Tag: vocals

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The House Carpenter

“Sailing ships” drawn with colored pencils by Sanford Ross Bender as inspired by 17th Century Dutch sea battle master painters.
“The House Carpenter (Niles No.55)” traditional ballad with music composed and performed with vocals, guitar, and concertina by Sanford Ross Bender on September 11, 2027.

“Well met, well met, well met, my own true love!

Well met, my love” cried he.

“I’ve just come back from the salt, salt sea,

And all for the love of thee.”

“I could have married with a great lady,

For her heart was set on me,

But I forgave her golden crowns,

And all for the love of thee.”

“If you could marry with a king’s daughter,

I’m sure you are to blame,

For I am married with a house carpenter,

Sweet Willy is his name.”

“Forsake, forsake, forsake your carpenter,

And come go ‘long with me,

And I will take you where the grass grows green,

Hard by the sweet lily.”

“If I forsake my fine house carpenter

And go to sea with thee,

Oh how, oh how will you keep me then

From shame and slavery?”

“I have six ships a-sail upon the sea,

“I have six ships more on the land,

And all those bright jolly sailor-men

Will be at your command.”

She picked up her own, her sweet baby,

And she gave him kisses three,

Said, “Stay at home with your daddy, my love,

And give him company.”

She dressed herself in silk and satin red,

She dressed in green and gold,

And she walked through her rooms once more,

The last she would e’re behold.

She had not sailed the sea more than two weeks,

And I’m sure it was not three,

When she sat down and she did weep,

And mourn most bitterly.

“Alas, alas, my love, why do you weep?

Or is it for gold and store?

Or is it for your house carpenter

That you will never see no more?”

“I do not weep for silver or for gold,

Nor do I weep for store,

But I do weep for my darling sweet babe,

The one I ne’er shall see no more.”

They had not been to sea but three short weeks,

And I’m sure it was not four,

When they did spring a longwise seam,

And sank to rise no more.

“What banks, what banks of land is that, my love?”

What banks so dark and so low?”

“It is the land of hell you see,

Where you and I shall go.”

“What banks, what banks of land is that, my love?”

What banks as white as snow?”

“It is the land of the Heavenly God

Where your sweet baby will go.”

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Lycanthrope (returns)

“Blue Wolf” drawn with ink on paper by Sanford Ross Bender
“Lycanthrope ” composed and performed with vocals, guitar, concertina, and banjo by Sanford Ross Bender on August 7, 2026.

Lycanthrope

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Darting furtively through the mist,

Cursed under lunar brightness,

The valiancy of my heart,

Slashed by razor teeth,

Became my darkest side.

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Evil enclosing,

My nocturnal lair,

Mud tracked prints,

Find me sprawled,

In the dawn of twisted sheets,

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Like tormented trees,

Gnarled from remembering,

What blackened life,

Is forever gone.

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But only the music,

Of wind and owls,

And the crackling rain,

Had abided my incessant howls,

Until yet another night,

When gliding clouds,

Reveal another full newness of moon.

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-Poem by Sanford Ross Bender

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String of pearls

“Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse” photographed at Shallowbag Bay in Manteo, North Carolina by Sanford Ross Bender on December 29, 2018.
“Starlit ride” composed and performed with vocals, guitar, and mandolin by Sanford Ross Bender on July 8, 2026.

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Toast to our health

“Stained glass goblets and shot glasses” photographed by Sandy Ross Bender on May 24, 2026.
“Toast to our health” composed and performed with vocals, concertina, and guitar by Sandy Ross Bender on June 13, 2026.

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Spinning Islands

“White conch shell” drawn with colored pencils on textured pper by Sandy Ross Bender on June, 2015.
“Spinning Islands” composed and performed with vocals and guitar by Sandy Ross Bender on June 14, 2026.

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I am going down to the Florida Keys,

Where hurricanes abound,

Spinning islands like a string of pearls, 

Wind sweeping waves into the sound.

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Mangroves and hardwood hammocks,  

Encircling the reef periphery,

Moonshine turning turquoise tides,

A wind quartet in lunar synchrony.

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I am not searching for sunken treasure,

In the deep blue depths, divers plumb.

I am looking for seashells that sparkle,

Along the shifting beaches, I comb,

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We could share a pail of whelks and cowries,

That drift in with the evening tide,

Gaze into conches and mother of pearl mollusks,

Discovering the sea, side by side.

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Lyrics and music – Sandy Ross Bender, June 14, 2026

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Tiny Drops of Rain

” Raindrops and Red Berries”” photographed by Sanford Ross Bender in Bucks County, Pennsylvania on November 22, 2025.
“Tiny Drops of Rain” (verses sung from the traditional ballad, “Green Grave, or the Restless Dead”, arranged and performed with vocals, guitar, and banjo by Sanford Ross Bender on November 21, 2025.

The Green Grave, or The Restless Dead*

The wind across the graveyard blew

With tiny drops of rain,

“I never had but one true love,

And she in the grave, one year hath lain,

And she in the grave hath lain.”

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He sat and grieved upon her grave

As many lovers may,

He sat and grieved and made a moan

A twelvemonth and a day,

A twelvemonth and a day.

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And when the grieving time was past,

The maiden’s ghost did say,

“Who sits a-weeping on my grave

A twelvemonth and a day,

A twelvemonth and a day?”

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“My lips are cold as coldest clay,

My breath is earthy strong,

Now you have kissed me once again,

Your days will not be long,

Your days will not be long.”

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*Traditional ballad compiled by John Jacob Niles (Niles No. 32 C).

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Lovers’ Farewell

“Leaning toward the river” photographed by Sandy Ross Bender at Washington Crossing State Park, Pennsylvania on November 15, 2025.
Lovers’ Farewell” music composed, arranged,* and performed with vocals, guitar, and concertina by Sandy Ross Bender on November 15, 2025.

My lover did come ere evensong,

And he give me farewell,

But the wars that took him to the Low Country

He never a war did tell,

But the wars that took him to the Low Country

He never a war did tell.

Oh, he did go to the bloody wars,

His lance and his shield a-glisten,

While his lady did weep in her bowing-room,

And none was there to listen.

While his lady did weep in her bowing-room,

And none was there to listen.

Down fell he there, and there to die,

In the wet of the Low Country,

And no man knows that he lies there

But his horse and his hound and his lady Mary.

And no man knows that he lies there

But his horse and his hound and his lady Mary,

Oh, he may sleep in an open grave,

Where raven fly and flutter,

But I will wake on my pallet of grief,

And many a cry will utter.

But I will wake on my pallet of grief,

And many a cry will utter.

*Note: Ballad lyrics documented by John Jacob Niles (No. 17 A -traditional form of “The Three Ravens” (Francis James Child No. 26},

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Sir Gaunie and the Witch

“Witching Creek” painted with watercolors by Sanford Ross Bender in May, 1982.

“Sir Gaunie and the Witch” (Niles No. 18) after The Marraiage of Sir Gawain” (Child No. 31) arranged, performed, and recorded by Sanford Ross Bender for vocals and guitar on July 21, 2023.

King Henry was a mighty man,

Who lived in Engeland,

No harm e’re fell on honest folk,

From out of Henry’s hand.

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Sir Gaunie was a noble knight,

Handsome for to see,

And he’s to marry with a witch,

To save King Henery.

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The witch from out the deep, green wood,

Told Henry what to say,

She told him that a woman always,

Wanted for her way.

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King Henry answered well and true.

He spake so bright, so gay

The Baron sadly hung his head.

And sadly rode away.

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Sir Gaunie was a noble knight,

And many a tear was shed,

The day he married with a witch,

And taken her to bed.

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‘Twas then she turned a princess fair,

And though they all did try,

No fairer one was ever seen,

With sight of human eye.

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The Mermaid

“Three times ’round went our gallant ship” drawn with colored pencils on paper by Sanford Ross Bender.
“The Mermaid” composed, performed, and recorded with vocals, guitar, and concertina by Sanford Ross Bender on May 26, 2023. Traditional ballad lyrics documented by J.J. Niles No. 62A after F.J. Child No. 289.

One Saturday night as we set sail,

Not very far from land,

We there did spy a pretty mermaid,

With a comb and a glass in her hand,

With a comb and a glass in her pretty, pretty hand,

With a comb and a glass in her hand.

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This pretty mermaid sprung into the sea,

The storm it began to roar.

The snow and rain came thick and fast:

“We’ll never see land any more,

We’ll never see land any more, more, more, more,

We’ll never see land any more.”

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The first one on deck was the captain of our ship,

With a plumb and a line in his hand,

He plumbed and he plumbed and he plumbed for to see,

How far it was to the sand,

How far it was from the sea to the sand,

How far it was to the sand.

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The next one on deck was the mate of our ship,

And a well-looking man was he,

“My wife and my child are in Merry England,

And tonight a widow she’ll be,

And tonight, a widow she’ll surely, surely be,

And tonight, a widow she’ll be.”

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The next one on deck was our little cabin boy,

And a very pretty boy was he,

“Oh what, oh what will my mother say,

When she knows I’m drowned in the sea,

When she knows I’m drowned in the salt, salt sea,

When she knows, I’m drowned in the sea?”

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Oh three times ’round went our gallant ship,

And three times more went she,

And as the storm did rage and roar,

She sank to the bottom of the sea,

She sank to the bottom of the deep blue sea,

She sank to the bottom of the sea.

“Deep Blue Sea” painted and drawn wuithy gouache, watercolors band colored pencils by Sanford Ross Bender
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Generosity

“Cherry tomatoes on the vine” photographed by Sandy Ross Bender.
“Generosity” composed, performed, and recorded by Sandy Ross Bender with vocals (from a poem of the same title) accompanied with guitar on December 24, 2015.

I was in deep despair

For a thousand reasons

But I went anyway

To a community garden,

In a peaceful pasture

Outstretched to the treeline

Far below the the towering steeples.

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Led by Sister Ana

Who cut me a bouquet

Of brightly colored zinnias

Speckled red and white,

Magenta and yellow

Flaymboyant

Like living paper mache.

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Here, take these purple tomatoes

And these bundles of chard

From this verdant bounty

Of peppers and squash,

Melons, pumpkins, carrots, and dill

Make them into your dinner

To sustain you through the night.

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“Generosity” written by Sandy Ross Bender on August 13, 2010.