Graffiti Green Man artwork - Ronan Macintosh

license

about

Traditional Graffiti Sydney, Australia

contact / help

Contact Traditional Graffiti

Streaming and
Download help

Report this track or account

If you like Traditional Graffiti, you may also like:

Songs of my land
by Chiyomi Yamada

Ancient Japanese folk songs are presented with Western folk-pop arrangements to haunting, elegant effect. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 13, 2024
go to album
Dakota Blue Moon
by Jackson Harden

Gorgeous acoustic Americana from North Carolina, stripped-back and sublime. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 5, 2023
go to album
Anásana
by Maroulita de Kol

An stunning debut that explores Greek folk tradition through a dreamy musical ecosystem. Bandcamp Album of the Day Jul 31, 2023
go to album
Endurance Soundly Caged
by Stick In The Wheel

Adapting their calculated standards into a raw, live setting, the radical UK folk duo rework six highlights from their spellbindincatalogue. Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 7, 2022
go to album
The Water is the Shovel of the Shore
by Shovel Dance Collective

Traditional folk music and field recordings meld into fascinating long-form sound collages on the new LP from Shovel Dance Collective. Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 6, 2022
go to album
Lammas Fair
by Henry Parker

Singer-songwriter Henry Parker puts his own spin on the classic sounds of '60s and '70s British folk on this wilderness-inspired new LP. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 9, 2021
go to album
The Livelong Day
by Lankum

featured on Bandcamp Radio Jul 27, 2021
go to album