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Johnny Cash songs like you've never heard them before


Gavin
(@gavin)
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Shetland folks gearing up for their annual Up Helly Aa celebration. The Johnny Cash stuff starts about 3 minutes in.

My mother's family is from Shetland, which is how I hear about this stuff 🙂

I may or may not be an enigma
http://mysteriousbeings.com


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Gary E. Andrews
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As my dear old Dad would say, "What in the hillbilly hell?"
Why do they sing Cash songs? 
I get "Ring Of Fire", because of the "Burns! Burns! Burns!" Line. You know. Robert Burns. But the rest of it...just a Scotsman's mystery, and as you know, Scotsmen are mysterious beings. Some of them may or may not be an enigma.
It sounds like a fun time was had by all so I raise my glass to whatever the Up Hella Aa celebration celebrates.

Despite 1,000's of years of Songwriting humans have not exhausted the possibilities. There will always be another Song to be written. Someone will write it. Why not you? www.garyeandrews.com


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Gavin
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Gary, I have absolutely no idea why they decided to sing those Johnny Cash songs LOL. Except that they are fun to sing. Actually, the "Burn, burn, burn" line might have been the inspiration since, on the night of Up Helly Aa they burn a Viking longboat. Maybe someone heard it on the radio or something and made the connection.

Shetlanders are even more mysterious beings than regular Scots because of their Viking heritage, which Up Helly Aa celebrates. There's a lot of parading through the streets of Lerwick with torches, though not in a Nuremberg or Charlottesville way. It actually goes back to the old Norse Yule celebration. Shetlanders talk funny, even for Scots, and their music is a little different from on the mainland. They produced one of the best fiddlers of modern times in the person of Aly Bain. He may actually be the best, but I'm biased and also haven't heard every fiddler in the world. I actually got to see him at Merlefest here in North Carolina a couple of years ago, which was a nostalgic experience. If you've ever watched the Transatlantic Sessions, you've probably seen him play.

I may or may not be an enigma
http://mysteriousbeings.com


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Gary E. Andrews
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I'm getting a group together to dress like Native Americans and recite Robert Burns poetry.
Ah! Vikings! Sarah Frances Frost, born in Caldbeck, Cumberlandshire, England (1865-1950) came to American in 1870, grew up to become a scholar and player of Shakespeare, under the name Julia Marlowe, First Lady of the American Stage. Julia told of a time when Vikings came to those northern shires and were able to communicate perfectly with the natives. It made me wonder how closely the languages might be related, with variations of enunciation, pronunciation, and the evolutions of isolation. 

As long as the lads have a good time it's a great thing to have Songs to sing, and so many in agreement. I raise my glass to these 'Viking Scotsmen' and to Johnny Cash. May their halls ever echo with Song.

Despite 1,000's of years of Songwriting humans have not exhausted the possibilities. There will always be another Song to be written. Someone will write it. Why not you? www.garyeandrews.com


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Gavin
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When the Vikings first came, they would have a hard time communicating as folks in most of those parts spoke Gaelic which would have been completely unrelated to Norse. Of course "communication" wasn't high up on a list topped with the action items 1. Rape and 2. Pillage. When they decided to stay, things changed and although the western islands of the Hebrides were ruled by Vikings from Norway until they came a distant second at the Battle of Largs in 1263, they ended up adopting the Gaelic language, although there are plenty of Norse place names there. In the northern isles of Orkney and Shetland, the opposite happened and Norse replaced the indigenous Pictish language. That Old Norse still influences the way people talk, both in their accent and in some of the words you hear.

I may or may not be an enigma
http://mysteriousbeings.com


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