In 1982 Hiske and I were doing a lot of busking and constantly looking for new and entertaining songs to sing on the street. Old English folk songs seemed very popular so we decided to write this light-hearted little ditty making fun of what seemed to be a standard format for so many English folk songs. (For the record, I love old English folks songs :) It proved quite popular.
AN
ENGLISH FOLK SONG
I am an English folk song and I go like this
If I had a sir in front of my name you could call me Sir
John
But I’m not Sir John
I am an English folk song and I go like this
CHORUS
I’m not Dutch
G for German
F for French
I am an English folk song and I go like this
I must be sung through the nose
Or they won’t know what you say
You’ll be hearing me a hundred years from now
Once century to the next
And I use the same chords every year
So you won’t get confused
And I wouldn’t be an English folk song
If I didn’t go like this
CHORUS
Michael Coghlan/Hiske Weijers 1982)
