John McCutcheon's Four Seasons:
Autumnsongs
Grammy Nominated!

Personnel

Formats

Compact Disk: Rounder CD: 8037 Cassette: Rounder CS: 8037

Lyrics

It's Fall
words & music by John McCutcheon & Si Kahn

John: vocal & guitar
Pete: mandolin
JT: vocal & bass
Jos: drums & percussion
Bob: percussion
Carroll: vocal & piano
Bobby: clarinet
D'earth: trumpet
Doug: trombone

Sheep are sheared to spin and weave
Farmers bringing in the sheaves
Autumn comes and autumn leaves
    It's fall, that's all
Summertime has come and gone
Winter soon'll be coming on
We've got three months to sing this song
    It's fall, that's all

Chorus:

It's fall, that's all
I really must confess
Of the summer and the winter and the springtime, too
It's autumn I love best
Fire in the fireplace, pumpkin in the yard
Give me a choice it ain't too hard
It's fall, that's all

End of summer, back to school
Days are getting short and cool
Better drain the water from the pool
    It's fall, that's all
What's that smell that's in the air?
Leaves are rustling everywhere
It's time for woolen underwear
    It's fall, that's all

Labor Day and Halloween
Garden lying picked and clean
There's sunsets like you've never seen
    It's fall, that's all
The world turns yellow, orange, then red
At grandma's house we will all be fed
On pumpkin pie and gingerbread
    It's fall, that's all

©1997 John McCutcheon/Appalsongs (ASCAP) and Joe Hill Music (ASCAP)

New Kid in School
words & music by John McCutcheon & Si Kahn

for Will

John: vocal & guitar
Michael: electric piano & synthesizer
Pete: electric guitar
JT: vocal & bass
Jos: drums
Kevin: percussion
Bob: percussion
Carroll: vocal

Wouldn't you know I'm the first one at the bus stop
Everyone else knows it's late
I'm the only one with dark, curly hair
Everyone else is blonde and straight
All the other kids seem to know one another
This is my very first day
Why did Mom have to move, what have I got to prove
I wish I was a million miles away

Chorus

I'm the new kid in a new school
The first day is a hundred hours long
Please, please
Everything I do I know is wrong

I'm in the very last desk in the very last row
In the very last room in the hall
If I could turn into a bird and fly right out this window
I'm sure no one here would miss me at all
Everyone is standing up to talk about their summers
The teacher's looking over here
I swear to my soul I wish this floor would grow and hole
So I could drop right in and disappear    Chorus

Bridge

I'm in the wrong clothes
I'm in the wrong seat
I'm in the wrong class to be cool
I've got the wrong nose
I've got the wrong feet
I've the whole year ahead to play to fool

I know everyone else likes one another
And I know that they all hate me
This is so much bigger, this is so much meaner
Than my old school used to be
I know I'm never gonna make, I'm gonna have to fake it
I never have felt so all alone
And I really can't believe that at 3:00 I'll leave
And I'll be glad to see my sister at home    Chorus

©1997 John McCutcheon/Appalsongs (ASCAP) and Joe Hill Music (ASCAP)

The Pumpkin Man
words & music by John McCutcheon

In 1972 I was working in a community center in Knoxville, TN. In October I
brought in pumpkins for the kids to carve and one of the children, growing
up in an urban setting with no yard or garden, had never seen an uncarved
pumpkin and had no idea what it was. Stranded in a waiting room a few days
later this song sprouted.

John: vocal, guitar, banjo & fiddle
Pete: mandolin
JT: bass & vocal
Jos: drums
Carroll: vocal

There's something in my garden
So big and orange and round
It started just a little seed
When I stuck it in the ground
But now it doesn't look at all
Like what it did last spring
Hey, won't somebody tell me
What the heck you call this thing?

Chorus

Oh, the pumpkin man
With a big, round head
Smile so bright
And eyes so red
I wish jack-o-lanterns hung from the sky
And the seas were made of pumpkin pie

My mommy and my daddy
My dog and my pal, John
Ran out to the garden
To see what was going on
My mommy said, "It's squash, my son"
My daddy called it spice
John just laughed and my dog just barked
And jumped up once or twice    Chorus

Then John said, "Ain't you never seen
"A pumpkin plant before?
"Why, you carve 'em up for Halloween
"And you stick 'em right by your door
"With two big eyes and a funny nose
"And a toothy smile below
"Then you stick a candle in its head
"To make the whole thing glow"    Chorus

So now I grow up pumpkins
For my neighbors all around
But still I just don't understand
How they get so big and round
My mommy says, "It's nature"
My dad says, "A miracle"
John just laughs and my dog just barks
And I like that best of all    Chorus

©1973 John McCutcheon/Appalsongs (ASCAP)

Halloween
words & music by John McCutcheon and Si Kahn

John: vocal & electric guitar
Michael: organ
Pete: electric guitar
JT: vocal & bass
Jos: drums & percussion
Bob: chains
Kevin: congas
Carroll: vocal & maniacal laughter

On the last day of October
When the air is turning cold
Strange things happen in our neighborhood
Young people turn into old
Old folks turn into goblins
Boys and girls turn into bums
We just turned into your driveway
Halloween, here we come

Chorus

Just one night: I'm no one you'll recognize
Just one night: I'm no one you'll know
Just one night: I'm allowed to fantasize
Halloween, here we go!

Everyone tries to be scary
Nobody tries to be scared
Everybody's fixin' to do a little trickin'
And nobody's gonna be spared
There's apple bobbin' down in the basement
Candy and there's treats at the door
Where the dead meet the living and the taking meets the giving
Nothing is the same anymore    Chorus

On Halloween everything's possible
On Halloween the false is true
On Halloween it's always a scream
To see what ordinary people might do
Tonight the world's turned upside down
Nothing's like it was in the light
I crawl, I cry, I swoop, I fly
And I gotta do it all tonight

©1997 John McCutcheon/Appalsongs (ASCAP) and Joe Hill Music (ASCAP)

World Series '57
words & music by John McCutcheon & Si Kahn
for Dad

In 1957 the Milwaukee Braves beat the New York Yankees for the only World
Series title in Wisconsin's history. My father and I would watch Braves'
games on television each Saturday. It was always the highlight of my week.
For the less rabid baseball fan, here is the interpretation of Braves
personnel: Warren Spahn (LHP), Red Schoendienst (2B), Johnny Logan (SS),
Lew Burdette (RHP...Series MVP who won 3 games!), Andy Pafko (OF), Wes
Covington (OF), Felix Mantilla (2B), Joe Adcock (1B), Henry Aaron (OF),
Eddie Matthews (3B), and my life-long hero, catcher Del Crandall.

John: vocal, 6 & 12-string guitars
Pete: mandolin
JT: bass & vocal
Jos: drums
Carroll: vocal

It was cool in October the year I turned five
The wind off the Lake made you feel so alive
Oh, the Yankees were coming like a force out of heaven
For the World Series in '57
There was Spahnie and Red, Johnny Logan and Lew
Pafko, Wes, Felix, and Joe Adcock, too
There was Henry and Eddie and my hero, Del
Right there on the TV I remember it well

Chorus

It's the Star Spangled Banner
At the top of your lungs
Take me out to the ballgame
Like when we were young
I'll remember each play
To the end of my days
In the land of the free
And the home of the Braves

Though we took it in seven it was all for the show
We were toying with Casey and a good chance of snow
For fans in Wisconsin are tough women and men
And it's warmed all our hearts each October since then    Chorus

Bridge

When a town loved a team
And a team loved a town
And you cheered for your heroes
Even when they were down
The crack of the bat
The jump of the ball
The roar of the crowd
As it cleared the far wall

So now every autumn I gather my kids
And I tell them about the Brave deeds that we did
My Dad and the TV trays out in the den
And I feel like I'm five in the Series again

It's the Star Spangled Banner
At the top of your lungs
Take me out to the ballgame
Like when we were young
I'll remember each play
To the end of my days
Oh, say can you see
My old man and me
In the land of the free
And the home of the Braves

©1997 John McCutcheon/Appalsongs (ASCAP) and Joe Hill Music (ASCAP)

Bird Dog
words & music by John McCutcheon & Si Kahn

John: vocal & high-strung guitar
Michael: organ
Pete: electric guitar
JT: bass
Jos: drums & percussion
Kevin: percussion

I was trained to point and fetch
Beneath the hunter's gun
But at the trials I failed my test
'Cause I love everyone
No bird has ever done me harm
And I wish them no ill
And though I will not hunt at all
I am a bird dog still

Chorus

I am a bird dog watch me fly
My nose into the wind
Leaping through the sky
With my fine feathered friends
Oh, our lives are much too short
And our time is not our own
May I live and die
A faithful bird dog

I do not try to disappoint
Or mean to disobey
There is no reason you'd suspect
I'd go another way
For we are born to what we are
With choices we must make
I see no point in taking sides
I see no sides to take    Chorus

This is the mystery at the heart:
You would fly if just you could
And ever faithful I would keep you
Safe within the wood
Some think that when you lose your dreams
You come crashing to the ground
Still others fear the thing they love
And live to bring it down    Chorus

©1997 John McCutcheon/Appalsongs (ASCAP) and Joe Hill Music (ASCAP)

Campfire
words & music by John McCutcheon & Si Kahn

John: vocal & hammer dulcimer
Michael: synthesizer
JT: vocal & bass
Pete: electric guitar
Jos: drums
Kevin: percussion
Carroll: vocal
Bobby: sax
D'earth: trumpet

Put some burgers on the grill
Hot dogs all around them
Turn them lots so they don't burn
You just want to brown them

Chorus

Put the tinder on the bottom
Pile the kindling higher
Stack the logs across the top
Ready, set—campfire!

Wrap some baked potaters up
In aluminum foil
Put them underneath the coals
Just above the soil    Chorus

Take some corn ears in their husks
Taters right beside 'em
Nothing's sweet as fresh-baked corn
Can't wait 'til you tried 'em    Chorus

Marshmallows on a stick
Toast like on a griddle
Graham crackers on the top and the bottom
And the chocolate in the middle    Chorus

©1997 John McCutcheon/Appalsongs (ASCAP) and Joe Hill Music (ASCAP)

Thanksgiving Day
words & music by John McCutcheon & Si Kahn

for John & Rosemary

John: vocal
Michael: piano

Chorus

Thankful for the food
Thankful for the company
Thankful for the things
That we do and say
Thankful for the friends
Thankful for the family
Glad to be together
On Thanksgiving Day

On the edge of season here in late November
Autumn nearly over and winter in the air
We have good reason to pause and remember
The blessing that we share    Chorus

Let us remember those gone before us
The ones with the brain and the strength and the might
Showed us the way, laid it before us
Turned the darkness into light    Chorus

Let us imagine those still in waiting
The ones who look so open-eyed
Those who'll one day rise before us
Strong and proud prepared to guide    Chorus

May the ways that we treat others
Be the measure of our worth
May our memory be a blessing
On the future of this earth    Chorus

©1997 John McCutcheon/Appalsongs (ASCAP) and Joe Hill Music (ASCAP)

Natural Disaster
words & music by John McCutcheon and Si Kahn

for Emily

John: vocal & electric guitar
Michael: organ
Pete: electric guitar
JT: bass & vocal
Jos: drums & percussion
Carroll: vocal
Bobby: sax
D'earth: trumpet

When she came home from the hospital
She was quiet as a mouse
Things were pretty normal here
Around our house
Now my Mama's lookin' tired and Daddy's lookin' grim
The dog is in the backyard and he won't come in

Chorus

Grandpa heads for cover
Little sister shakes
The whole house trembles
When the baby wakes
Ain't seen nothing like her
We got a new master
She's a six-month-old
Natural disaster

She won't eat at the table
She won't sit on my lap
She'll unplug all the lamps and telephones
She'll never take a nap
The neighbors called to say that she is keeping 'em up at night
We can't get a baby-sitter something's just not right

Bridge:

She's a tropical depression
She's buildin' up steam
She's a hurricane season
And a real bad scene
A tiny tornado
In the driving snow
She's a mini-volcano
And she's rarin' to blow

I wonder how it happened that she's such a little pill
Mom says she'll grow out of it but I don't think she will
Dad says he remembers and one thing that he is sure:
When I was her age and I twice as bad as her

Bridge 2:

She flushed the goldfish down the toilet
Put the puppy down the chute
She put the butter in the dryer
She put ice cream in my boot
She put her diaper in the microwave
Kitty litter in the tea
Broke the lamp on the piano
And then she blamed it all on me!

©1997 John McCutcheon/Appalsongs (ASCAP) and Joe Hill Music (ASCAP)

Colors
words & music by John McCutcheon and Si Kahn

John: vocal, hammer dulcimer & guitar
Michael: piano
Pete: electric guitar
JT: bass
Jos: drums
Bobby: soprano sax

It was a Tuesday, I remember
After school this last September
Walking home I chanced to see
My very favorite maple tree
On every twig and branch it seemed
Was every color I have dreamed
And not just patches here and there
But every color everywhere

In springtime every twig would sprout
A tiny bud, came peeking out
They lift their heads and spread their wings
When rivers flood and robins sing
The leaves turn green and then grow ripe
To every color, every type
Then finally, in the wind, let go
To fall and paint the earth below

The roots so deep, the trunk so high
Her arms reach up into the sky
Through her veins all colors run
From everywhere to everyone

Bridge:

What on earth would autumn do
If every leaf were just one hue
If every tree were just the same
As any other tree you'd name?
For they drink from common ground
And feel the same sun smiling down
A hundred colors in one tree
Is much more beautiful to me

It was so beautiful I guessed
My heart might fly right out my chest
How is it what you see each day
Can still surprise you in this way?
The way the colors blend and dance
Is more than something left to chance
It finally occurred to me
This is the way it's meant to be

The roots so deep, the trunk so high
She is a rainbow in the fall
Through her veins all colors run
From everywhere to everyone

©1997 John McCutcheon/Appalsongs (ASCAP) and Joe Hill Music (ASCAP)

Sí Se Puede
words & music by John McCutcheon
additional verses by Great Labor Arts Exchange

Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) was the founder and leader of the United Farm
Workers, the labor union representing the migrant farm workers in North
America's agricultural industry. He was a powerful and charismatic leader,
though humble and unassuming. He appeared in my high school when I was
growing up, encouraging students to get involved in and support the grape
boycott. "¡Sí se puede!" ("Yes, we can!") was his repeated encouragement
to his audiences and his fellow workers.

John: vocal, guitar, & hammer dulcimer
Michael: synthesizer
Pete: electric guitar
JT: vocal & bass
Jos: drums & percussion
Kevin: percussion
Carroll: vocal
Bobby: sax
D'earth: trumpet

Chorus

Sí se puede, yes we can
Every woman, child, and man
If together we will stand
Sí se puede, yes we can
Sí se puede, yes we can

Viva la lucha, Sí se puede (2x)
Hurrah for the Struggle, yes we can!
Viva la heulga, Sí se puede
Hurrah for the Strike, yes we can!
Sí se puede, yes we can

Una victoria grande (3x)
A great victory
Sí se puede, yes we can

Paz y libertad (3x)
Peace and freedom
Sí se puede, yes we can

En mí familia (2x)
In my family
En mí comunidad
In my community
Sí se puede, yes we can

En todo el barrio
In all the neighborhood
En todo el camp
In all the countryside (or field)
En todas Las Americas
In all the Americas
Sí se puede, yes we can

En todo el mundo (3x)
In the whole world
Sí se puede, yes we can

©1997 John McCutcheon/Appalsongs (ASCAP)

Labor Day
words & music by John McCutcheon & Si Kahn

The original celebration of Labor was May 1st, commemorating those workers
killed in Chicago's Haymarket demonstrations for the 8-hour day on May 1,
1886. Most countries around the world still celebrate Labor Day on May 1st.

John: vocal
Michael: piano & organ
Pete: electric guitar
JT: vocal & bass
Jos: drums & percussion
Carroll: vocal & accordion
Mike, Deme, Mary Ann: harmony vocals

In school we learn the well-known names
The ones whose money was their fame
Who ran the railroads, bought the West
Today we mention all the rest
Who blazed the trail that brought us here
Whose family names we'll never hear
Who laid the track and dug the coal
The brain and muscle, heart and soul

Chorus

Labor Day, Labor Day
September or the first of May
To all who work this world we say
Happy Labor Day

The ones who work behind the plow
The ones who stand and will not bow
The ones who care for home and child
The ones who labor meek and mild
The ones who work a thousand ways
That we might celebrate this day
The ones who raise our cities tall
For those who labor, one and all    Chorus

In history books I often find
That children worked in mill and mine
No time to play, to learn, or grow
Just send 'em in or down below
Today too many have forgot
The goals for which our parents fought
When I grow up I hope to be
As strong as those who fought for me    Chorus

©1997 John McCutcheon/Appalsongs (ASCAP) and Joe Hill Music (ASCAP)