841 ( Maddy Prior - The Fabled Hare )

841 ( Maddy Prior - The Fabled Hare )

I was thinking about picking this one for quite a while as well and have finally gotten around to it. It is quite a beautiful piece of Folk/Rock and is broken up into six pieces. The music and Maddy Prior's vocals make this song a nice treat.
This song is about the fable/legend from the British Isles concerning the link between witches and hares. It is interesting that in quite a few cultures the hare is maligned and thought of as evil.
The song contains quite a bit of Old English in the lyrics, which can make it a little difficult to fully understand at points. They also borrowed lyrics straight from an old poem called The World's Joy in the 4th section of the song.
As the legend goes, a witch is being pursued and changes herself into a hare to avoid detection. The song then switches to the perspective of the hare and the perils of the animal. An oddity that I discovered when I read about this fable/legend, the Easter Bunny is most likely a modern perversion of the this tale.

Here is a fan video with the studio version on YouTube.



My song pick a year ago today: Chuck Berry - Almost Grown
My song pick two years ago today: Gerry Rafferty - Right Down The Line

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