This site is now one year old! A time to review how things have gone so far… The idea was that the site would be my “virtual notebook” on traditional songs that have their origins in the Music Halls, and provide a resource for people that want to sing these songs, or who are curious about their origins.
My feeling is that knowing where a song comes from is an enriching thing – it can add to the enjoyment of singing it. It doesn’t mean that there is a right way to sing a song, or an exact set of words that should be used without deviation. I can appreciate that for some folks the mystery is part of the allure of the songs, and they enjoy the mystery of not knowing. For those people this is probably not a website to investigate!
I also intended to write about the social history of the Halls, but I’ve done rather less of this than I expected! The more I investigate Music Hall, the more I realise that there is much more to know! I have started find out more about the differences between the Halls in the so-called “provinces” (as everywhere outside of London tends to be referred to in the contemporary accounts) and London. The Halls played a role in the forging of a National British Culture and Character, but at the same time at different points in their history reflected what was going on in particular localities. More on this, and other attempts at general conclusions, in due course…
Investigating and writing about the songs has been addictive – there are now around 230 song stories, with no prospect of me running out any time soon – there are around a hundred songs on my “to do” list and no reason to think I won’t be adding more! In my mind my excuse has been that I need to get to know my subject well enough before starting to draw crazy conclusions! In reality this is only half the truth… Tracing the history of individual song can be difficult and frustrating, but it has an endpoint!
Last Updated on December 6, 2020 by John Baxter | Published: December 6, 2020
