Fairport Convention - Percy's Song

Fairport Convention
Unhalfbricking (1969)

"Bad news, bad news, come to me where I sleep"
Turn, turn, turn again
"Say, one of your friends is in trouble deep"
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind

"Tell me the trouble, tell me once to my ear"
Turn, turn, turn again
"Joliet prison and ninety-nine years"
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind

"Oh, what's the charge of how this came to be?"
Turn, turn, turn again
"Manslaughter in the highest degree"
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind

I sat down and wrote the best words I could write
Turn, turn, turn again
Explaining to the judge I'd be there on Wednesday night
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind

Without a reply, I left by the moon
Turn, turn, turn again
And was in his chambers by the next afternoon
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind

"Would you tell me the facts," I said without fear
Turn, turn, turn again
"That a friend of mine could get ninety-nine years"
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind

"A crash on the highway, flew the car to a field"
Turn, turn, turn again
"There was four persons killed and he was at the wheel"
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind

"But I knew him as good as I'm knowing myself"
Turn, turn, turn again
"And he wouldn't harm a life that belonged to someone else"
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind

The judge he spoke out of the side of his mouth
Turn, turn, turn again
Saying "The witness who saw, he left without doubt"
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind

"That may be true, he's got a sentence to serve"
Turn, turn, turn again
"But ninety-nine years he just don't deserve"
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind

"Too late, too late, for his case it is sealed"
Turn, turn, turn again
"His sentence it is passed and cannot be repealed"
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind

"But he ain't no criminal and his crime it is none"
Turn, turn, turn again
"What happened to him could happen to anyone"
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind

At that the judge jumped forward and his face it did freeze
Turn, turn, turn again
Saying "Could you kindly leave my office now, please?"
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind

His eyes looked funny and I stood up so slow
Turn, turn, turn again
With no other choice except for to go
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind

I walked down the hallway and I heard his door slam
Turn, turn, turn again
I walked down the courthouse stairs and did not understand
Turn, turn, to the rain and the wind

And I played my guitar through the night to the day
Turn, turn, turn again
And the only tune my guitar could play
Was "The Old Cruel Rain and the Wind"

Duración: 6:49

Bob Dylan compuso "Percy's Song" al estilo de las típicas baladas inglesas para niños. Por tanto no deja de ser adecuado que un grupo inglés como Fairport Convention la incluyera en su repertorio e hiciera de ella una de las mejores versiones de Dylan jamás hechas. De hecho, no resulta raro. Antes de decantarse al cien por cien por el folk más típicamente británico, Fairport Convention era un grupo brillante a la hora de reinterpretar el folk rock que estaba haciendo furor al otro lado del Atlántico, ya sea con versiones o con temas propios.

En un disco con temas propios como "Autopsy", "Genesis Hall" (dos temazos, yeah) o "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" (que no me dice mucho, a pesar de ser uno de los hits de Sandy Denny), la elección de "Percy's Song" obedece a razones sentimentales, pero también porque es un tema que ilustra uno de los puntos fuertes de los F.P., la sutileza, un rasgo que usarían también cuando pasaron a ser el grupo de folk-rock inglés por excelencia.

Alargando el tema hasta los casi siete minutos, la interpretación que hacen del tema logra que el interés nunca decaiga, con sus pausas introspectivas bien medidas, sus sutiles variaciones de intensidad (con un Richard Thompson demostrando que es un jodido genio incluso para dar su toque personal a la guitarra pasando relativamente desapercibido). Y por encima de todo la voz de Sandy Denny. Siempre he preferido a Linda Thompson (o Peters), por su fuerza y convicción, pero Sandy tenía una naturalidad inconfundible y aquí tenemos una buena muestra de ello. Su voz se mezcla con la instrumentación y las segundas voces, haciendo que la canción fluya orgánicamente, y su interpretación es brillante en cuanto a versatilidad.