GENEALOGY MUSIC

I like music. Okay, that's an understatement. Anyhow, not long ago, I was playing Mark Cohn's "Things We've Handed Down" for my genealogy buddy, Tony Burroughs. Tony and I thought about the way that our friend Birdie Holsclaw has pages for her friends' favorite movies, and thought we could put it into play this way.

So here's my idea. If you think of a song that you think has a genealogy tie-in, send me an email and tell me the name of the song, artist, album, and what's in it that makes you think of family history. I'll add it to this list with attribution. I'll link to your email address unless you tell me to link to a specific website.

Please contribute your thoughts. I'd like to hear them, and the songs that inspire them.

Click on images to hear album excerpts at CDNow or Amazon.

Song	Artist	Album	Rationale	Submitter
The Things We've Handed Down	Mark Cohn	The Rainy Season, 1993	It's about the way that we give particular qualities to people. "Will you be a sad reminder of what we've lost along the way - Maybe you can help me find her in the things you do and say" seems to refer to rediscovering a mother who has passed away. "From places no one here remembers come the things we've handed down."	Beau Sharbrough
People Asking Why	Seal	Seal (2nd Album) 1994	"There are people asking why. There are people who believe in life."	Beau Sharbrough
some of the old English folk-songs			... could be really useful to family historians, in that a lot of them are work songs describing the daily activities of ordinary people. There are of course also many love songs and ballads of different sorts which reflect their concerns and emotions. Quite a lot are specific to one area of the country, and mention specific villages, and even characters living there.	Roger Quick 15 Nov 2001
Family Hands (link to lyrics)	Mary Chapin Carpenter	Hometown Girl, 1987	She talks about getting to know her lover/boyfriend by visiting the older women in his family. The idea of doing genealogy to learn about the "weavers of our cloth" is especially appealing to me.	Holly Hendricks 20 November 2001
I'm My Own Grandpa (link to lyrics) (link to single)	Lonzo and Oscar	1965	I have always found that teaching kids "I'm my own grandpaw" is a great way to begin to learn about cousins and the various intricacies of baffling relationships among family members.	Holly Hendricks
	Tom Chapin	Family Tree, 1992		Cyndi Howells
Memories are Made of This	Dean Martin	3 Dec 56, hit number 1 for six weeks		Henry Wheeler 31 Mar 2002
Little Things Mean a Lot	Kitty Kallen	5 Jun 54		Henry Wheeler
Let the Mystery Be (link to lyrics)	Iris DeMent	1993	... speaks to the genealogist who's hit a brick wall, or for whatever reason has reached a research stalemate, for or someone who just doesn't care and decides to "let the mystery be."	Peg Titt
The Old Spinning Wheel	Ray Noble	1934	Spinning dreams of a life long ago	Ken Everard 18 Jan 2005
Who's Gonna Know?	Kathy Mattea	Walking Away a Winner		Nancy J Hill 18 Jan 2005
In My Life	The Beatles	Rubber Soul		Debra J Richardson 20 Jan 2005
Grandpa (Tell Me 'Bout the Good Old Days)	The Judds	Greatest Hits	Reminds me of interviewing my grandpa about his past.	Cindy Shelton 23 Jan 2005
Family Tree	Steve Lanza	Ancestral Songs	I was enchanted by the whole CD and can truthfully say I would gladly listen to it over and over even if it had nothing to do with family history.	Megan Smolenyak 01 Feb 2005
			Your suggestions here ...