Following the Bee Gees, yesterday, here's another First Of May ...... and I have a feeling it may not be the last. This one has been written and recorded by my good friend, Vic Gammon, with his Whole Hog Band.
Vic tells me that his song was written in the late 1990s, with some help from his friends Steve Harrison and Annie Dearman (as were most songs he wrote around then). Optimism can make you feel good, even if it proves to be not well-founded.
Vic Gammon – voice and tenor banjo
Geordie Wildboar – whistle
Sam Robson – piano
Cecilia Winterbottom – bass
Fred Hogshead – percussion and chorus
Sheila Gammon - chorus
Recording completed 20 April 2020 . Dawn chorus recordings made in Vic and Sheila's back garden in Hexham, Northumberland, mid-April 2020.
https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=14036165
The First of May (Words and Music by Vic Gammon)
Though the frost still nips the morning, there’s a fresh smell in the air,
And the green leaves show that summer’s on its way;
The long dark night is over and the rose will bloom again,
Now we’re glad to welcome in the first of May.
The first of May;
The first of May;
We’ll proclaim a new beginning with a song of life reborn,
And we’re glad to welcome in the first of May.
We survived the coldest journey, though the road was dark and long,
There were times when hope seemed lost and far away,
We came through the dreary winter with its bitter chilling winds,
Now we’re glad to welcome in the first of May.
Chorus
But it’s only a beginning, soon cold winter will return,
And the golden days of summer will not stay.
We must build against the harsh times, take the chances summer brings
Now we’re glad to welcome in the first of May.
Chorus
