Me and Paul Revere, Not Quite Yet, a Singable Picture Book
Posted on: April 25, 2012
Oh how I LOVE the song, “Me and Paul Revere,” (written by the always astoundingly wonderful STEVE MARTIN, sung here and played with his collaborators in the bluegrass band, “Steep Canyon Rangers”) and how I WISH WISH WISH it were illustrated!
Me and Paul Revere
(Single album cover)
Words and Music by Steve Martin
Performed by Mr. Martin with the Steep Canyon Rangers
The song is absolutely fantastic, made more wonderfully so by the bluegrass performances of the Steep Canyon Rangers band members (including their superb tight harmonies in back-up) and the fabulous lead vocals of their singer Woody Platt (really, it’s one of my favorite vocal recordings of all).
Click here for the Steep Canyon Rangers website:
http://www.steepcanyon.com/
Click here to see a terrific video of the song (an a short, informative article), on Rollingstone.com, performed by the Steep Canyon Rangers and Mr. Martin:
http://www.rollingstone.com/videos/new-and-hot/steve-martin-me-and-paul-revere-20120221
Mr. Martin says in the article above that he was inspired to write this song after reading David Hackett Fischer’s book,
Paul Revere’s Ride
By David Hackett Fischer
I’ve not read this book yet, but it is said to straighten out the (oft’ twisted) story of Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride alerting citizens of coastal Massachusetts that British troops were on the move at the beginning of America’s War for Independence.
As Steve Martin is like to do, he gives the story of the song a brilliant twist…he tells (the historically accurate) story from the point of view of the HORSE that Paul Revere rode on that famous night in American History.
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Article about the horse Brown Beauty, here:
http://www.horseshowcentral.com/flex/paul_revere_and_brown_beauty/312/1
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USA Today article about the song,
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2011-06-29-steve-martin_n.htm
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NPR interview with Steve Martin about the song:
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/04/137609359/steve-martin-talks-about-his-fourth-of-july-song
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Steve Martin sites John Singleton Copley’s portrait of Paul Revere (which hangs in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts) as an inspiration for writing his song, “Me and Paul Revere,”
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Here are the fantastic lyrics to this terrific song:
ME AND PAUL REVERE
Words and Music by Steve Martin
Performed by Steve Martin and the bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers
Late at night in the silver light, in the stables eating hay
In came a man, an artisan, and we both rode away
He whispered in my upturned ear, “It’s time to get an’ go
’til this job’s done, we breath as one, head for the outbound road”
Me and Paul Revere oh me and Paul Revere
I’m the horse he chose of course me and Paul Revere
He told me that a thousand troops, were out to do their worst
“They want Sam Adams and Hancock, we’ve got to get there first”
Along the way to Lexington, the Regulars drew guns
They gave chase and we set pace, those boys they were outrun
Me and Paul Revere oh me and Paul Revere
On the run to Lexington me and Paul Revere
We turned North through Cambridge Town, along the mystic road
Nostrils flared and gallop strong, my legs on fire below
We got up to where they slept, woke Adams and Hancock
And they said “Who’s that? That’s Larkin’s horse, she’s steady as a rock”
Brown Beauty is my name, Brown Beauty is my name
Revere and I one and the same, Brown Beauty is my Name
The Grenadiers are on the move, let’s fill the powder horns
How much more has that horse got, Concord must be warned
Paul Revere gave me the heel, we charged the Concord road
But we were taken prisoner by ten men on patrol
Me and Paul Revere, oh, me and Paul Revere
I’m the horse he chose of course me and Paul Revere
He told them that a hundred men had spread the good alarm
“You better head away from here for Lexington is armed”
Revere stood tall and fooled them all, told them what to do
And they let him go but sadly so, they took me with them too
I never saw Revere again, I know he thinks of me
And wonders where I ended up, the night we set men free
I’m just the horse that no one knows, I’m famous though inside
Standing proudly in a field, I was Revere’s ride.
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Related Posts
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Late for School, a Singable Picture Book
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/05/01/late-for-school-by-steve-martin-a-singable-book/
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Midnight Ride of Paul Revere (by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow), a Singable Picture Book
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/midnight-ride-of-paul-revere-a-singable-picture-book/
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FOURTH OF JULY AND OTHER HOLIDAYS CELEBRATING THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND HER CITIZENS AND HISTORY
A list of Singable Picture Books celebrating the Fourth of July
http://singbookswithemily.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/a-patriotic-list-of-singable-books-for-july-4th/
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PAUL REVERE IN SINGABLE PICTURE BOOKS (SONGS AND WISHES)
