Fare thee well, Raylene
 

first, John Morris and now Raylene Rankin taken far too young

her signature vocal was on Rise Again but you can see her join in with Cookie and Jimmy at the 2:50 mark:


perhaps the most beautiful song and recording to come out of the Maritimes

Fare Thee Well
Music and lyrics by Jimmy Rankin

Fare thee Well, love
Fare thee Well, love
Far away, you must go.

Take your heart, love
Take your heart, love
Will we never meet again no more?

Far across, love
Far across, love.
O'er mountains and country wide

Take my heart, love
Take my heart, love
No one knows the tears I've cried.

So I'll drink today, love,
I'll sing to you, love
in pauper's glory, my time I'll bide
No home or ties, love,
A restless rover, if I can't have you
by my side.

Oh come back, love
Oh come back, love
The sun and moon
refuse to shine.

Since I've gone, love
Gone away love
this lonely girl has had no peace of mind

So I'll drink today, love,
I'll sing to you, love
in pauper's glory, my time I'll bide
No home or ties, love,
A restless rover, if I can't have you
by my side.

Fare thee well love, fare thee well love Fare thee well, fare thee well
Far away, you must go. Far away you must go.
Take my heart, love Take my heart
Take my heart, love Take your heart
Will we never meet again no more?

Re: Fare thee well, Raylene
 

Very sad indeed...for a family that helped bring Canadian east coast music to the forefront.

Re: Fare thee well, Raylene
 

i recall driving around the Cabot trail with some of their hardcore Gaelic lyric-ed recordings playing...probably as close to a Heavenly experience as I'll see!

i remember the announcement of the John Morris tragedy just hours before Jimmy was to perform at the Family Farm Tribute in Toronto (where Gord performed CRT and a few others to close the event)

here is a Raylene vocal that can help but listeners feel good...their productions always capture a clean guitar ring ...

Re: Fare thee well, Raylene
 

Jimmy performed the night of Raylene's death as well... 41 is too young to start battling cancer and 52 is is far too young to lose it. Very sad news.

Re: Fare thee well, Raylene
 

Very sad indeed.

The loss of such a powerful voice in the mainstream current of East Coast Canadian music will leave a huge void.

The voice of Raylene Rankin was very huge.

Having been born in maritime Canada and brought up with the music of that region we tend to graft to songs about our culture and much of it is about the difficult life endured there in early times and the inevitable departure of family and friends to find a better life elsewhere.

In some special way though, these songs, especially ones like "Fare The Well Love" seem to have that magic wove that finds it's way into the heart, alerts the sorrow and sadness, and releases it through the inner spirit of the soul.