Traditional Song at the Movies
An addendum
Just in time for the 96th Academy Awards, everyone’s favourite traditional song website Tradfolk.co published an article by Matt Quinn and myself, where we showcase some of our favourite examples of folk songs in films. If you haven’t seen it, check it out. If you have, and would like to see more, read on. The first twelve I stumbled across by accident, the rest are from Matt’s extensive and ever-expanding collection.
(Of course, if you know of any more, please let us know in the comments.)
1917 - actor Jos Slovick sings an a capella version of Wayfaring Stranger (Roud 3339):
The Lighthouse, a 2019 film about two men going insane in a lighthouse, contains a number of sea shanties; here is Yellow Gals / Doodle Let me Go (RN3221).
Black is the Colour (Roud 3103) appears in the moving documentary “The Road, A Story of Life and Death” which looks at a diverse group of people who have chosen London as their home. It features Keelta singing the song in an Irish pub.
Here's renowned actor @MickJagger doing a great version of The Wild Colonial Boy (Roud 677) in the 1970 biopic Ned Kelly. Apparently he's in a band as well? He's got skills.
Ben Wheatley’s surreal folk horror A Field In England (2013) contains a haunting version of Lady Anne Bothwell's Lament (Roud 2864)
A lost gem of British filmmaking, Ken Loach's 1979 Black Jack is available to watch in full on Youtube. The soundtrack was by Bob Pegg. Here he is singing Fare Thee Well (Roud 422)
Inside Llewyn Davis is a film about an American folksinger trying to make it big in the early 1960s. It contains a number of traditional songs, including this version of Queen Jane (roud 77) performed by Oscar Isaacs.
(worth watching to the end for F Murray Abrams’ brutal assessment)
Robert Shaw - Spanish Ladies (Roud 687) twice in his career in 1957, then again 18 years later.
Little known actor John Travolta singing Barbara Allen (Roud 54) in A Love Song for Bobby Long (2004)
Wicker Man: Most of the music is composed by Paul Giovanni, but trad songs include the Robert Burns poem Corn Rigs (Roud 32476), and a bawdy version of Gently Johnny (Roud 5586) which can be seen in the director’s cut,
Not the first place you'd look for a traditional song, but Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) starts with Green Sally Up (Roud 21738) playing over the opening credits - it’s actually the 1959 recording by Alan Lomax, but is used as a sample in Moby’s well known hit “Flowers”.
There is a whole film about folk song collecting in the Appalachian mountains. Songcatcher (2000) is a story examining the life of a song collector, and her romantic motivations. As you might expect, it’s full of traditional songs, like this beautiful rendition from Iris DeMent.
And from Matt Quinn, whose list continues to expand:
Bonny George Campbell (Roud 338) - Billy Connelly - A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
I Know Where I’m Going (Roud 5701) - Unknown - I Know Where I’m Going (1945)
The Water is Wide (Roud 87) - Barry Dransfield - The Bounty (1984)
Jim Jones at Botany Bay (Roud 5478) - Jennifer Jason Leigh - The Hateful Eight (2015)
Here We Come A Wassailing (Roud 209) - Winona Ryder, Claire Danes, Kristin Durnst and Trini Alvarado - Little Women (1994)
-at 28s
Jolly Sailor Bold (Roud V15363) - Mermaid - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)
at 1min 20s
The Bold Grenadier - Isla Cameron - Far From The Madding Crowd (1967)
The Parting Glass (Roud 3004) - Various - The Walking Dead S3/E1
One Morning In May (Roud 140) - Aisling Franciosi- The Nightingale (2019)
Early One Morning (Roud 12682) - Hayley Mills - Pollyanna (1960)
Wild Mountain Thyme (Roud 541) - Bill Nighy - Their Finest (2016)
Spanish Ladies (Roud 687) - Various - Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
Let No Man Steal your Thyme (Roud 3) appears in the 2015 adaptation of Far From the Madding Crowd, featuring Carey Mulligan and Michael Sheen
Barbara Allen (Roud 54) - Emily Rossum - Songcatcher (2000)
Spanish Ladies (Roud 687) - Various - Homicide: Life On The Street S1/E2
- 46mins 2s
Bushes And Briars (Roud 1027) - Julie Christie - Far From The Madding Crowd (1967)
Wild Mountain Thyme (Roud 451) - Emily Blunt - Wild Mountain Thyme (2020)
Shenandoah (Roud 324) - Various - The Reptile (1966)
https://archive.org/details/the-reptile - 14mins 3s
Blow the Man Down (Roud 2624) - Jim Parsons & Kaley Cuoco - The Big Bang Theory S2/E18
Three Jolly Rogues Of Lynn (Roud 130) - Edna Best - Swiss Family Robinson (1940)
at 2mins 32s
The Lincolnshire Poacher (Roud 299) - Various - The Blue Lamp (1950)
https://archive.org/details/TheBlueLamp1950 - 13mins 22s
The Keeper (adapted) (Roud 1519) - Lester Matthews and others - Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950)
- 36mins 28s
The Keeper (adapted) (Roud 1519) - Lester Matthews and others - Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950)
- 36mins 28s
Let Your Back And Sides Go Bare (Roud 1573) - Leslie Denison - The Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946)
- 53mins 54s
The Unfortunate Lad (Roud 2) - Brendan Gleeson - The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs (2018)
The Unfortunate Rake (Roud 2) - Ian McShane - Deadwood
Blow The Man Down (Roud 2624) - Randy Newman as The Singing Bush - The Three Amigos! (1986)
When I Was Single (rewritten) (Roud 654) - Debbie Reynolds - How The West Was Won
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0077dtl/how-the-west-was-won - 14mins 42s
Barbara Allen (Roud 54) - Porky Pig - Robin Hood Daffy (1958)
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1280356739136673 at 5mins 12s
Outlandish Knight (Roud 21) - Hugh Williams - David Copperfield (1935)
Addendum
Of course there are plenty of examples where the video is not available online (yet) - here’s a selection:
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) includes a couple of traditional songs amongst Carter Burwell’s beautiful score. One of which is Roud 975, A Man you Don’t meet everyday, sung brilliantly by Lasaírfhiona Ní Chonaola
Early One Morning (Roud 12682) - James Marsters - Buffy S7E8
Dashing Away With The Smoothing Iron (Roud 869) - Jim Carter - Downton Abbey S3/E3
Here we come a-Wassailing (Roud 209) - Binman character - iZombie S2/E9
Alive Alive-O (Roud 16932) - Jeremy Swift - Downton Abbey S6/E5
Landlord Fill The Flowing Bowl (Roud 1234) - Eugene Palette - The Lady Eve (1941)
The Spotted Cow (Roud 956) - Colin Firth - Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Billy Boy (Roud 326) - Various - The Happiest Days Of Your Lives (1950)