Ballad by Simon Oak (Jan. 2023) describing an average Saturday of a traditional singing festival. To the tune of Simon’s Lofty Pheasant. Lyrics No better start of the day, the birds are singing, my alarm is ringing I hurl the damn thing away, and I…
Ballad by Simon Oak about the White Tailed Sea Eagles of Mountshannon, Co. Clare. The song was written for the Song Writing Competition of the 2013 Trad Festival, where the theme was to celebrate the successful breeding of these mighty birds at a nest near…
Ballad by Simon Oak about the emigration of an Irish family from Wexford to Texas in 1834. Before Elizabeth left Ireland, she lost three of her six daughters in one week to the whooping cough. The story is based on Rosalie Priour/Hart’s biography, her only…
Ballad by Simon Oak to remember the 2023 edition of the Traditional Singing Weekend in Inishowen. The stone is real and still on his desk in Holland. Lyrics There you are, just a stone Are you waiting for some company? On the sand, all alone…
A short song by Simon Oak about too much faith to the tune of The Mason’s Apron. Lyrics 1. Some say that doubt is the Devil if you have to drive a car Doubt is the Devil for the one behind the bar Doubt is…
Protest song against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Lyrics I wished the drones above my head were song birds Singing at the dawn to start the day I miss the shadows of our lofty palm trees Everything is rubble now and grey I wished my lovely…
A new song by Simon Oak to the melody of Tommy Makem’s Rambles of Spring. It challenges you learn a Dutch word: Fiets = Bicylce (noun) or Cycle (1st person verb), sounds like “feats”. The song is based on the real experience of abandoned Christmas…
A special kind of love song by Simon Oak to the beautiful air of Jay Ungar’s Ashokan Farewell, which has an A and a B part. The indented verses 3, 4, 6 and 7 have the B part of the air. Lyrics 1. I could…
A US-mocking version of Dominic Behan‘s The Sea Around Us, written by Simon Oak in the first week of Donald Trumps second term as president. The first verse and the first line of the chorus are Dominic’s own. Lyrics They say that the lakes of…
This new song post started in June 2019, but was never published here. It’s 2025 now and I’ve restarted to work on my website, because this feels like the only place to publish my work without feeding the social media beasts. Most of my creative…