The Parting Glass - Open Collaboration Project

"The Parting Glass" is a traditional Irish folk song written a good few hundred years back, and one that became very popular with the Scots even as far back as the 18th century. It was that popular in Scotland that it may have even inspired the great Robbie Burns to write the poem "Auld Lang Syne" which was put to music and became even a more of a tradition for the Scots to bring in the new year. 

My good friend Mark posted an acapella of him singing the traditional song awhile back in our secret garden group on facebook. it instantly appealed to me and I loved  how he sang it, and even the ambient presence he had around it. This week I finally got around to playing some music to support it and we both felt Christmas would be the most appropriate time to put it out. 

The song as been made available as a free digital download @ Bandcamp here : https://leelucas.bandcamp.com/track/the-parting-glass

You can hear more of Marks great music here: https://soundcloud.com/markjbennett

We would both like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a creative and musical New Year. 

The Parting Glass (Traditional) 

Mark J. Bennett - Vocals.
Lee Lucas - Keyboards & Artwork.

The words are as follows:

Of all the money that e'er I had
I have spent it in good company
And all the harm that e'er I've done
Alas it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit
To memory now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all

Of all the comrades that e'er I had
They are sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e'er I had
They would wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I'll gently rise and I'll softly call
Good night and joy be with you all

A man may drink and not be drunk
A man may fight and not be slain
A man may court a pretty girl
And perhaps be welcomed back again
But since it has so ought to be
By a time to rise and a time to fall
Come fill to me the parting glass

Good night and joy be with you all
Good night and joy be with you all

Please find time to leave comments to which are always very well appreciated and many thanks for listening.

Free Download

Lee Lucas & Mark J. Bennett - The Parting Glass

When Lee Lucas posted a collaborative version of this song before Christmas https://soundcloud.com/lee-lucas/lee-lucas-mark-j-bennett-the-parting-glass, he suggested that I put out an open invitation for anyone to collaborate with the original stem. Of course, I appreciate that grafting any type of arrangement on to an acapella vocal track isn't easy but I'd welcome any approach. This is an Irish traditional song but it may well withstand a modern arrangement. The vocal stem has lots of reverb and echo on it but should you need a drier stem to work with, just message me and I can send a naked version. Also feel free to take some liberties with this should it lend itself in any other treatment. 

I raise my glass to those brave enough to listen to me tightrope-walking and also to those who might consider taking on this challenge. Cheers!


Of all the money that e'er I had
I have spent it in good company
And all the harm that e'er I've done
Alas it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit
To memory now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all

Of all the comrades that e'er I had
They are sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e'er I had
They would wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I'll gently rise and I'll softly call
Good night and joy be with you all

A man may drink and not be drunk
A man may fight and not be slain
A man may court a pretty girl
And perhaps be welcomed back again
But since it has so ought to be
By a time to rise and a time to fall
Come fill to me the parting glass

Good night and joy be with you all
Good night and joy be with you all

The Parting Glass - Open Collaboration

Before Christmas Lee Lucas posted a collaboration of The Parting Glass with Mark on vocals:

https://soundcloud.com/lee-lucas/lee-lucas-mark-j-bennett-the-parting-glass

Mark subsequently kindly posted his vocal stem as an open collaboration. This is my take on the song - I hope it does Mark's great vocal justice. Here's the original vocal stem:

https://soundcloud.com/markjbennett/the-parting-glass-open-collaboration

The Parting Glass

Of all the money that e'er I had
I have spent it in good company
And all the harm that e'er I've done
Alas it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit
To memory now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all

Of all the comrades that e'er I had
They are sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e'er I had
They would wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I'll gently rise and I'll softly call
Good night and joy be with you all

A man may drink and not be drunk
A man may fight and not be slain
A man may court a pretty girl
And perhaps be welcomed back again
But since it has so ought to be
By a time to rise and a time to fall
Come fill to me the parting glass

Good night and joy be with you all
Good night and joy be with you all

The Parting Glass (with Mark Bennett)

THE PARTING GLASS MARK BENNETT & TATTOO COLLAB***REMASTERED***

This is Mark's open collab and a wonderful vocal performance of the trad song. I put some watercolour washes on it.

https://soundcloud.com/markjbennett/the-parting-glass-open-collaboration 

The Parting Glass - Open Collab with MarkJBennett

My take on Mark J. Bennett's open collaboration of "The Parting Glass". Just some free piano, that's all.
Thanks for sharing this Mark, it was a delight to play along with.

The Parting Glass - Mark J. Bennett With MLucas

"The Parting Glass" is a traditional Irish folk song
Music by Sesar
Vocal by Mark J Bennett https://soundcloud.com/markjbennett


The Parting Glass. Open Collaboration.Ft Mark Bennett

https://soundcloud.com/markjbennett Mark J. Bennett did a wonderful version of The Parting Glass, and put out his vocal acapella as an Open Collaboration. 
https://soundcloud.com/markjbennett/the-parting-glass-open-collaboration

Already 11 version have seen the light of day

https://soundcloud.com/markjbennett/sets/the-parting-glass-open


The Parting Song is reportedly older than 1770 and popular in ireland and Scotland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Parting_Glass

Currently well known by the version of Ed Sheeran.

Thanks to Dan https://soundcloud.com/dan-lockhart  and Eric https://soundcloud.com/pleudoniem for comments on an earlier version. 

Parting glass - Mark J. Bennett open collaboration

I stumbled on this track while taking a needed break from the solo piano piece I had been working on for hours.  I had never heard this song before but loved it immediately so I decided to play along with it.  Of course, I had the song I was working on stuck firmly in my head so every time I started playing along my fingers would just instinctively gravitate to the melody and progression of my piece transposed into a different key - which was extremely annoying until I realized that it actually sounded great.  Then I listened more to the lyrics of the song which are not only beautiful but also hit me on a very personal level.  After a day of making some minor adjustments to match my phrasing with Mark's this was the result.  

The really interesting thing about this piece is that while I've covered and arranged lots of music before, I've never done it for a song which I had never heard with accompaniment.  I still have no idea what the traditional version (or any version with instrumentation).  

This was a LOT of fun to work on for many reasons.  I hope you all enjoy it and I hope I didn't accidentally bastardize the original song.  

Here is a link to Mark's original acapella recording which is beautiful on its own - which is extremely difficult to do acapella.  https://soundcloud.com/markjbennett/the-parting-glass-open-collaboration

Mark's Page

The Parting Glass - (Open Collaboration with Mark Bennett)

With thanks to Mark Bennett (https://soundcloud.com/markjbennett). This arrangement uses the following equipment:

Synthesizers: Sequential Circuits Prophet 6, Korg Kronos, Yamaha SY85, Omnisphere, Sylenth1.

FX: Aether Reverb, Replika delay.

Recorded in Logic via an Allen & Heath Qu-16 desk.

This was a very challenging project in many ways, but incredibly rewarding (and useful) to work on. I recommend it be played very loud :)

A big hearty shout out to everyone else who did versions of this, I didn't listen to any other versions before I did mine as I didn't want to be influenced. There are some truly stunning versions of this track out there, awesome work all!

It's been a pleasant challenge to craft Mark's adlibed voice.

Tried finger drumming... moments of 3/4, others 4/4... then I remembered Franco Battiato singing about 7/8 measures in Brittish folk, and... why not?

Similar doubts about the chords, I finally built a sliding harmony using groups of notes found along the vocal line.

Many laboratory hours after I got something friendly; time to jam brainlessly a pair of guitars which made some organic company to the voice.

Great temptation of singing with Mark, but I finished the vocal edition by building a final choir instead ;)

Hope you'll enjoy, and peace be with you all !!

Original vocal track: https://soundcloud.com/markjbennett/the-parting-glass-open-collaboration
Parting Glass project: https://soundcloud.com/markjbennett/sets/the-parting-glass-open

The Parting Glass (with Markjbennett)

Mark placed this open collaboration up many months ago.   I heard it and thought it was an odd, sober song.  I dug a little into the history of this song and discovered that it is a great classic sung by many people.  I made my own version and shared it with Mark.   I thought I may never release it for other's to hear.

I heard many people play it in so many different manners.  Then I head many fantastic alterations of Mark's version.  I felt surely my version had nothing to add to all of those wonderful renditions.  So it sat for many months.

A while back Mark discussed with me the idea of releasing it.  I went back and listened to it.  I decided that it was not terrible (which too often some of my songs are not fit for human consumption).  Today seemed the right day to post it and send my parting glass to Prince.

Here is my(very traditional) arrangement:

Dm                           C
Of all the money that e'er I spent
     Dm                  C
I've spent it in good company
    Dm                       C
And all the harm that ever I did
 Dm     C      Dm
Alas it was to none but me
    F
And all I've done for want of wit
   Gm         F
To memory now I can't recall
   Dm                     C
So fill to me the parting glass
     Dm        C      Dm
Good night and joy be with you all

If I had money enough to spend
And leisure to sit awhile
There is a fair maid in the town
That sorely has my heart beguiled
Her rosy cheeks and ruby lips
I own she has my heart enthralled
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all

Oh, all the comrades that e'er I had
They're sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e'er I had
They'd wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I'll gently rise and softly call
Good night and joy be with you all
Good night and joy be with you all

You can find many excellent versions of Mark's collaboration here:
https://soundcloud.com/markjbennett/sets/the-parting-glass-open

Please take a minute and send a parting glass to Prince

The Parting Glass to Prince

When Mark J Bennett posted his a Capella, vocal rendition of this classic song as an open collaboration, I was immediately drawn to his wonderful and heartfelt performance. I then stumbled upon the version done by Matthew Wilson, in which he created a flawless piano accompaniment for Mark's vocal. To their magnificent work, I added some orchestral touches and present the outcome of this three way collaboration here. We all hope you enjoy our collective work. 

To hear more of mark's music, go here: https://soundcloud.com/markjbennett

and to hear more of Matthew's work, check out his page here: https://soundcloud.com/matham-wilsoned

The Parting Glass

This is my input on Mark Bennett's collaboration project "The Parting Glass".  I promised to do it ages ago but was finding it difficult to find the right approach and also match the slight shifts in timing in Mark's lovely original acapella. My version doesn't match the musical standards of some of the previous contributors because I lack their skills, but hopefully offers a different view of the song. To me, this is a song sung by a person who knows he's not coming back, hence the way I have ended it.

The Parting Glass - Mark J Bennett - ft enlimila

Recorded at home, this is my first set of proper recordings since A Driven Man.

The Parting Glass - with Mark J. Bennett

Dear listener, Feel free to leave comments and I'll try to reply.

I've been making music for around 16 years now but because of the wonderfully generous community that is SC, I have learned so much in a short time. I look forward to learning even more by collaborating. 
I suppose my strengths are in lyric-writing and singing. I feel fortunate to have been able to work with some stunning compositions by some very talented SCers.

My very best to you, Mark

Some links to recent Continental Collision streaming sites, etc are available below: