Collins and her sister, Dolly, grew up in the Hastings area of East Sussex in a family which kept alive a great love of traditional song. Songs learnt from their grandfather and from their mother's sister, Grace Winborn, were to be important in the sisters' repertoire throughout their career.
On leaving school, at the age of 17, Shirley Collins enrolled at a teachers' training college in Tooting, south London. However, in London she also involved herself in the early folk revival and in 1954, at a party hosted by Ewan McColl, she met Alan Lomax, the famous American folk collector, who had moved to Britain to avoid the McCarthy witch-hunt which was then raging in America. Lomax and Collins began a romantic relationship which led to their undertaking a folk song collecting trip in the Southern states which lasted from July to November 1959 and resulted in many hours of recordings, featuring performers such as Almeda Riddle, Hobart Smith, and Bessie Jones and culminated in the discovery of Mississippi Fred McDowell. Recordings from this trip were issued by Atlantic Records under the title "Sounds of the South" and also featured in the Coen brothers’ film Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. The experience of her life with Lomax and the making of the recordings in religious communities, social gatherings, prisons and chain gangs was described in Collins's book America Over the Water (published 2004).
Back in Britain, Shirley Collins proceeded with her own singing career, and in a series of influential albums, she helped to introduce many innovations into the English folk revival. In 1964, she recorded the landmark jazz-folk fusion of Folk Roots, New Routes, with guitarist Davy Graham. 1967 saw the essentially southern English song collection, The Sweet Primeroses, on which she was accompanied for the first time by Dolly Collins's portative organ.
In 1969 there was another collaboration, this time with The Young Tradition (featuring Peter Bellamy, Heather Wood and Royston Wood) and Dolly Collins, The Holly Bears a Crown.
Shirley Collins's seminal recording is considered by many to be Anthems in Eden, released in 1969. It featured a suite of songs centred on the changes in rural England brought about by the First World War. Dolly Collins created arrangements featuring David Munrow and various other players from his Early Music Consort. The highly unusual combination of ancient instruments included rebecs, sackbuts, viols and crumhorns and hinted that the guitar was not the only appropriate accompaniment for the folk song. Several critics have suggested that it is impossible to imagine that electric accompaniment for traditional song, as successfully purveyed by Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span, could have developed quite as it did without the pioneering 'Anthems In Eden'.
All these recordings strove to marry a deep love and understanding of the English folk music heritage with a more contemporary attitude to musical settings. Anthems In Eden was followed by Love, Death & The Lady, and No Roses, recorded in 1971 with the Albion Country Band, and a total of 27 musicians.
Shirley Collins married Ashley Hutchings in 1971. He left Steeleye Span and the couple created the all acoustic Etchingham Steam Band with Terry Potter, Ian Holder and Vic Gammon. The Etchingham's repertoire was drawn from the traditional music of Sussex. With The Albion Dance Band, performing traditional material on a mixture of modern (electric) and mediaeval instruments, Shirley Collins recorded The Prospect Before Us.
1978's For As Many As Will was the last studio album recorded by Shirley and Dolly Collins. Shirley Collins soon retired from public performance, although she continues to lecture and to appear on radio as an authority on traditional music.
In 2004, Collins was awarded a Gold Badge by the English Folk Dance and Song Society and became patron of the South East Folk Arts Network in 2006. Also in 2006, Shirley appeared on Black Ships Ate The Sky, finishing the album with a sung version of the poem 'Idumæa'.
Collins was awarded the MBE for services to music in the Queen's New Year's Honours List, announced 30 December 2006. On 14 April 2007, she was awarded an Honorary Degree by the Open University, for a "Notable contribution to education and culture", while in 2008 she was given the "Good Tradition" award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.
In 2008 Collins was elected as president of the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
Streets of Derry
Shirley Collins Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And after evening another day,
And after false love there comes a true love,
Come listen now to what I say.
My love he is a handsome young man,
As fair as any that the sun shone on,
But how to win him I do not know,
As he walked out through the streets of Derry
I'm sure he stood out right manfully;
He looked more like a commanding officer
Than a man to die upon the gallow's tree.
"Oh, where's my love, she's so long in coming,
And what detains her so long from me;
Perhaps she thinks it's a shame, a scandal
For a man to die upon the gallow's tree."
He looked around and he saw her coming,
As she rode swifter than the wind;
She said, "I'll show them that they cannot hang you,
And I'll crown my love with a bunch of green."
The opening stanza of Shirley Collins's song, Streets of Derry, is a profound reminder of cyclical nature of life - that there is always a new day after the night, and real love always finds a way. The singer goes on to describe her lover, who is unfairly sentenced to be hanged. Despite this, he walks through the streets of Derry with an air of dignified command, rather than that of a condemned man. The lyrics suggest that he is still hopeful and expects his lover to come to him before death. She eventually arrives, promising to rescue him and displaying her devotion by crowning him with a bunch of green.
The song is based on a traditional Irish ballad, and its themes of love, loss, and loyalty are timeless. The singer expresses a profound love that is willing to go beyond societal norms and risks to save her lover. The historical context of the song places it in the 18th century, a time when the tensions between the Irish Catholics and British Protestants were at their peak. This background gives the song added dimensions of cultural adversity and the desire to transcend it.
Line by Line Meaning
And after morning there comes an evening,
Days pass by quickly, and every morning brings the nightfall.
And after evening another day,
Every night inevitably ends and brings a new day with it.
And after false love there comes a true love,
After a relationship built on deceit and unfaithfulness, a true and genuine love will eventually come along.
Come listen now to what I say.
Pay attention to my words, for they hold significance.
My love he is a handsome young man,
I am in love with a man who is good-looking and charming.
As fair as any that the sun shone on,
He is as attractive as anyone whom the sunlight has graced.
But how to win him I do not know,
I am unsure of how to gain his affections.
For now he has a sentence to be hung.
However, he has been condemned to be executed by hanging.
As he walked out through the streets of Derry
While walking through the town of Derry,
I'm sure he stood out right manfully;
I am certain he appeared strong and brave.
He looked more like a commanding officer
He had more of the appearance of a leader of soldiers.
Than a man to die upon the gallow's tree.
Rather than someone destined to be hanged on the gallows.
"Oh, where's my love, she's so long in coming,
"Where is my love? She is taking a long time to arrive,
And what detains her so long from me;
What could be holding her back from me?
Perhaps she thinks it's a shame, a scandal
Maybe she feels it is disgraceful and shocking
For a man to die upon the gallow's tree."
For a man to suffer execution on the gallows.
He looked around and he saw her coming,
He glanced around and spotted her approaching,
As she rode swifter than the wind;
She rode quickly, swifter than even the wind.
She said, "I'll show them that they cannot hang you,
She spoke confidently, saying "I will prove that they cannot hang you
And I'll crown my love with a bunch of green."
And I will honor you with a wreath of fresh greenery.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: CARA DILLON, SAM LAKEMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Beautiful...