FAWM: "Last time that the Hudson froze"

Last time that the Hudson froze

1 week ago by @mikeskliar

Last time that the Hudson froze

mikeskliar

00:00

Liner Notes

#shanty #oldtime #handdrum #harmonica #acapella #protest
This is a strange little (and hopefully fun ) experiment and a bit of a sideways protest about our modern times. I had read an article about the Hudson River here in NYC (the Hudson divides Manhattan from New Jersey, and flows north up to Albany, etc) and it regularly froze over around NYC in the late 1700s and a few times in the 1800's. (There's some dispute about the last time it froze completely where you could walk from NYC to Jersey, but that might have been back in 1821. Anyway, you'll see what i did here.

The recording is totally live- played both this old middle eastern hand drum and harmonica, and sang when not playing the harmonica- and recorded the whole thing on my iPhone, added a little reverb, etc and ... here ya go. Enjoy!

Lyrics

Last time that the Hudson froze
You could walk to Hoboken
In eighteen hundred twenty one
Didn’t need no subway token

Last time that the Hudson froze
It was cold, minus thirty
In the winter of 1821 / I froze my hurdy-gurdy

The last time the Hudson River froze
No one had indoor plumbing
And no one could guess at all
That Bob Dylan was coming

The last time the Hudson River froze
New York pizza was non-existent
The Ubers they were always late
And service not consistent

The last time that the Hudson froze
Only white men had the vote
You think those days won’t come again
You better check the footnotes

The last time the Hudson River froze
A civil war was a comin’
Now the river will no longer freeze
Can you hear that drumbeat drummin’

Comments

@nancyrostMod 25m

Lol at "I froze my hurdygurdy" and many many subsequent lines. I really like this witty, light-touch approach to a message song. This would be a great one to perform live.

@tcelliott 1d

I love the arrangement. What a great way to make this feel 150 years gold but still sound modern.

@nancycunning 1d

Mike - I'm so impressed that you can drum like this while you blow your harp and sing. It's felt awfully close to cold enough to walk across the Hudson lately. The harmonica with that drumbeat sounds a little like the fifes that march around on the other side of the Hudson in Fort Lee in commemoration of some Revolutionary battle or other. I like the way you slide all the modern bits into the historical - like AI gone a little awry. And the way the warnings stay quiet - feels like this song could be sung for many decades into the future.

@janeg 3d

I guess Ubers were VERY late. Nice lead-in to modern worries. What year will the civil war start, I wonder.

@blindkiwi 1w

Love it Mike, especially the last 2 verses. Spot on 😎

@andyr 1w

A lot of fun @mikeskliar. And I write about climate change. If you poke through New York Times archives you can see annual reports of the Hudson River "ice crop" and of failures in warm years. https://www.nytimes.com/1870/02/22/archives/the-ice-crop-of-the-hudson-distress-among-the-ice-mena-season-of.html

@sploiber 1w

I love it @mikeskliar. A good laugh and love the historical references.

@leencha 1w

Wow this is cool! This throws me back in history. Really like your aproach here.

@siasa 1w

This is really super fun, but I love the serious intent of the lyrics. Harmonica and hand drum - you've inspired me!

@wrenarcher 1w

Whoa. I was like, "this is such a fun song!" And totally impressed by your ability to do all that live. But wow... the last two verses. Like DuctapeGuy said, "... a bit ominous..."

Really well done Mike.
This is a good one.

@ductapeguyMod 1w

Froze my hurdy gurdy. Ha! So many clever, clever lines.

The last couplet is more than a bit ominous and speaks to current political upheaval. Well played.

@billwhite51 1w

funny that you mention the civil war because, right from the start, the drum and harmonica sounded like the beginning of a civil was song,,but i thought it was accidental as the war took place over thirty years after the song takes place. and by the en, it struck ne that might have been intentional. anyway, th arrangement works very well, and the changes in new york over the years range from funny to tragic.