100 Ballads

January 28, 2024 4:25 PM

Top pop from seventeenth-century England. Broadside ballads were single-sheet songs that sold for a penny a piece. This website presents lyrics and recordings of over 100 of the most successful, from The Judgement of God shewed upon one John Faustus, Doctor in Divinity to A True Relation of the Life and Death of Sir Andrew Barton, a Pyrate and Rover on the Seas. Come and sing along with the chart toppers of the seventeenth century.
posted by verstegan (9 comments total)

So the old saying "got it for a song', that's about a penny!
posted by The otter lady at 6:38 PM on January 28

Be sure to checkout the EBBA for even more balladry.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 6:58 PM on January 28

ABBA also recorded more than a few ballads. Of them I think possibly the greatest would be The Winner Takes It all.
posted by hippybear at 8:06 PM on January 28

Oh these are dour and fantastic!!
posted by congen at 8:13 PM on January 28 [2 favorites]

MetaFilter: dour and fantastic!!
posted by May Kasahara at 8:58 PM on January 28 [4 favorites]

Ballad sheets like these included many execution songs, sold at chaotic public hangings to the watching crowd. Each song told the condemned man's story, setting out his crime and punishment in a set of lurid verses. I've written about these songs and the way they were produced and sold here.
posted by Paul Slade at 11:57 PM on January 28 [2 favorites]

I was also gonna suggest The Beggar's Opera by John Gay, but it's in the eighteenth century. I'd say it develops upon (borrows, steals) some the themes going on here.
posted by ovvl at 6:57 AM on January 29

"Each song told the condemned man's story, setting out his crime and punishment in a set of lurid verses. "

Apparently true crime podcasts go way back.
posted by tavella at 1:40 PM on January 29 [1 favorite]

A True Relation of the Life and Death of Sir Andrew Barton, a Pyrate and Rover on the Seas.

It's got a good beat and you can dance to it. I give it a 72.
posted by Naberius at 6:51 PM on January 29