Singing about the Hudson
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- March
- 17
Well, apparently, the historic Hudson River inspires song.
Plenty of historic tunes tell the river’s tale. And of course, there’s Pete Seeger’s classic, “My Dirty Stream,” also called “The Hudson River Song.” (Read it or listen here.) And here’s a sample:
Sailing down my dirty stream / Still I love it and I’ll keep the dream / That some day, though maybe not this year / My Hudson River will once again run clear.
And, I just got a letter from Nyack resident Linda Steinman, who sent the words to her 2007 song, “Hudson Rhapsody,” after reading Mike Risinit’s article about what the Hudson River looked like when Henry Hudson set sail 400 years ago. Read it here. And, here’s a sampling of Steinman’s lyrics:
Sunset over the Hudson / on a summer night / overlooking Hook Mountain / what a sheer delight!
But wait, there’s more! I’m working on tracking down a song, “Tribute to the Hudson River,” that celebrates the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial.
Yes, 2009 marks the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s expedition up the river that now bears his name, and of Samuel de Champlain’s first siting of the lake that bears his name. Then there’s the 200th anniversary of Robert Fulton’s first steamboat trip up the Hudson. Find out more at ExploreNY400.com, the official Web site of the Hudson-Fulton-Champlain celebration. The aforementioned song was performed at the opening ceremonies of the official Quadricentennial kickoff, the Knickerbocker Ice Festival at Rockland Lake at the end of January. I went, but didn’t hear the song, unfortunately. The sculptures were stunning, but it was cold, cold, cold. Check out some pictures (here) from the Rockland Lake ice extravaganza.
And when I get the song, I’ll post it as a follow-up.
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on Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 at 3:44 pm by Nancy Cutler.
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The tribute to the Hudson River performed for the Knickerbocker Ice Festival’s Quadricentennial Kickoff Celebration was composed for the event by Russell Daisey, who can be contacted via the following address:
Russell Daisey
Music and Lyrics
212. 663. 7598
daiseye856 at aol.com
He and his intrepic group were gracious in agreeing to perform on a bitterly cold weekend, and their song is wonderful.