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Fotheringay — The Way I Feel
Album: Fotheringay
Avg rating:
7.5

Your rating:
Total ratings: 3187









Released: 1970
Length: 4:42
Plays (last 30 days): 3
The way I feel is like a robin,
Whoses birds have flown to come no more,
Like a tall oak-tree, alone and cryin',
When the birds have flown and the nest is bare.

Now a woman, Lord, is like a young bird,
And the tall oak-tree is a young man's heart.
Among its branches, you'll find her nesting
When the nights are cool, she is warm and dry.

In leaves of green they will protect her,
Her wings will grow, your love will too
But all too soon your mighty branches
Will fail to hold her, she'll fly from you.

The way I feel is like a robin,
Whoses birds have flown to come no more,
Like a tall oak-tree, alone and cryin',
When the birds have flown and the nest is bare.
Comments (314)add comment
Why do we never hear Gordon Lightfoot (who wrote this song) on RP? Dylan said he had only one serious competitor in the 1960s: Lightfoot.
 Egctheow wrote:
Bill, stop it already. I'm supposed to be working here, not lifting my eyes up to the screen every time you put on a new tune!
Then again my propensity for distraction is quite high when I'm marking papers...
Groooovy playlist, thanks. On the plus side, it does help the students as it keeps me happy despite their linguistic blunders :-)


Agree / de acuerdo
 steviedeant wrote:

I'm just a poor wayfaring stranger. 



Oh my!

Oh yeah!
Weird-ass sexist victim lyrics, but the music ain't bad.
Agh I gotta go mail a parcel and the songs are TOO GOOD to leave the house!! (The The, this track... Mary McCaslin...I bet a Lightfoot tune is going to be next!)
*Insert Cry/Love emoji here. 
This is a well crafted song.
Most excellent! Thank you RP! 
gaddam I love this version so much
is there a way to bribe bands to experiment like this?
Yesterday, this went from 9 to 10, and today Bill plays it again!
 ElCamoteLoco wrote:

Fun fact: Fortheringay is usually pronounced "funjie". P. G. Wodehouse has a character called Barmy Fotheringay Phipps who is a friend of Bertie Wooster and a fellow member of the Drones Club.



Jeeves and Wooster....a GREAT comedy
Fun fact: Fortheringay is usually pronounced "funjie". P. G. Wodehouse has a character called Barmy Fotheringay Phipps who is a friend of Bertie Wooster and a fellow member of the Drones Club.
 KamikazeRudy wrote:

Very cool cover version of a GREAT Gordon Lightfoot song. We need some more Gord on RP!



RIP Gord
RIP Mr Lightfoot, your music will live on. This, an example at hand. Thanks for all the memories.
 DanielHLloyd wrote:

A prototype for the Decemberists perhaps?



  they wish!!
wow. i would have never guessed this song is that old. it sounds like something that would have been put out much more recently.

i really like this.
As a Teenager and young adult of the seventies i know this band and many  others.  And i say it was the greatest time in my live. Long live Radio Paradise!!!!!
i cant believe this song is 52 years old.
 Egctheow wrote:
Bill, stop it already. I'm supposed to be working here, not lifting my eyes up to the screen every time you put on a new tune!
Then again my propensity for distraction is quite high when I'm marking papers...
Groooovy playlist, thanks. On the plus side, it does help the students as it keeps me happy despite their linguistic blunders :-)



RP is the enemy of grading papers. How does a senior paper in Imaginative Writing compare with the musical and lyrical offerings of William?
 agradeessays wrote:
Spam Spam Spam Spam
Love this  song!!!!!! Lightfoot!!
Kindly play the Gordon Lightfoot version. He wrote the song and does it best. Bob Dylan said GL was his main competition in the 1960s. Surely the opinions of a Nobel Prize winner should be heeded. 
motherless child
 John_Carter wrote:

Sometimes I wonder what happened to the music. I tune into internet radio to find it. More often then not I discover the past. Where is now? Where is pirate radio? Where can I find the DJs playing the underground? I don’t seriously expect such a station. I’m tired of living in the musical past. I want the new cutting edge of what I like. I can’t define it. It’s broad. Does this make sense? Does anyone else think or feel this?



John, try Triple J Unearthed.   Government funded radio to promote new tallent. Socialism at work!

https://www.abc.net.au/triplejunearthed/
Leave it to Lightfoot.  Great song, two chords.
I love this band…
this rocks

please play more from the album
 MrsTom wrote:

Digging the drums




Yes, and the electric guitar parts of Jerry Donahue!
 John_Carter wrote:

Sometimes I wonder what happened to the music. I tune into internet radio to find it. More often then not I discover the past. Where is now? Where is pirate radio? Where can I find the DJs playing the underground? I don’t seriously expect such a station. I’m tired of living in the musical past. I want the new cutting edge of what I like. I can’t define it. It’s broad. Does this make sense? Does anyone else think or feel this?

every college radio station has marvelous, crazy, bizarre and mostly fun music. And I laugh when they do the obligatory PSAs. I look for these on long drives

 sfyi2001 wrote:
There is only one singer on a studio recorded LED ZEPPELIN song that is not a member Led Zeppelin.
She is Sandy Denny, who formed FOTHERINGAY in 1970 upon her departure from FAIRPORT CONVENTION.





The song was "Battle of Evermore" of course.
Leaves me speechless. 
 bugslovertoo466 wrote:


B. Mitchell Reed of KFWB fame is no longer with us but his spirit remains in my thoughts.
 John_Carter wrote:

Sometimes I wonder what happened to the music. I tune into internet radio to find it. More often then not I discover the past. Where is now? Where is pirate radio? Where can I find the DJs playing the underground? I don’t seriously expect such a station. I’m tired of living in the musical past. I want the new cutting edge of what I like. I can’t define it. It’s broad. Does this make sense? Does anyone else think or feel this?



I certainly feel this.
I'm just a poor wayfaring stranger. 
Please play Gordon Lightfoot singing his songs not just covers of his work. The Bob once said GL gave him serious competition.
Turned up to maximum, just love the drumming on this track. Solid 9. 
There is only one singer on a studio recorded LED ZEPPELIN song that is not a member Led Zeppelin.
She is Sandy Denny, who formed FOTHERINGAY in 1970 upon her departure from FAIRPORT CONVENTION.


Digging the drums
 John_Carter wrote:
Sometimes I wonder what happened to the music. I tune into internet radio to find it. More often then not I discover the past. Where is now? Where is pirate radio? Where can I find the DJs playing the underground? I don’t seriously expect such a station. I’m tired of living in the musical past. I want the new cutting edge of what I like. I can’t define it. It’s broad. Does this make sense? Does anyone else think or feel this?
 
It is broad...welcome to the new flat world. 
Brings back the days of singing Lightfoot, Baez, Dylan, Guthrie, Seeger, Collins, Mitchell, Peter Paul and Mary, Cockburn,  Ian and Sylvia . . .  the list goes on. From when I was performing in the coffeehouses in and around Hamilton, Ontario (Canada) in the late 60s and early 70s.  Got to meet Lightfoot when he sang at McMaster University, since I was close to the guy who brought him in. Another life for sure!!!  
In 60s parlance, I dig the cloths, and more the tune.
 John_Carter wrote:
Sometimes I wonder what happened to the music. I tune into internet radio to find it. More often then not I discover the past. Where is now? Where is pirate radio? Where can I find the DJs playing the underground? I don’t seriously expect such a station. I’m tired of living in the musical past. I want the new cutting edge of what I like. I can’t define it. It’s broad. Does this make sense? Does anyone else think or feel this?
 
John listen to some freeform stations like the current from minn, KEXP from Seattle. And WFMU from jersey city that wil give you plenty of new music
A prototype for the Decemberists perhaps?
 John_Carter wrote:
Sometimes I wonder what happened to the music. I tune into internet radio to find it. More often then not I discover the past. Where is now? Where is pirate radio? Where can I find the DJs playing the underground? I don’t seriously expect such a station. I’m tired of living in the musical past. I want the new cutting edge of what I like. I can’t define it. It’s broad. Does this make sense? Does anyone else think or feel this?
 
I don't totally agree nor disagree.  I have discovered a lot of new bands here on RP, bands that wouldn't get airplay on local radio stations.  I also like discovering older music I never knew about.  I think that a lot of the new music today lacks musicality.  Driving base thumps with clicks (finger snaps, claps, or stick on drum rim or other stick) with a soloist showcasing their vocal range (again), then a pause, then a crescendo.  Wash and repeat.  Listen to any instrument in the background and there is little in the way of musicianship or individualistic style.  This is a broad stroke, I know, but I am thinking about the popular songs that 20 somethings listen to.  I just asked 2 different late 20s individuals to play music for me from their phone.  While they did their head-bob (lower chin, extend neck, tilt up, retract) grooving on the "beats" I listened to the instruments in the background.  Nothing of interest.  It was the fast-food of music that is so popular today.  They know the words and do some of the movements of the dancers in the music video.  

Going back to new music, I don't know where else to find good new music that appeals to me, and it is all about personal preference.  I now listen to Cloud Cult, Future Islands, Elbow, Madrugada, The Decemberists, Kevin Morsby, etc. all of which was reasonably new when I first heard it here on RP.  I still hope for more new music from talented people.  I have not lost hope, but sometimes I wish there was more good new stuff.

Perhaps people here can point out some new talent that isn't so commercially formulaic. 

BTW:  I like that commercially formulaic stuff from my teens and twenties, so I get it...
this is freaking awesome. Thank you thank you thank you thank you RP for finding such gem !!!!
Discovering gems like this is why I keep subscribing to RP. I’m not even that big of a Lightfoot or Sandy Denny fan but this version just kicks ass.
Sometimes I wonder what happened to the music. I tune into internet radio to find it. More often then not I discover the past. Where is now? Where is pirate radio? Where can I find the DJs playing the underground? I don’t seriously expect such a station. I’m tired of living in the musical past. I want the new cutting edge of what I like. I can’t define it. It’s broad. Does this make sense? Does anyone else think or feel this?
Wayfaring strangerish a bit :D
 KamikazeRudy wrote:
Very cool cover version of a GREAT Gordon Lightfoot song. We need some more Gord on RP!
 
Yes, more Gordon Lightfoot please!  So many great songs...
Great sound, still fresh after 50 years!
Great song, I had never heard it before listening to it here on RP.
Would love to hear the whole album and what else they did - but finding the album I guess would be all but impossible.

But I found this interesting note in my search - true or not I do not know

""Good evening to all listeners across the empire, i would like to alert you all to the fact that in england Fotheringay is pronounced FUNGEEE and thusly all of you common folk out there are probably mispronouncing this bands name. so next time you ask for it in a record shop be sure to say FUNGEEE not FOTHH ERRR INGG GAYYY which is WRONG.""
Wow, great cover of one of my fave Lightfoot songs!  Never heard of this band, will look them up further...
 KamikazeRudy wrote:
Very cool cover version of a GREAT Gordon Lightfoot song. We need some more Gord on RP!
 
Gordon Lightfoot has mostly downer depressing music... this gives it a slighty cheerier vibe
Amazing - I am a fan of both Fotheringay and Gordon and had not spotted the connection. I thought the song sounded familiar! Must did out both albums and relisten (and turn off RP - hmmm...!) 
Oh does this bring back memories...  30+ years ago, when I was a student and working away on an industrial placement, I befriended a lovely family who kind of 'took me in'.  They were into their music, and this was one of the albums they had, and played frequently.  It reminds me of late evenings, sitting by the fire, and putting the world to rights, and finding out about music which was new (to me) then.  This, the Moody Blues etc - a real eye opener for a 19 year old in pre-Internet days when you found stuff by word-of-mouth.

The album is great - I prefer it to all the Fairport and solo Sandy Denny work which I was hoping would match it (even though it came close at times).  I even managed to find a copy of the album (scouring second-hand record shops wherever I could find one).  Cracking album, if you can find it.
WOW another good new one
 lizardking wrote:

Your comment made me chuckle, while I'm at work too, on a SLOW 5th of July Friday....not sure why I'm working when I should be sleeping it off....

I'm close to going 8 to 9 on this one, something's stopping me though, so I'll call this one an 8.5.  Long Live RP!!
 
Let's just say you were softly transitioning into being fully operational on the 6th :-)
If you'd slept it off, then you'd have partied again at night and we can't have that, can we?
 Jelani wrote:
This tune is just brilliant.
 
Love the harmonies and well just everything.

 Egctheow wrote:
Bill, stop it already. I'm supposed to be working here, not lifting my eyes up to the screen every time you put on a new tune!
Then again my propensity for distraction is quite high when I'm marking papers...
Groooovy playlist, thanks. On the plus side, it does help the students as it keeps me happy despite their linguistic blunders :-)
 
Your comment made me chuckle, while I'm at work too, on a SLOW 5th of July Friday....not sure why I'm working when I should be sleeping it off....

I'm close to going 8 to 9 on this one, something's stopping me though, so I'll call this one an 8.5.  Long Live RP!!
Bill, stop it already. I'm supposed to be working here, not lifting my eyes up to the screen every time you put on a new tune!
Then again my propensity for distraction is quite high when I'm marking papers...
Groooovy playlist, thanks. On the plus side, it does help the students as it keeps me happy despite their linguistic blunders :-)
Herausragende Version einer herausragenden Band. 
Four times in a month..... a little bit much...
Love this!
Love this song, did not realize this came out in 1970...........
Huge Gordon Lightfoot fan.
Brilliant cover of the Gordfather tune.  He is playing shortly in Massey Hall Toronto.  We are all unworthy.
I had this in vinyl...back in the day! HAHA! grahamdillabough wrote:
Wow, what a great version of this old Lightfoot song!  I have not heard this one before.  I must look for this album.
 

that's one groovy album cover
 KamikazeRudy wrote:
Very cool cover version of a GREAT Gordon Lightfoot song. We need some more Gord on RP!
 
Yeah, I like a lot of Gordo's stuff, though perhaps he's too mellow for some folks here.  This is a good version of his tune.
 cc_rider wrote:
Ah, that's the voice! Gordon Lightfoot!

I did not know he was in this band. Makes me like 'em that much more.

RP turned me on to Sandy Denny and the bands she was in. Uniformly excellent.
c.
 
The song yes, the voice no. 
This station has turned me on to may wonderful songs, keep up the good work guys
Ah, that's the voice! Gordon Lightfoot!

I did not know he was in this band. Makes me like 'em that much more.

RP turned me on to Sandy Denny and the bands she was in. Uniformly excellent.
c.
 DavidS_UK wrote:
Definitely Tull like, such a mid-late 70s sound...
 
Well, 1970 for this tune, but both bands emerged from the British folk scene, as did Fairport Convention.
Sounded like Fairport Convention, but in their own unique way.  Now I see the comments below that Sandy Denny was a band member.  Beautiful.  {#Guitarist}
Great one
This tune is just brilliant.
 Bert7 wrote:

Maybe, Jefferson Airplane, mamas and papas just a couple of guesses...

 
10 years after ? (with no girls)
Stunning transition in this set, the last 4 - 5 songs. Thank you, Maestro. 2.1.18 8:14 pm PST
That's some drumming!  Impressive.
Or take them to Glastonbury ( town, not festival) and they can meet people who appear to be straight off the album cover - and play skittles in LOTR themed pub skittle lanes
must play this for my uOttawa students!
{#Dancingbanana_2}
Superb.  Up to a 9 in my cramped little orifice today.  Thanks RP.
also awesome
Compared to what and whoiswho?
 xnavy wrote:
they sound like some other band, but I just can't put my finger on it

 
Maybe, Jefferson Airplane, mamas and papas just a couple of guesses...
Needs Gordon's voice to hold it together.  Solid 3
 wtango wrote:

Fairport Convention... Matty Groves -  https://www.radioparadise.com/?name=songinfo&song_id=20380


Both featuring Sandy Denny on vocals; this was after she left Fairport Convention.
 xnavy wrote:
they sound like some other band, but I just can't put my finger on it

 
Fairport Convention... Matty Groves -  https://www.radioparadise.com/?name=songinfo&song_id=20380
 jab49 wrote:

I agree. I was only 7, but my older siblings had all these records from this year, which I now love and was so lucky to be exposed to. Probably best I wasn't 20 in 1970, because now I'd be 66! ha ha.

 
Well, I am 64 now and graduated from high school in 1970, i consider myself very fortunate to be exposed  to a lot and I am glad RP came into my life because they have exposed me to so much more! {#Bounce}
Gordon Lightfoot is the greatest folksinger in Canada—then and now.
Bob Dylan said they had a rivalry when they were up and coming.
 Stephen_Phillips wrote:
1970 was a great year for music in general.  Possibly one of the best ever? Anybody in their late teens, early twenties during this time never had it so good.

 
I agree. I was only 7, but my older siblings had all these records from this year, which I now love and was so lucky to be exposed to. Probably best I wasn't 20 in 1970, because now I'd be 66! ha ha.
Never heard this before, and I liked it ! More please.
Guitar is sounding Clarence White like
11.  Sends shivers down my spine...
 Stephen_Phillips wrote:
1970 was a great year for music in general.  Possibly one of the best ever? Anybody in their late teens, early twenties during this time never had it so good.

 
Agreed. One of the best years of my life! 
 Toke wrote:

Yes I agree there Dave I thought it was Jon Anderson singing ...

 
Or maybe Janice Ian.  ;-)
Nice!  This era of music usually sounds too "groovy" and the recordings seem to have little depth (to me).  This had a lot of acoustical depth.  And the recording was crisp, sounded like current day stuff. 
Wow, what a great version of this old Lightfoot song!  I have not heard this one before.  I must look for this album.
 JIan wrote:

The album is good, but in my opinion, this is far and away the best track.

  I have to agree with Jlan, this is a great version of a great song. But if you are a Sandy Denny fan, the whole CD is well worth getting.


"Whoses"?
 Stingray wrote:

Oh really....?
That is so interesting!
Wonder if the whole album is good! 
Is it...? 

 
The album is good, but in my opinion, this is far and away the best track.
1970 was a great year for music in general.  Possibly one of the best ever? Anybody in their late teens, early twenties during this time never had it so good.
 DavidS_UK wrote:
Definitely Tull like, such a mid-late 70s sound...

 
This is from earlier than that (1970), but they and Jethro Tull obviously had similar influences and styles - particularly those of traditional British folk music.
Wahnsinn, great song - nice performance
 DavidS_UK wrote:
Definitely Tull like, such a mid-late 70s sound...

 
Yes I agree there Dave I thought it was Jon Anderson singing ...
hippychick wrote:

  love that hippy stuff!

 
And I absolutely know why...
 hbs47 wrote:
Sandy Denny formed the band after leaving Fairport they made 2 albums.
 
Oh really....?
That is so interesting!
Wonder if the whole album is good! 
Is it...? 
Stunned - never heard of them!

LIKE IT! 
Great song. Cover makes the female look like a child or a midget? Amongst all the 70's studlies.
Sandy Denny formed the band after leaving Fairport they made 2 albums.
Definitely Tull like, such a mid-late 70s sound...
 westslope wrote:
Sounds like Canadian folk rock.   {#Cheesygrin}
 
Sorry but apparently I put a couple posts in  the wrong place. Please bear with me as I am new and armed only with a tablet. Computer, that is.
I was on the thread of Sandy Denny originally...
I was just going to say that the harmonies of Fotheringay seem to me more like a rather kinder, gentler — more unnplugged? — Steeleye Span
 Orphan wrote:
I've always felt that Gordon Lightfoot had the most beautiful, most mellifluous voice of any Canadian singer, ever.
and what a songwriter. Please Bill, can we have something from the original? Ribbon of Darkness?
 
I agree, orphan, especially when you add in the songwriting. And didn,t he also do some acting? And not exactly hard on the eyes either.
Mr. Lightfoot's "affair on 8th avenue" has always made me cry femininely and consider moving to Canada.
Sounds like Canadian folk rock.   {#Cheesygrin}
{#Dancingbanana_2}
 hippiechick wrote:
Ah I so do love that hippie stuff!
 
  Ditto  that   {#Arrowu}  {#Music}
 wadoflove wrote:

Would suggest some early Jethro Tull...

 

Or perhaps a band from Nashville called Barefoot Jerry very similar sound.
Driving me crazy too; I gotta go do some research. 
 xnavy wrote:
they sound like some other band, but I just can't put my finger on it

 
Would suggest some early Jethro Tull...