Silver Dagger (song)

"Silver Dagger"
Song by Joan Baez from the album Joan Baez
Released 1960
Genre Folk
Label Vanguard
Composer Traditional
Language English
Joan Baez track listing

"Silver Dagger"
(1)		 East Virginia
(2)

"Silver Dagger", or "Katy Dear", is an American folk ballad, first published in 1907. It likely traces its roots to the British Isles of late 19th century, though possibly much earlier.[1]

In "Silver Dagger", the narrator turns away a potential suitor, as her mother has warned her to avoid the advances of men in an attempt to spare her daughter the heartbreak that she herself has endured. The 1960 recording by Joan Baez features only a few of the many verses in the 1907 version. "Katy Dear" uses the same melody but different lyrics, telling a similar story from a different perspective.[2]

History

"Katie Dear" was brought into country music in the 1930s, recorded by the Callahan Brothers in 1934, and by the Blue Sky Boys in 1938. (Country music authority Bill C. Malone states that the Callahan Brothers learned traditional ballads like "Katie Dear" from their mother). In 1956 it was recorded by the Louvin Brothers. The song was part of the repertoire of the Country Gentlemen, who toured both the bluegrass and folk music circuits during the 1950s and 1960s. In the early 1960s, "Katie Dear" was recorded by folk revival musicians, including Joan Baez, and Ian & Sylvia. Today it is commonly performed and recorded by bluegrass musicians.

The disagreement of the title and some lyrics are a result of the song being handed down through the unwritten, oral tradition for several decades, where each performer would undoubtedly and sometimes unknowingly add their own nuances to the song. However, the melody and events depicted in the song are so similar that most musicologists believe that these two songs trace back to one original source.

Lyrics

"Silver Dagger" as sung by Joan Baez

Don't sing love songs; you'll wake my mother
She's sleeping here, right by my side
And in her right hand, a silver dagger
She says that I can't be your bride.

All men are false, says my mother
They'll tell you wicked, lovin' lies
The very next evening, they'll court another
Leave you alone to pine and sigh.

My daddy is a handsome devil
He's got a chain five miles long
And on every link a heart does dangle
Of another maid he's loved and wronged.

Go court another tender maiden
And hope that she will be your wife
For I've been warned and I've decided
To sleep alone all of my life.
"Katy Dear" as sung by Ian & Sylvia

Oh, Katy Dear, go ask your father
If you might be a bride of mine
If he says yes then come and tell me
If he says no, we'll run away.

I cannot go and ask my father
For he is on his bed of rest
And by his side there's a golden dagger
To pierce the heart I love the best.

Oh Katy Dear, go ask your mother
If you might be a bride of mine
If she says yes then come and tell me
If she says no, we'll run away.

I cannot go and ask my mother
For she is on her bed of rest
And by her side there's a silver dagger
To pierce the heart I love the best.

He picked up a silver dagger
He pierced it through his wounded breast
Farewell Katy, farewell darling
I'll die for the one I love the best.

She picked up the bloody weapon
She pierced it through her snow-white breast
Farewell Momma Farewell Poppa
I'll go with the one I love the best.

Recordings and performances

The song has also been widely performed and recorded by bluegrass musicians, as many songs thought of as traditionally bluegrass songs actually trace back to what is now known as "old-time" music.

20th century

21st century

Adaptations

See also

References

  1. ↑ Roud 711 Vaughan Williams Memorial Library entry
  2. ↑ Lyle Lofgren. "Remembering The Old Songs: KATIE DEAR (Laws G21)." 2002-03. Inside Bluegrass. Retrieved 2010-12-15.

External links

http://www.dansher.com/band/SilverDagger.pdf - Words and chords to Silver Dagger