Misty Maiden, Maiden Of The Mist;
Misty Maiden, Have You ever been kissed?
Beat my heart to a magic key,
You're marching home to my porched root tree;
So find your step immediately
My wylde, wylde friend so fresh and free.
(Chorus)
The mists of morn where witches float
Hide a drawbridge and a moat;
In the Eastern swirl a piping goat
Playing piedbruachs the Sorceror wrote.
(chorus)
The Moon is shinin' on the vale:-
In the black and white of faery-tale:
On your pie-bald face so wierd and pale;
But watch Dawn's wounds where red whips flail!
(Chorus)
So, beat my heart to a magic key;
You're marching home to my porched root tree.
So, find your step immediately,
My wylde, wylde friend enchained to me.
(Chorus)
© J.A.Nicolson 2007 All Rights Reserved
Apache John
About Apache John
I spent a significant percentage of my childhood and teens at my Grandparents' Croft on The Isle of Skye. Much of the images presented in my songs originate from those prolonged Summer visits to the Inner Hebrides. My interest in music began in 1962, when as a boy, I heard the song 'Oh My Darling Clementine' sung at a Boy Scout Campfire. The combination of melody and lyrics moved me to my very soul. I was determined from then on to use melody as a vehicle for story stelling. I was a young boy then and did not understand that 'Clementine' was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. I took it very seriously at the time. A few weeks later I was given a couple of 78 RPM Lonnie Donegan singles by someone who felt pity on a young boy who had no records to listen to other than his parents 'Scotland A Go-Go' LP. The Lonnie Donegan singles changed the world for me! Tom Dooley/Rock 'O' My Soul/ The Grand Coolie Dam & Nobody Loves Like An Irish Man were nearly all stories put to melody! My parents bought me an old jazz guitar with f-holes and I started to learn a few chords. The first song I wrote was called 'Auntie Nell Made A Smell'. Three years later in 1965 I was watching a TV pop program called 'Ready Steady Go' and came across a young folk singer called Donovan who I perceived to be performing the same type of songs as Lonnie Donegan. I was totally blown away because this was my type of music! I quickly found out about Dylan and became very excited when I came across songs such as 'With God On our Side' and 'Mr Tambourineman' and as a consequence of this, I deluded myself into thinking that had I been older these would have been the very songs I'd have written myself! It was so unfair being so young! Anyway, that's how it felt at the time! In 1973 I performed one of my own songs on a London Broadcasting Radio Show hosted by Jimmy Saville. As well as writing more songs than I can perhaps remember, I fronted The G String Skiffle Band in the Eighties (the brainchild of fellow Song Writer, Len Abraham) and we played extensively through The East Midlands and quite regularily at the coalmining clubs in places such as Mansfield. The Band was televised performing live with Noddy Holder on London Weekend Television in 1986. Later that year the BBC featured the band performing another of my songs on the streets of London. Today, with the help of my wife 'Amazon Jan', and the musicianship of 'Scalp', the new member of our trio, we aspire to bring an acoustic, raw sound, reflecting our musical, emotional and social history.
buskersongs.com
Maiden of the mist - written and performed by Apache John
Buskerbrian comment:
Apache John has been a major influence on my guitar style and my idea of what constitutes good ambient delivery of a live performance. The alternating 6th alongside the 'cowboy riding relaxed across the plains' rythym was a style I loved and I actively sought to develop and utilise it.
Apache John absorbed the Campfire song spirit and transmits the joy and intimacy of it to those who had never experienced such a thing. Apache John converted me to the campfire spirit when I was 19. A formal gig or recording is one thing, but an impromptu live performance by someone pulling out their guitar and drawing in the audience is far more likely to live long in the memory.
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