Lucy Wan

from Never So Red by Frankie Archer

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about

As a female folk musician it’s irritating and boring when, in song after song, women are murdered, raped, deceived, burned - you name it - by men. Lucy Wan is a perfect example of this. Man impregnates woman, man murders woman, lies about it to his mother, runs away and ultimately gets away with it. What is the moral of the story? Folk songs don’t need to have morals of course, but this story is a harmfully overused archetype. And the stereotype of the woman as the voiceless victim is really not worth perpetuating. I wanted to give a voice to Lucy in my version of the song, because in most renditions all she can do is cry and tell her brother he has made her pregnant, and that’s all we hear from her before her brother kills her. I gave Lucy Wan power and a voice in the song, just as she and endless other women in endless other folk songs deserve.

This is a re-arranged version of my previously released Lucy Wan.

lyrics

Lucy she sits in her father's door
Weeping and making moan
By in comes her brother dear
What ails thee Lucy Wan

I ail I ail dear brother she cries
I'll tell you the reason why
There is a child between my sides
Between you dear brother and I

Hast thou told our mother of this
And hast thou told of me
It's your fine form I cannot resist
I must spoil your pretty body

Lucy she saw him draw the knife
That's hung down by his knee
And he he has took fair Lucy's life
And left her there to bleed

He has run down to the dock
To board some ship to flee
His face all white and ill with shock
When he his mother did see

What is the blood that stains your knife
That runs so fresh and raw
That is the blood of my good greyhound
For she would run no more

The greyhound's blood is never so red
Son come tell to me
Then it is the blood of my good grey mare
She would not ride for me

Oh the grey mare's blood is never so red
Son you lie to me
It is not the blood of my good grey mare
But the blood of our Lucy

By night he laid down his head
Upon the cold dark sea
A spirit drew up by his bed
Vengeance for to seek

Lucy she appeared so fine
Her body cut in three
Brother I will haunt thy mind
For what you did to me

By he is possessed with shame
He ails with guilt and dread
He's pushed the knife in his own heart
And now he's laid there dead

credits

from Never So Red, track released November 3, 2023
Trad arr. Frankie Archer
Recorded and produced by Frankie Archer and Jim Moray
Mixed by Jim Moray
Mastered by Piper Payne
Artwork by Frankie Archer
Supported by Help Musicians

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Frankie Archer Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK

electrofolk 🪩🎻 pre-order Never So Red EP

Frankie Archer is fresh on the scene and shaking up genres and traditions, sharing the lesser told sides of stories, championing women, challenging perspectives and calling for a fairer future, all to a unique mix of synths, manipulated samples, drum tracks and earthy Northumbrian fiddle and voice. ... more

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