May Day Day – A Song From Jean Ritchie for May 1st

Jean Ritchie’s song of the first of May is a perennial favorite of mine and I always post it every year.  Performed here by Jean’s son, Jon Pickow, the beautiful melody is one of my favorites in the world.  Jon explains how his mother wrote the lyrics originally to indicate “walkin’ with my Geordie…” with the name “Geordie” being the Scottish version of George, which was Jean’s husband’s name, George Pickow.  Later she changed it to “darlin'” so more people could access the meaning, but it was always available to those in the know to change it back to “Geordie.”  

Now that both Jean and Jon are gone, I miss them and their graceful and beautiful music now more than ever.  The message in the song of hope and joy is one we need always, and especially now in our troubled and angry world.

Listen and sing along and be comforted, at least for this one, wonderful May Day Day!

MAY DAY DAY
Jean Ritchie

Cold and dark the winter,
In March it snows again,
Through the rains of April spring comes stealing in,
Smiling o’er the meadows in the rising light of day,
Beauty is reborn again every first of May.

For when I’m walkin’ with my darlin’ on a May Day Day,
Walkin’ with my darlin’ on a May Day Day,
Oh, there’s nothing much a-doin’ and little for to say,
But oh my heart is happy on a May Day Day!

Folks are cold and distant, the world’s about to freeze,
Never has the world known harder times than these.
Suffering world forgive me and grant me just a day,
I cannot help but hope again every first of May!

For when I’m walkin’ with my darlin’ on a May Day Day,
Walkin’ with my darlin’ on a May Day Day,
Oh, there’s nothing much a-doin’ and little for to say,
But oh my heart is happy on a May Day Day!

As always, thanks for reading and listening!  See y’all next time.
Love and Blessings,

Susie

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Award-winning recording artist, Broadway singer, journalist, educator and critically-acclaimed powerhouse vocalist, Susie Glaze has been called “one of the most beautiful voices in bluegrass and folk music today” by Roz Larman of KPFK’s Folk Scene.  LA Weekly voted her ensemble Best New Folk in their Best of LA Weekly for 2019, calling Susie “an incomparable vocalist.”  “A flat out superb vocalist… Glaze delivers warm, amber-toned vocals that explore the psychic depth of a lyric with deft acuity and technical perfection.”  As an educator, Susie has lectured at USC Thornton School of Music and Cal State Northridge on “Balladry to Bluegrass,” illuminating the historical path of ancient folk forms in the United Kingdom to the United States via immigration into the mountains of Appalachia.  Susie has taught workshops since 2018 at California music camps RiverTunes and Vocáli Voice Camp.  She is a current specialist in performance and historian on the work of American folk music icon, Jean Ritchie.  Susie now offers private voice coaching online via the Zoom platform.   www.susieglaze.com