All the ballads have a tinge of melancholy to them, especially the American ballads. You can hear the European influence very clearly in the American ballads. I noticed a connection among some of the songs (such as Omie Wise, The House Carpenter, Barbry Allen, and the Lowlands of Holland) in that they all share a theme of separation, heartbreak, and death. Omie Wise was murdered by John Lewis, both Willie and Barbry died, the husband and wife of The Lowlands of Holland are separated by war (he is implied to have died), and a woman is lured away from her husband by the Devil and murdered in 'The House Carpenter'. You can hear one or more of these themes in almost all the songs mentioned this week. Perhaps the the lasting power of some of these songs is due to their melancholy nature. I speculate that many of the people who sang these ballads could relate to the feelings of physical and mental isolation.
I felt those feelings as I was listening to Barbry Allen, which I based this week's piece off of. I related to this quote from the Mike Yates article of Olive Campbell hearing 'Barbara Allen', "I saw again the long road over which we had come, the dark hills, the rocky streams bordered by tall hemlocks and hollies, the lonely cabins distinguishable at night only by the firelight flaring from their chimneys. Then these, too, faded, and I seemed to be borne along into a still more dim and distant past, of which I myself was a part". At the time I was listening, I was dealing with some demons of my own and the emptiness of the rendition by Jean Ritchie resonated in me. I tried to channel those feelings of loneliness, jealousy, and guilt from the lyrics and my heart onto my piece. The warped perspective and deconstruction of the lines/shape/form reflects my mental state and the spiral of self-loathing that resulted from all these negative feelings.
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