FolkWorld #73 11/2020
Hard Times Come Again No More
Songs That Made History:
"Hard Times Come Again No More" (sometimes, "Hard Times") is an American parlor song written by Stephen Foster. It was published in New York by Firth, Pond & Co. in 1854 as Foster's Melodies No. 28. Well-known and popular in its day, both in America and Europe, the song asks the fortunate to consider the plight of the less fortunate and includes one of Foster's favorite images: "a pale drooping maiden".
The first audio recording was a wax cylinder by the Edison Manufacturing Company (Edison Gold Moulded 9120) in 1905. It has been recorded and performed numerous times since.
The song is Roud Folk Song Index #2659.
A satirical version about soldier's food was popular in the American Civil War, "Hard Tack Come Again No More".
»When the director of Molto Bella asked me to write a soundtrack for the film, I wanted to write original songs but also source traditional folk tunes
that reflected the tone of the script. Hard Times Come Again No More was the first tune we knew needed to be in the film
because the lyrics matched so well with what the two lead characters were going through. Little did I know that the lyrics would also be quite meaningful
in the time we are currently living in. Much has changed since we shot this film in Italy and yet, the song is almost more meaningful now.
What is great about this song is the juxtaposition of the lyrics pleading that hard times will not come again,
as the sad melody leads the listener to believe that hard times never really stop. While this seems grim,
it’s a comfort to know that we all go through this together and I hope the song reminds people that they are not alone.«
- Andrea von Kampen
Stream/Download @ BandCamp!
You can see a teaser trailer that features Hard Times Come Again No More @ IMDB!
Lyrics
1.
Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears,
While we all sup sorrow with the poor;
There's a song that will linger forever in our ears;
Oh! Hard times come again no more.
Chorus:
'Tis the song, the sigh of the weary,
Hard Times, hard times, come again no more.
Many days you have lingered around my cabin door;
Oh! Hard times come again no more.
2.
While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay,
There are frail forms fainting at the door;
Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say
Oh! Hard times come again no more.
Chorus
3.
There's a pale drooping maiden who toils her life away,
With a worn heart whose better days are o'er:
Though her voice would be merry, 'tis sighing all the day,
Oh! Hard times come again no more.
Chorus
4.
'Tis a sigh that is wafted across the troubled wave,
'Tis a wail that is heard upon the shore
'Tis a dirge that is murmured around the lowly grave
Oh! Hard times come again no more.
Chorus
Recordings
"Hard Times Come Again No More" has been included in the following:
»This is the most poignant rendition I have ever heard of this classic - 170 years after it was written, this song is still tragically relevant. Gangstagrass magically turns it into an anthem for today.«
- L. Caudell-Feagan
- Dolly Parton opens her 1980 song "Hush-A-Bye Hard Times" with an a cappella verse from the song.
- The North Carolina band Red Clay Ramblers featured the song on their 1981 album Hard Times.
- Recorded by Irish singer Mary Black on her 1984 album Collected.
- Akiko Yano sings this song on her 1989 album "Welcome Back"
- On Syd Straw's 1989 debut album Surprise, Straw and X frontman and solo artist John Doe recorded a version of the song.
- By Kate & Anna McGarrigle on the 1991 Songs of the Civil War collection.
- By Emmylou Harris in her 1992 live album At the Ryman.
- By Bob Dylan for his 1992 album Good as I Been to You.
- As the penultimate track on the 1992 debut album from The Lost Dogs, Scenic Routes.
- Harvey Reid plays his acoustic guitar on his 1994 album Chestnuts
- In Series One (1995) of the "Transatlantic Sessions", Hard Times Come Again No More was performed by an ensemble composed of Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Rufus Wainwright, Emmylou Harris, Mary Black, Karen Matheson and Rod Paterson.
- The 1995 movie Georgia with Mare Winningham and Jennifer Jason Leigh sung by Mare Winningham and band.
- The 1995 movie The Neon Bible performed by Thomas Hampson.
- Nanci Griffith on her 1998 effort Other Voices Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful).
- Ambassadors of Harmony perform an a cappella male chorus barbershop arrangement on their 2000 album Sing Sing Sing!
- The 2000 Appalachian Journey, for voice & piano with Edgar Meyer (bass), James Taylor (vocals) Mark O'Connor (violin or fiddle) and Yo-Yo Ma (cello).
- eastmountainsouth (aka Peter Bradley Adams & Kat Maslich) recorded this song on their eponymous album in 2003.
- Johnny Cash on the Redemption Songs disc of the 2003 Unearthed box set of out-takes and alternate versions from his American Recordings series.
- Mavis Staples recorded it for the Grammy award-winning album Beautiful Dreamer (2004).
- In 2005, the song was included in the soundtrack Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown, performed by Eastmountainsouth.
- The 2005 film My Brother's War by Whitney Hamilton.
- Matthew Perryman Jones included it on his 2006 album Throwing Punches in the Dark.
- Andru Bemis recorded it on his 2006 album Rail to Reel.
- Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's 2009 Working on a Dream Tour and captured on their 2010-released London Calling: Live in Hyde Park concert video, in the midst of the Great Recession.
- Mary J. Blige and The Roots at the 2010 Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief telethon.
- In the Season 2 finale of Parenthood by the same name, the song was contributed to the soundtrack by Brett Dennen.
- The 2012 Voice of Ages by The Chieftains, with Paolo Nutini.
- The 2012 Eesti Kullafond collection of Estonian folk-pop group Folkmill.
- An Iron & Wine performance featured in commercials promoting the 2012 Copper television series on BBC America.
- Black 47, on the 2014 album Last Call.
- The 2014 9/11 Memorial commemoration (bagpipes adaption).
- Kristin Chenoweth performed the song on her 2014 live album Coming Home.
- Katy Treharne sings it on the Tearfund with 'West End has Faith' 2015 album Speechless.
- Joel Plaskett's 2015 album The Park Avenue Sobriety Test.
- Annie Moses Band performed the song on their 2015 album American Rhapsody.
- Australian artists Paul Kelly and Charlie Owen included the song on their 2016 album Death's Dateless Night.
- Civilization VI uses the song as the basis for the theme song of the American civilization.
- Madeleine Peyroux sang it on her album Secular Hymns (2016)
- Jennifer Warnes, from her 1979 album Shot Through The Heart
- Shully Natan sang it in Hebrew.
- Mavis Staples' version opens the second episode of Ken Burns' 2019 PBS documentary miniseries, Country Music.
»The whole album speaks to the human spirit and the human condition and the trials and tribulations that we all have to endure. We set out to start the record, and then about the time we started to release this record, the COVID-19 epidemic started reaching the top of the national news, and next thing we know, we're living in hard times, trials and tribulations.
The opportunity to express your spirit through music, it's a human need. We're lucky to live in times, when we're confined to our house, that we can still reach out to one another with music.«
- Jim VanCleve
Listen to Hard Times Come Again No More from:
Appalachian Road Show, Sam Baker, Dale Boyle, The Chieftains,
Ronnie Drew & Eleanor Shanley, Peter Funk & Herbert Wegener,
Gangstagrass, Janette Geri, Karie Oberg, Siusan O’Rourke &
Zig Zeitler, Dan Possumato, Rig the Jig, Wheelers & Dealers
Watch Hard Times Come Again No More from:
An Rinn, De Dannan, Bob Dylan, Gangstagrass, Petter Udland Johansen,
Andrea von Kampen, Korby Lenker, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, James Taylor
Lyrics (© Mainly Norfolk): Hard Times Come Again No More
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Times_Come_Again_No_More].
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Date: October 2020.
Photo Credits:
(1) Stephen Foster,
(2)-(3) Andrea von Kampen,
(4) Gangstagrass,
(6) The Appalachian Road Show
(unknown/website);
(5) Hard Times Come Again No More
(by ABC Notations).
FolkWorld - Home of European Music
Layout & Idea of FolkWorld © The Mollis - Editors of FolkWorld