[648] The January Man
Guest poem sent in by Andy Webb <andy@>
The January man he walks the road
In woollen coat and boots of leather
The February man still shakes the snow
From off his hair and blows his hands
The man of March he sees the Spring and
Wonders what the year will bring
And hopes for better weather
Through April rains the man comes down
To watch the birds come in to share the summer
The man of May stands very still
Watching the children dance away the day
In June the man inside the man is young
And wants to lend a hand
And grins at each new color
And in July the man in cotton shirt
He sits and thinks on being idle
The August man in thousands take the road
To watch the sea and find the sun
September man is standing near
To saddle up another year
And Autumn is his bridle
The man of new October takes the reins
And early frost is on his shoulder
The poor November man sees fire and rain
And snow and mist and wintery gale
December man looks through the snow
To let eleven brothers know
They're all a little older
And the January man comes round again
In woollen coat and boots of leather
To take another turn and walk along
the icy road he knows so well
For the January man is here for
Starting each and every year
Along the road for ever
-- Dave Goulder
|
"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" is a good carol, and since you mention
carols which do not rely upon the tune, I thought I'd send you the
following. This is the best version (indeed, the only version) I could
find on-line, it being as accurate as any that I could transcribe from
memory).
This is a tradional west country carol for the time of year. I had the
pleasure of hearing it sung (unaccompanied), by Hearts of Oak in an old
church in a Devon Village only two weeks ago.
Andy
[Martin adds]
Lovely poem, though I wouldn't have guessed it was a Christmas carol. I
suspect it wasn't really written as one, but rather adopted into the
Christmas tradition later. Andy's right; it does stand up on its own
very well, though I didn't appreciate how well the delayed rhyme worked
until I heard it sung.
Notes and Links:
- There's an mp3 at
http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/8/william_pint_amp_felicia_dale.html
Recommended - this is a *beautiful* song. Many thanks to Andy for
introducing me to it.
- http://mysongbook.de/msb/songs/j/januarym.html has a bit about the song
- THE JANUARY MAN
Written by Dave Goulder, a one time foot plate man in the good old
days of steam trains, who was also a keen walker and climber. He left
his hometown of Nottingham to run a climbing centre in the Torridon
Hills in Scotland and it was there, he says, that he saw for the first
time through his townie eyes the year passing month by month through
the seasons. Dave now runs courses in dry-stone walling but is still
singing and writing songs. This I believe is one of the most perfect
songs ever written.
-- http://www.mikeharding.co.uk/music/bomber.htm#jan
- There are several variants floating around; Andy's matches the mp3 I
pointed to; however there are some details I think have been altered
from the original, particularly the end of the June verse (where 'new
colour' seems to have replaced 'newcomer', though it is the latter
that rhymes). For the sake of completeness, here's the other set of
lyrics:
The January man he walks abroad in woollen coat and boots of leather
The February man still wipes the snow from off his hair and blows his hands
The man of March he sees the spring and wonders what the year will bring
And hopes for better weather
Through April rain the man goes down to watch the birds come in to share
the summer
The man of May stands very still watching the children dance away the day
In June the man inside the man is young and wants to lend a hand
And grins at each newcomer
And in July the man in cotton shirt he sits and thinks on being idle
The August man in thousands take the road and watch the sea and find the sun
September man is standing near to saddle up and leave the year
And autumn is his bridle
And the man of new October takes the reins and early frost is on his shoulder
The poor November man sees fire and wind and mist and rain and winter air
December man looks through the snow to let eleven brothers know
They're all a little older
And the January man comes round again in woollen coat and boots of leather
To take another turn and walk along the icy road he knows so well
The January man is here for starting off each and every year
Along the way forever
-- Dave Goulder
- Here's a brief biography of Goulder:
http://www.fyldefolk.freeserve.co.uk/fyldefolk/d.html
- And look out for tomorrow's Irresistible Followup.
-martin
From: "Lizzie Love" <lizilove@>
Before Glen Torridon Dave was warden of the SYHA hostel at Achnashellach.
January Man was written in the winter of 1965/66 and I first heard it in
February 1966 when Dave was living at *The Sheiling* in Lochcarron. I agree
entirely that it is perfect.
Liz Dyer ... (who was Mrs Goulder 1969 to 1981)
From: "Judge" <tajudge@>
I just wanted to say what fond memories i have of this song as my mum
sang it to me and my two brothers throughout our childhood and although
she sang many folk tunes this was always an all time favourite.
Also i have found it useful as i wanted a copy of the lyrics as i plan
to work on an illustrated version of the song with an illustration for
each month. Isn't the internet a wonderful resource.
Fran Judge
From: Robin Beech <robin.beech@>
The version of the January Man I learned after hearing Dave Goulder
sing it at Nottingham University in the early eighties has a slightly
different last verse:
And the January Man comes round again in woolen coat and boots of
leather,
To take another turn along the icy road he knows so well.
Oh the January Man is here, to welcome each and every year,
Along the road forever.
Not too different but the third lines seems to flow more naturally.
Robin
From: Ev Miller <evmiller@>
Liz Dyer?
Of Loch Torridon Hostel? Some fine and difficult years I spent around there as an expatriot American. Reply if it suits you.
Ev Miller
From: Lizzie Love <lizilove@>
Ev!! ... Wow!!
Yes ... it's me. When did you post that message on the Jan Man page? I only just found it.
Where are you? Would love to hear from you.
love and hugs ... Lizzie
From: "janusz" <en@>
I heard this song in polish radio, it's quite good to me, although after
I red the lyrics I
was disappointed January Man was not Jesus.
From: "grant coghill" <mmmlecker@>
<html><div style='background-color:'><DIV class=RTE>you can find more information regarding dave at his new website www.davegoulder.co.uk</DIV></div></html>
From: "grant coghill" <mmmlecker@>
New website
www.davegoulder.co.uk
From: Colinscat@
Hi Ev,
I used to hang around the hostel at Torridon in the late 60's & early 70's,
and can remember taking part in a crazy game of Frizbee (first time I'd seen
this played) on the very steep slope of the drying area at the rear of Glen
Cottage. It was also there that I met a few very unconventional folk who
behaved like Hippies, long straggly hair & weird clothes; smoked lots of hash &
sang wonderful folk songs. Sitting here in front of this PC I can almost
transport myself back to that time. The only people that I remember names from are:
Dave Goulder, Liz Dyer & John Churcher, I suppose if I stretch my mind
further; there was an expatriate American who lived at Torridon while studiying at
Edi Uni & moved back & forth every month or so, which I could not understand
although I do know now how it's done.
Will I get a reply from you?
Regards,
Colin