We first heard this Irish folksong on Steeleye Span's Ashley Hutchings drenched "Ten Man Mop" album in the 70s and this is the version we follow here. For me its brooding atmospheric electric droning fiddle and thunder bass was like a folk track had strayed onto the first Velvet Underground album and I could never get enough of their version (Still can't.) Being a folk ballad, it speaks volumes by leaving a lot of the narrative unsaid and the suggestions of doom and betrayal amid the hybris of youth can be applied to many situations about the potential shortness of life and love. In our arrangement, we've veered toward the military suggestion rather than disease. (The obscure Steeleye cover notes about 'Another young man cut down in his prime... tasted and wasted.. sickness and disease pull you down" always baffled me but now I know what they might mean I wish I didn't.)
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