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Martha (Cincinnati, 1914)

by The Cambridge Corncrakes

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Khoi Huynh
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about

Martha was the last of the Passenger Pigeons – once the world’s most numerous species of bird. Yes - our commonest ever species. Incomprehensibly, the species was estimated to occur in its 100s of millions in the mid-1800s in North America, migrating in flocks that darkened the sky for days and nesting in dense colonies, some of which have been estimated to cover 2000 square kilometres. The settlers in North America saw this as a huge bonanza to be exploited and the newly developed railway allowed millions of the birds to be harvested and shipped to the cities in the East. By 1914, the last remaining bird, Martha, died in Cincinnati Zoo. This song, by an amazing group called The Corner Laughers from California, is a homage to the lost millions, and a wakeup call that this must never happen again. A fascinating and readable account of this amazing species, its demise and what it means for everybody on this planet can be found in A Message from Martha by the well-known conservation scientist and now activist, Mark Avery (Bloomsbury Press). We hope you enjoy our version of the song, which is surprisingly jolly, yet poignant.
All funds raised by downloading this track will go towards nature conservation projects in the East of England.

lyrics

In 1914, In Cincinnati, I saw you in my mind In the gilded age, in a gilded cage You were the last of your kind.

Once you darkened the skies above Now I’m mourning like a dove.

Why is my spring so silent? Where are the songs we once heard? Why is the sky so empty I could cry? How could this ever have occurred?

When did you fall from glory? What if this is the end? Who’s left to tell the story? When will I see you again?

When did you fall from glory? What if this is the end? So goodbye my one true love, farewell my turtle dove I’ll never see you again.

credits

released November 30, 2014
Composer Khoi Huynh/The Corner Laughers BMI
Artwork Joao Abbott-Gribben www.joaoabbottgribben.com

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Cambridge Corncrakes Cambridge, UK

The Cambridge Corncrakes formed in 2013 to perform at the Cambridge Conservation Forum Christmas party & have now recorded their first album Martha - and all that jazz to raise funds for nature conservation projects in the East of England.

The band members are singer Josie Chambers, keyboard player Humphrey Crick and bass player Pamela Abbott (fiddle player Tim Johnson couldn't be with us) ... more

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