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Thread: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

  1. #1
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    I was thinking earlier today, saddened by hearing of Stan Jay's passing, that I knew of him - or his store, rather - primarily because Mandolin Brothers was mentioned (though not by name) in a song lyric -

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    Joni Mitchell at Mandolin Brothers, with the 1915 K-4 mandocello she bought, as mentioned in the song "Sharon" (color corrected by Scott)

    "Sharon," by Joni Mitchell, on her 1976 album, "Hejira." When I got my F-12 two years later and became more involved with mandolin lore, I learned of the store and the reference accrued more resonance for me. Thinking about all this led me to wonder about songs in which the word "mandolin" appears in the lyrics. There are a few obvious ones, of course, but after a few, I couldn't think of any more. These are:

    "Mandolin Wind" by Rod Stewart
    "Mandolin Rain" by Bruce Hornsby
    "Sharon" by Joni Mitchell
    There's Something So Feminine About A Mandolin" by Jimmy Buffett
    "Hobo's Mandolin" by Tom Rush

    This last one was written by Michael Peter Smith; it's a fine tune, and I was reminded of it on another current thread.

    I'll ask the collective consciousness here, the Mandolin Café memory bank, for other examples of songs in which the word "mandolin" appears in the lyrics. These needn't be songs specifically about mandolins; just a mention is all it takes. Thanks!
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

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    bon vivant jaycat's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics



    at 2.21, fwiw.
    "The paths of experimentation twist and turn through mountains of miscalculations, and often lose themselves in error and darkness!"
    --Leslie Daniel, "The Brain That Wouldn't Die."

    Some tunes: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa1...SV2qtug/videos

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    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    It's worth a lot! I never knew of this song before. See what happens when we put our minds together? Thanks!
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

    Furthering Mandolin Consciousness

    Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!

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    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    Second verse of Greg Brown's Ring Around the Moon:

    You be the mandolin
    I'll be the steel guitar;
    You dance around and grin,
    I'll cry up so far.

    There's a ring around the moon,
    Long long time 'til day;
    Play me one more tune,
    Please don't go away.
    Allen Hopkins
    Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
    Natl Triolian Dobro mando
    Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
    H-O mandolinetto
    Stradolin Vega banjolin
    Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
    Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
    Flatiron 3K OM

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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    Excellent! Another one I didn't know. And both by esteemed artists. The Café is a wonderful resource!
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

    Furthering Mandolin Consciousness

    Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!

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    Registered User Bob Murphy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    Too many Notes by Chris Thile
    Memphis in the Meantime by John Hiatt. ( Sam bush does a great version too)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwhLdr01c6U

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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    Good call on the John Hiatt. This song I even know, and have played it a few times - though not sung it, or I'd have known.

    It's really neither here nor there, but for a couple years I played in an Americana-mostly band and we did "Wagon Wheel" nearly every show. I got the singer to change this bit:

    Runnin' from the cold up in New England
    I was born to be a fiddler in an old-time string band
    My baby plays the guitar, I pick a banjo now

    to "mandolin" instead of "banjo now." It was only fitting and proper, considering our instrumentation.

    This doesn't count for the purpose of this thread, of course. Just crossed my mind ...
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

    Furthering Mandolin Consciousness

    Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!

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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    ..

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    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    With "mandolin" in the lyrics, with "mandolin" in the title, and played on a mandolin. That's a trifecta!

    Can't believe I forgot "The Mandolin Man And His Secret" by Donovan. It's sort of my theme song.



    I remembered "Grandpa's Mandolin," but I forget who did it. Probably a bunch of people.

    Doing a little googling turned up a few songs:

    "Picasso's Mandolin" by Guy Clark
    "Lady, Play Your Mandolin" - of course; I knew that!
    "The Man with the Mandolin" - Glenn Miller
    "Mandolin Summer Sun" by Jamie Lynn Spears
    "Mandolin Moon" by Sister Hazel
    "Darwettia's Mandolin" by Verlon Thompson
    "The Mandolin Song" by Rosenshontz
    "Mandolin" by Spandau Ballet
    "Mandolin" by Moist - Oddly, not in the lyrics, just the title, and played a-plenty in the song



    and "Mandolin" by Taylor Swift



    "Everybody loves that mandolin" - thanks, Taylor!
    Last edited by journeybear; Oct-23-2014 at 12:53am. Reason: finding stuff
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

    Furthering Mandolin Consciousness

    Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!

  13. #10

    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    Hate to spoil the fun of good old collective memory digging, but here's a pretty long list from AZLyrics
    http://search.azlyrics.com/search.ph...in&p=1&w=songs

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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics


  15. #12

    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    even a song about mandocello (or at least that's the title):
    http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/cheap...andocello.html
    OK, sorry, I'll stop there, leave the rest for memory digging...

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    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    Quote Originally Posted by journeybear View Post
    I got the singer to change this bit:

    Runnin' from the cold up in New England
    I was born to be a fiddler in an old-time string band
    My baby plays the guitar, I pick a banjo now

    to "mandolin" instead of "banjo now." It was only fitting and proper, considering our instrumentation.
    Now if this is legal, I'll come up with a Bob Dylan classic: Hey Mr Mandolin Man...
    the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world

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    Registered User Steve VandeWater's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    Now THAT would make some sense! What song could a "tambourine man" play by himself? Ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching. Pretty boring stuff
    It ain't gotta be perfect, as long as it's perfect enough!

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    but that's just me Bertram Henze's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    Quote Originally Posted by van1684 View Post
    Ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching. Pretty boring stuff
    It's called "chopping"
    the world is better off without bad ideas, good ideas are better off without the world

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    sawin' logs Daysleeper's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    Mentioned above, but always worth another listen.
    Guy Clark, with Sam Bush doing the honors, if I'm not mistaken.



    "You can play it straight or play it from left field. You've got to play it just the way you feel."

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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    Quote Originally Posted by Bertram Henze View Post
    Now if this is legal, I'll come up with a Bob Dylan classic: Hey Mr Mandolin Man...
    Absolutely legal - until that version gets put on recorded units for sale. Then some arrangements might have to be made. Since the band is kaput, this is unlikely to occur. Fun while it lasted, though ...
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

    Furthering Mandolin Consciousness

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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    Quote Originally Posted by Geir Kavli View Post
    Hate to spoil the fun of good old collective memory digging, but here's a pretty long list from AZLyrics
    Thanks for that. Interesting to see the same songs google turned up (most of them, anyway) populating the first page of that list. I was bored and impatient and couldn't get to sleep last night; that's how I ended up with my entries. If those conditions persist I may collate the entries from your search. Or you could do the same since a list is better than a link to a list, AFAIC - ease of browsing, you know. But the most curious of all is a song entitled "Mandocello" in which the instrument is not mentioned. Why go to the trouble of digging up the name of a rather obscure instrument for a song title and then not use it in the lyrics? Is that what's being played at the start and end of the song? Ain't that no part of nothing? (From a songwriting angle; typically a title has something to do with the lyrical content. But not always, it would seem ...)

    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

    Furthering Mandolin Consciousness

    Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!

  22. #19

    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    Kane Welch Kaplin: I Wish I Had That Mandolin. (Note Kieran Kane playing an octave mandolin in the song.)


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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    Nice! Well, that puts a different spin on the phrase "parking lot pickin'." Pretty casual stage setup.
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

    Furthering Mandolin Consciousness

    Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!

  24. #21

    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    Just off the top of my head, besides what was already posted (sans the links I did'nt bother looking through)
    I can think of three all Jethro Tull;

    Black Satin Dancer, from the 1976 album Minstrel In The Gallery = "Thin wind whispering on broken mandolin."

    Big Riff And Mando, from the 1989 album Rock Island = "Marty loved the sound of the stolen mandolin.", "Running on the power of the stolen mandolin."

    Sparrow On The Schoolyard Wall, from the 1991 album Catfish Rising = "I don't want to play the piper here. I'm only banging on a mandolin"



    I admit that most people that I know can't stand Jethro Tull, obviously I am not one of them.

  25. #22

    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    "Ruben was strumming his painted mandolin..."

    "Ruben and Cherise"


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    Mando accumulator allenhopkins's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    I believe Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick played Mandocello on a mandocello, hence the name.

    In fact, here he is live with his Ovation:

    Allen Hopkins
    Gibsn: '54 F5 3pt F2 A-N Custm K1 m'cello
    Natl Triolian Dobro mando
    Victoria b-back Merrill alumnm b-back
    H-O mandolinetto
    Stradolin Vega banjolin
    Sobell'dola Washburn b-back'dola
    Eastmn: 615'dola 805 m'cello
    Flatiron 3K OM

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    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    Live too, eh? How about that? Yes, on the record, as far as I could hear, it's just there for the intro and outro. I dunno maybe not. Here, it's all the way. No relation to the lyrics that I can see. But there 'tis!

    Thanks for those, Ruth. I was a big fan of Jethro Tull early on, lost interest somewhere along the way, after "War Child" pretty much, so those songs don't ring a bell. Glad they do with you. Garcia-Hunter - shouldn't be too surprised by that. Glad this notion is giving people a chance to flex their memory muscles.
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

    Furthering Mandolin Consciousness

    Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!

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    Default Re: Mandolin Mentioned In Song Lyrics

    Alabama Jubilee! Well, I'll be! This is something I never knew, and I've been playing this song for nearly 35 years. To be sure, like so many songs from this era, all most folks know or play is the refrain. But in this, the original version, there are two verses, and the first leads off with "Mandolins, violins, hear the darkies tunin' up, the fun begins." Of course, like a lot of songs from those days, there's a bit of racism in the lyrics. What I find interesting, though, is how the word "mandolins" is put right up front, ahead of "violins." I can't help thinking this is also a product of the times, as mandolins were still enjoying widespread popularity. Lastly, I find it rather odd how the singer pronounces "Ju-bye-lee." Never heard THAT before!
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

    Furthering Mandolin Consciousness

    Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!

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