Paul Kaplan - King of Hearts

Credits
Paul Kaplan – vocals, guitar, cuatro (10) , harmonica (1, 7b, 8, 11)
Mark Dann – bass, vocals (1, 2, 7a, 13)
Robin Greenstein – vocals (1, 2, 6, 7a, 8, 13), banjo (5, 9)
Kenny Kosek – fiddle (2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 13)
Ed Baker – piano (1, 3, 6), Yamaha DX-7 (2, 11, 12)
Larry Cole – Northumbrian bagpipes (6, 7, 11, 12)
Lisa Roth – tambourine (7b)

SIDE 1
I Will Keep You Warm
Written one cold winter's weekend in Vermont. I had great trouble singing this song until my wife suggested I pick up the beat and tap my feet.

When the chill from Canada comes tearing south
Over empty fields up to your doorstep
To kiss you on the mouth

Chorus:
I will keep you warm
I’ll keep the fire burning
Keep you dry in the storm
When winter is returning true to form
I will keep you warm.

And you say you’re insulated pretty tight
But the flickering of your candle has revealed you
In a slightly different light.

Chorus

I will hold you tightly as the wind attacks
And the summer of my kindness will protect you
And fill up all the cracks.

Chorus

My love will be like brandywine when you are cold
Let me take your cup and I will fill it
With as much as it can hold.

Chorus

Blow, Winds, Blow
I wrote this for the wedding of Robert Hutchison and Mindy Wagner. Robert is an artist/musician who taught me more about the guitar than anyone else. Mindy is a composer.

We are the parents of girl and of boy
We’ve brought you together to share in our joy
And after the day goes according to plan
We'll be the proud parents of woman and man, so

Chorus:
Blow winds blow
Flow rivers flow
Grow children grow.

They learned how to talk and they learned how to stand
They learned to let beauty flow out of their hands
But now they have learned the most difficult task
They’ve learned how to love what more could we ask, so

Chorus

If he hadn’t been there they’d never have met
If she hadn’t been there he'd be waiting yet
But now they'll be married because they were graced
With a little good luck and a lot of good taste, so

Chorus

And now our dear children we want you to know
Wherever love leads you we want you to go
You've walked out our door, now at last you are free
But if ever you need us just use your old key and

Chorus

I’m Feeling Blue
This song came to me in a dream, sung by Billie Holiday. I wish you could have heard it.

I’m not looking for someone else
I don’t want to live by myself
But I’m feeling blue lately when I’m with you.

I don’t know what you heard me say
That made you want to turn away
But I’m feeling blue lately when I'm with you.

This odd behavior you’ve affected
Makes me lonesome all the time
This wall of silence you’ve erected
Is much too high for me to climb.

No one but you can make me sigh
No one but you can make me high
But I’m feeling blue lately when I'm with you.

The King of Hearts
It was my honor to be asked by Jack Hardy to record this song for the premiere issue of The CooP, the Fast Folk Musical Magazine, now in its fourth year of publication.

The king of hearts is a desperate card
And the swiftest in the deck
He’ll take your queen neat and clean
He’s a royal pain in the neck
He’s a royal pain in the neck.

My love and I were at the bar
When the king of hearts came in
He gave her a rose right under my nose
And my troubles did begin
My troubles did begin.

With his red rose in her left hand
My love was hypnotized
He danced her out that swinging door
Right before my eyes
Right before my eyes.

I ran out into the road
But all that I could find
Was a golden band from her left hand
That she had left behind
That she had left behind.

For three long nights awake I watched
Awaiting her return
For three long days I gazed and gazed
Until my eyes did burn
Until my eyes did burn.

For three long weeks I did not sleep
Nor even eat a meal
While the bitter wind seemed to sing
You got a rotten deal
You got a rotten deal.

For three long years I’ve shed no tears
Nor tried to fix the blame
I played and lost and paid the cost
Of being in the game
Of being in the game.

But sometimes when I see a rose
I pick it where it stands
I marvel at the way it glows
Then I crush it in my hands
I crush it in my hands.

Oh the king of hearts is a desperate card
And the swiftest in the pack
He took my queen neat and clean
And he never gave her back
He never gave her back.

Take Out the Garbage When You Go
A song that speaks for itself.

You tell me that you're leaving
That our love has lost its glow
Though you were once my Juliet
And I your Romeo
But before you break my heart in two
There’s one last thing that you can do
Take out the garbage when you go.

Chorus:
Take out the garbage when you go
It’s an awful lot to ask of you, I know
But these filthy bags could spread disease
So I'm begging you on bended knees
To please, please, please, please
Please, please, please, please, please
Take out the garbage when you go.

You saved every reminder
Of the good times that we shared
The bananas that we pealed
The apples that we pared
You say our love's gone sour
But I think it's just the cauliflower
I gave you once to let you know I cared.

Chorus

Now we're standing in the doorway
To say our last farewells
My eyes are filled with tears
My house is filled with smells
Our love was sweet as lobster meat
The kind you always used to eat
Well now's your chance to throw away the shells.

Chorus, then

Take out the garbage when you go
You’ve been saving it for many years I know
But these filthy bags could spread disease
So I’m begging you on bended knees
To please, please, please, please

Please, please, please, please
Please take out the gabbage
Don’t forget the cabbage
Take out the garbage when you go.

Orphans of the Storm
Written in honor of the United States Bicentennial.

With the father of our country
I crossed the Delaware
I was proud to be a soldier
I was glad to do my share
I never will forget him
Planted at the bow
But our ship is surely drifting
And I surely miss him now.

Chorus:
We are orphans of the storm
With no father and no mother
We are orphans of the storm
With no home to go to
We are orphans of the storm
With nobody but each other
To keep us warm
We are orphans of the storm.

America the beautiful
Certainly has changed
She wears a lot of makeup
But she’ll never be the same
Oh all these desperate highways
Are pouring out like tears
Covering the graveyards
Of the ones who left us here.

Chorus

Today a total stranger
Attacked me with his knife
And he shouted “Give me liberty
Or give me your life”
I said “We’re all as broke as you are
So there can’t be any theft
You’d better love your brothers
We’re all that you have left”

Chorus

Wedding in the Village
I wrote this song for Lisa Klein11olz (the potter), Larry Cole (the piper) and Lisa Roth (the drummer). It is a stylized re-creation of my own wedding, at which Lisa, Larry and Lisa played prominent roles (bride, best man and maid of honor).

Hear the horses coming
Get up and give a cheer
A wagon full of barrels
Every barrel full of beer
Through the woods down the hill
So everyone can drink their fill
Bells are ringing
Soon they will be here.

And the brewer dressed all in his best
Lightly holds the reins
Following the piper
Who plays a merry strain
One foot left, one foot right
You and I will dance all night
Arm in arm
We'll sing the bright refrain:

Chorus:
Oh ho won't you come and join the fun
A wedding in the village
A festival for everyone
Oo-wee the sun keeps coming up
So let's all drink another round
From the loving cup.

And over on the hilltop
On the other side of town
With the little drummer girl
You can see her coming down
Out of fire out of clay
She’s made mugs to give away
She’s the potter In her wedding gown.

And when she meets the brewer
They both agree “I do”
And when the rings go on the fingers
The formalities are through
Then it’s up the aisle, down the street
To the inn with dancing feet
Let’s fill those mugs
And kick off every shoe.

Chorus

The dancing goes all through the night
From early afternoon
The piper and the drummer
Playing every kind of tune
See the groom, see the bride
Face to face, then side by side
Spirits rising
Higher than the moon.

And when no one is looking
The couple slips upstairs
And in their nest they get undressed
And kiss without a care
Wheels will turn fires will burn
Fields will grow and love will flow
Everything they
Wish for will be theirs.

SIDE 2
Heather on the Moor
This is a traditional song from Ulster, learned from the singing of Dan Milner, though the song has been most closely associated with Paul Brady.

Oh as I roved out on a bright May morning
Calm and clear was the weather
I chanced to roam some miles from home
Among the beautiful blooming heather

And it’s heather on the moor, over the heather
Over the moor and among the heather
I chanced to roam some miles from home
Among the beautiful blooming heather
And it’s heather on the moor.

As I roved along with my hunting song
My heart as light as any feather
I met a pretty maid upon the way
She was tripping the dew down from the heather.

And it’s heather on the moor, over the heather
Over the moor and among the heather
I met a pretty maid upon the way
She was tripping the dew down from the heather
And it’s heather on the moor.

“Where are you going, my pretty fair maid
By hill or dale come tell me whether”
Right modestly she answered me
“To the feeding of my lambs together.”

And it’s heather on the moor, over the heather
Over the moor and among the heather
Right modestly she answered me
“To the feeding of my lambs together”
And it’s heather on the moor.

We both shook hands and down we sat
It being the fairest day in summer
And we sat till the red setting beams of the sun
Came sparkling down among the heather.

And it’s heather on the moor, over the heather
Over the moor and among the heather
And we sat till the red setting beams of the sun
Came sparkling down among the heather
And it’s heather on the moor.

“Well now” she says “I must away
My sheep and lambs have strayed from other
Though I am loath to part from you
As those fond lambs are to part their mother.”

And it’s heather on the moor, over the heather
Over the moor and among the heather
“Though I am loath to part from you
As those fond lambs are to part their mother”
And it’s heather on the moor.

So up she rose and away she goes
Her place or name I know not either
But if I were king I’d make her queen
The lass I met among the heather

And it’s heather on the moor, over the heather
Over the moor and among the heather
But if I were king I’d make her queen
The lass I met among the heather
And it’s heather on the moor.

I Had an Old Coat
This song was recycled from an old Yiddish story about a tailor. I first heard the story from Marcia Lane, master storyteller.

I had an old coat and the coat got torn
What’ll I do (what’ll I do)
I had an old coat and the coat got torn
What’ll I do (what’ll I do)
I had an old coat and the coat got torn
So I cut it down and a jacket was born
And I sing every day of my life.

In a couple of years those threads got thin
What’ll I do (what’ll I do), etc.
So I called it a shirt and I tucked it in
And I sing every day of my life

Then the sleeves wore out in the east and west
So I pulled them off and I had a vest
And I sing every day of my life.

Then the vest got stained with cherry pie
So I cut and sewed till I had a tie
And I sing every day of my life.

  And when that tie was looking lean
I made a patch for my old blue jeans
And I sing every day of my life.

And when that patch was next to nuttin’
I rolled it up into a button
And I sing every day of my life.

And when that button was almost gone
With what was left I made this song
Which I sing every day of my life.

The Greenwood Lassie
This is another traditional song from Ireland, also learned from Dan Milner. I changed it from “greenwood laddie” and rewrote a few lines. The cuatro is tuned CDGCG, going from low to high.

If you could see my dearest when her eyes shine the clearest
Her cheeks like the red blood that’s new-dropped in snow
She being fair and tender, her waist small and slender
She’s my greenwood lassie wherever I go.

My parents don’t like her, they slight her with scorn
Because she has no riches all wrapped up in store
But the more that they slight her the more I’ll invite her
To be my greenwood lassie till time is no more.

For if I had the wealth of the East or West Indies
Or if I had the gold of the African shore
Into my arms I’d take her and never forsake her
My own greenwood lassie whom I’ll always adore.

It’s down yonder bower we’ve spent many’s the long hour
A-pulling the flowers by yon clear winding shore
It was her stolen kisses caused my fondest wishes
She’ll be my greenwood lassie, the girl I adore

If you could see my dearest when her eyes shine the clearest
Her cheeks like the red blood that’s new-dropped in snow
She being fair and tender her waist small and slender
She’s my greenwood lassie wherever I go

Money
A song for our times. Money is the long hair of the eighties.

Your life is out of sync, your mind is on the blink
You don’t know what to think, think money!

Your hippie days are through, you don’t know what to do
Well here’s a tip for you: make money!

You used to live on love when that was in fashion
But the times have been a-changin’ now there’s a different passion

Chorus:
Money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money!
Money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money, money!

Victimize the needy, go ahead be greedy
It won’t give you VD, money!

Just like the politician take the ethical position
Except on one condition: money!

There only is one key to a life of wealth and splendor
No matter how you get it they call it legal tender.

Chorus

What makes the world go ’round? What makes the lost ones found?
What buys flesh by the pound? Money!

It's your patriotic duty: get filthy rich and snooty
To hell with truth and beauty, money!

You’ll think that you are rising to the very highest level

So won’t it be surprising when you run into the Devil.

Chorus

Phil

For Phil Ochs. There but for fortune.

Phil, what went wrong? Why are you quiet now?
Phil, where's your song? I really need it now
You kept me warm throughout the storm, but now I feel a chill
Phil, I miss you.

Phil, you were not mad, just fool enough to care
The love you always had you always had to share
You never knew the good you did and now you never will
Phil, I miss you.

Phil, here's farewell, how I wish you could have stayed
To help me understand, to make me unafraid
I dreamed I saw a golden bird outside my windowsill
Phil I miss you.

Just Another War
England won the war, and Margaret Thatcher was reelected.

The bitter snows of June across the deck are thundering
Like bullets from a gun
For seven frozen weeks this soldier has been wondering
Will I ever see the sun?

Now you can call me “Pete,” or you can call me “Pedro”
What’s the difference in a name?
One leader calls them “Falklands” the other says “Malvinas”
To them both it’s just a game.

Chorus:
They say “It’s war, war, war, it’s just another war
It’s not the end of the world”
But if there’s one too many wars then there won’t be any more
No more wars, women, men, boys or girls.

The politicians cheered and waved us into battle
To save the national pride
But they never breathed the smoke or heard the cannons rattle
Or took a bullet in the side. No,

Chorus

Governments, flags, borders all are fleeting
In an hour they disappear
But somehow the drums of war never stop their beating
Year after bloody year.

Chorus