Gossip Joan

Album: Centuries of Song (1705)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Written in 4/4 time, "Good Morrow, Gossip Joan" or more usually plain "Gossip Joan," is a traditional English folk song that is or was once popular in the school music curriculum, including for descant recorder. According to an official local government source - Wiltshire County Council - it was collected by Alfred Williams from Charles Frederick Hope of Filkins. Alfred Williams (1877-1930) was a folk song collector among his many other talents in his relatively short life. His contemporary note on "Gossip Joan" was "A quaint old song, that depended upon its highest success, on the ability of the singer to observe the proper quantities and modulations."
  • The British Library holds several copies of what may be the oldest version of a folk song that - unlike many - appears to have changed very little with the passage of time. The earliest is dated c1705. >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    Alexander Baron - London, England, for above 2

Comments: 1

  • Dave from Northern IrelandIt’s a budgie, not a budget full of talking!
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Real or Spinal Tap

Real or Spinal TapMusic Quiz

They sang about pink torpedoes and rocking you tonight tonight, but some real lyrics are just as ridiculous. See if you can tell which lyrics are real and which are Spinal Tap in this lyrics quiz.

Rock Stars of Horror

Rock Stars of HorrorMusic Quiz

Rock Stars - especially those in the metal realm - are often enlisted for horror movies. See if you know can match the rocker to the role.

Gary LeVox

Gary LeVoxSongwriter Interviews

On "Life Is A Highway," his burgeoning solo career, and the Rascal Flatts song he most connects with.

Shawn Mullins

Shawn MullinsSongwriter Interviews

"Lullaby" singer Shawn Mullins on "Beautiful Wreck," beating the Devil, and his writing credit on the Zac Brown Band song "Toes."

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."

Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum

Dave Pirner of Soul AsylumSongwriter Interviews

Dave explains how the video appropriated the meaning of "Runaway Train," and what he thought of getting parodied by Weird Al.