Harp and a Monkey’s ‘All Life Is Here‘ is released today and we have an exclusive première of the video for ‘Pay Day‘ which is also our Song of the Day.
Their second album is a belter and you can read our review here. Pay Day is typically on the money, so to speak, in showing how Harp And A Monkey blend the folk tradition with something very current. The tune, with its nursery rhyme simplicity and the original storyline of poverty are subtly subverted.
The video also blurs the boundaries of the band playing live with Morris dancing and a little bit of tom foolery, while musically the trio’s acoustic sound gets a gentle electronic makeover.
It may have been grim for the working poor of the mill towns, with nothing to look forward to other than Pay Day, but with the mills long gone, there are many people for whom the chance of a job and regular income would be a fine thing.
The lines, “Oh no you’ll never know how far you’ll fall, oh no you’ll never know how deep’s the hole,” are sadly all too poignant. Behind all of the scaremongering of dole scroungers is the sad truth that for every person who takes advantage of the system, there are probably 10 who would honestly tell you, “It really starts to get you down, when there’s no chance of a pay day.”
Order the new album “All life is here”, Release date March 24th 2014 via Harp and a Monkey here
Tour Dates here (includes Sidmouth Folk Week, Hebden Bridge and lots more)
