It is a strange mix of themes ranging from the American West to the ballads and jigs of Celtic ancestors that somehow seems to make sense in the musical world Jack Hardy has created. And it is a separate world to which the listener is transported; a timeless place inhabited by tinkers and cowboys, saints and sinners, elves, virgins and crones. From his extensive travels and reading he has forged an endearing non-academic approach to literature, one that is more at home in the pub than in the classroom. "He clearly seems to enjoy making his listeners think. He may dare his audience to figure out what he is saying, but he also credits them with the intelligence to do so" (Tom Nelligan, Dirty Linen, 1998).
In Europe, where Hardy has toured extensively for over 20 years, he is accepted as an ambassador for American music. In an Italian encyclopedia of rock Jack has a larger entry than many prominent rock stars.
"Nothing adventuresome is created in a vacuum," Jack says, "you get people together and the creative sparks fly." The weekly songwriters workshop which he has hosted for many years taught and nurtured countless songwriters, not the least of which are Suzanne Vega, John Gorka, Shawn Colvin, Richard Shindell and David Massengill. The Fast Folk Musical Magazine, which he founded and edited, released the first recordings of most of the artists currently headlining folk festivals. This collection of over 100 compilation albums has now been taken over by the Smithsonian.
Gregarious and outgoing when talking about his songs and songwriting in general, Jack fiercely guards the privacy of his personal life. Jack Hardy was born in Indiana, his father a musician, his mother a painter. He grew up in New York, Colorado, and Connecticut, studied opera and literature in college.
In 1998, Prime CD reissued his first ten albums in a box set as well as his eleventh album The Passing. In 1996, BCN Records released a tribute album The Songs of Jack Hardy: Of the White Goddess, a collection of his Celtic ballads (all sung by women). In 1997, Jack was the recipient of The Kate Wolf Memorial Award, given yearly to "an artist who makes a difference through his music" by the World Folk Music Association. In 2000, Prime CD has released Jack's twelfth album Omens.
Omens was recorded live to 24 track analog in two days, using the vintage recording equipment of Prime CD's Theater 99 recording studio in New York City, with no overdubs. The fourteen songs range from the uptempo Celtic "Sile na gCioch" where a tinker finds a dress on the side of the road and gives it to a young lass, to the majestic "West of Dingle" where a woman faces a choice between her lover and her fiddle; from the biting barrage of juxtaposed media images of "I Ought to Know" to the romantic ballad "Only One Sky" and back to the uptempo humorous Clancy Brother-ish "The Boney Bailiff." This album takes you on quite a musical voyage with some of Jack's best poetic imagery, but it is the sweeping beautiful melodies that carry these songs directly into your memory. The players include Jack's current touring band: Tom Duval on electric guitar and harmony (also heard on Jack's albums The Hunter and Civil Wars), Mike Laureanno on Hofner bass and harmony, Dave Anthony on Drums (also heard on Jack's album The Passing), and Kate MacLeod on fiddle. The album also features a buried bonus track containing 19 minutes of Suzanne Vega interviewing Jack on the subject of songwriting. Hardy's 16th album, Rye Grass, arrived on Great Divide in 2009. Jack Hardy passed away on March 11, 2011.
source and more infos: http://www.jackhardy.com/
Black-Eyed Susans
Jack Hardy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In all those places time forgot
Run and run from what we know
Sometimes easy, sometimes not
Youth is but a flowered field
Daisies and forget-me-nots
All of this a letter sealed
Old enough to touch a heart
Young enough to not reply
To stand upon the kitchen stool
And kiss your mother goodbye
Open to the morning sun
Reveal the beauty 'neath the cloud
Only nature having fun
All for crying out loud
The wind upon the clouds on high
The wind upon the brittle chaff
Birds on the electric wire
To see who will be last to laugh
All these colors on display
They all go so well with you
All so well in god's bouquet
All except for black and blue
The song "Black-Eyed Susans" by Jack Hardy has a folk-like tune and a soft melody that blend with the lyrics, giving the song a melancholic, poetic tone. The song talks about time, nature, memories, and the fleeting nature of life. The first two lines describe black-eyed susans growing by the road in places that time seems to have abandoned. This imagery creates a mood of nostalgia and longing β something that the singer of the song is trying to run away from. The lines "Run and run from what we know, Sometimes easy, sometimes not" indicate that the singer is trying to escape the knowledge of the transience of life.
The second verse of the song compares youth to a "flowered field" full of daisies and forget-me-nots. The line "All of this a letter sealed, Reminding us what we forgot" suggests that the memories of youth are like letters that have been sealed away, waiting to be rediscovered. The singer then reflects on their own age, indicating that they are old enough to touch a heart but young enough to not yet have experienced the full weight of the world. The lines "And kiss your mother goodbye, Open to the morning sun, Reveal the beauty 'neath the cloud, Only nature having fun, All for crying out loud" imply that, despite this weight, there is still beauty and joy to be found in life.
The third verse describes the wind on the clouds, birds on electric wires, and the many colors of nature all around. The singer describes how these colors go so well together, "All so well in god's bouquet, All except for black and blue." The last line is particularly poignant, as it implies that even in the midst of beauty, there is still pain and sorrow to be found.
Overall, the song Black-Eyed Susans is a powerful reflection on life, memory, and the natural world. It tells a story of a protagonist who is struggling to come to terms with the fleeting nature of life and the memories that they have collected along the way.
Line by Line Meaning
Black eyed susans by the road
There are black-eyed Susans growing by the road
In all those places time forgot
These flowers are growing in forgotten places
Run and run from what we know
We are constantly trying to escape our knowledge of things
Sometimes easy, sometimes not
This is sometimes an easy thing to do, but other times it is difficult
Youth is but a flowered field
Youth is like a field filled with flowers
Daisies and forget-me-nots
In this field, there are daisies and forget-me-nots
All of this a letter sealed
This field reminds us of something we have forgotten
Reminding us what we forgot
It serves to remind us of what we have forgotten
Old enough to touch a heart
We have reached an age where we can touch someone's heart
Young enough to not reply
But we are still young enough to not respond to certain things
To stand upon the kitchen stool
We stand on the stool in the kitchen
And kiss your mother goodbye
To say goodbye to our mother with a kiss
Open to the morning sun
The flowers are open to the morning sun
Reveal the beauty 'neath the cloud
Even through the clouds, the beauty of the flowers is visible
Only nature having fun
This beauty is a result of nature just having fun
All for crying out loud
And we can't help but be amazed and cry out in admiration
The wind upon the clouds on high
The wind is blowing high up in the clouds
The wind upon the brittle chaff
It is also blowing through the brittle chaff of the flowers
Birds on the electric wire
There are birds sitting on an electric wire
To see who will be last to laugh
They are waiting to see who will laugh last
All these colors on display
There are many colors on display
They all go so well with you
They all look beautiful with you
All so well in god's bouquet
All of these flowers look good together in God's bouquet
All except for black and blue
Except for the colors black and blue, which don't fit in
Contributed by Savannah Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
John Wemm
Great song, among many, by this master songwriter.