I do miss my extended family

[maribou]

The last time I was home I never saw one of my uncles, my godfather, because there were so many things to do and I knew he wouldn't be fashed that I spent my day scrabbling in springy dales and looking at eagles' nests instead of coming to visit him ... and I just spent some time listening (and relistening) to a copy of a folksong tape he made my grandfather, and now I have a missing on me for him, specifically, and for my aunt his wife and for their house and their family and their kindness and their aesthetic.

So I took the time to copy out one of the songs on the tape. Which I thought someone told me he wrote but then again Google suggests it might be Bob Teesdale's; call it unattributed for now I guess ... anyway, it's awfully like him and it made good company while baking.



I went to a dance one Saturday night
The band was alive and the dance hall was bright
No snobs, no starin', no fightin', no swearin'
They all had a wonderful time

There were circles and swingin', chasin' and leapin'
Old folks and young kids and all in between
Dancers and lancers and would you believe it
I didn't know one of their names

Dancin' with strangers
And havin' a ball
It's hard to believe
That there's places on Earth
Where they never go dancin' at all

There's the round dance and square dance, dancin' in kitchens
Tamarack 'er down while you're kneadin' the biscuits
Trees in the wind and the bees in the flowers
There's dancin' in wheelchairs and in swimmin' pools

You can line up your pencils to dance at your meetin'
Dance in the shower while the cold water's heatin'
Rain dance and sun dance and charity fun dance
Just let loose your life and kick up your heels

Dancin' with strangers
And havin' a ball
It's hard to believe
That there's places on Earth
Where they never go dancin' at all

So let's have a dance at that UN convention
Let's have a dance and forget the election
Of bigwigs and boring old pseudo-dictators
Who don't seem to know what it means to

Go dancin' and prancin' and laughin' together
Like kids in the park and like birds of a feather
This world can't survive if we don't love our neighbour
And learn to make room on the dance floor for all

Dancin' with strangers
And havin' a ball
It's hard to believe
That there's places on Earth
Where they never go dancin' at all

And I want to believe
That someday this world will be
A place where there'll always
Be dancin' for all