Lyrics below.
Today’s song-of-the-day is a ballad. For folkies that means two things: First, ballads are story songs; and second, they are long.
Caroling & Crumpets is performed by John Kirkpatrick, a renowned squeezebox player and one of Northern England’s strongest supporters of preserving the region’s musical heritage. But this isn’t an old ballad – Kirkpatrick wrote and composed it himself, and it is the titular song on a Christmas album that he released in 2006. While researching for this write-up I just discovered that he has released another Christmas album this year, making it his third. I immediately ordered it from him of course.
Here are his liner notes:
This is a song that started from musing on the widespread legend that farmyard animals have the gift of speech during the night before Christmas, as a reward for being on the spot to welcome the new visitor in Bethlehem. Quite how that grew into this epic is a bit of a mystery, but then, moving in mysterious ways is central to the plot here! Special thanks to the cows in the fields next door to where I live, whose keen readiness to commune over the fence, and whose cheerful enthusiasm for my effort when I’m practicing at home, are a constantly uplifting source of inspiration – undemandingly heartening and heart-warming. No animals were harmed in the making of this song.
Kirkpatrick’s lyrics use English expressions and depend upon some background knowledge. For example, in England the word “tea” doesn’t just refer to the drink; it is also a meal typically served between 3:00 and 5:00 PM.
Here are the song’s lyrics, from the album’s liner notes:
