Months Of The Year In Song: May, the Start of Celtic Summer and RIP Anna “Mae” Bullock

Not too many days left in the current month, so I’d better crack on with the latest instalment of this series. We usually start off with the story behind the naming of the month so let’s see which Roman god May is named after. Well, blow me down, this time it’s not a Roman god but a Greek goddess, Maia. She was the mother of Hermes (the Greek god of parcel deliveries) and was associated with fertility for the Romans. Many people still get a holiday on the 1st of May as it was traditionally a time for festivals celebrating the start of summer. In England there would have been the setting up of a Maypole and the crowning of a May Queen whereas up here in Scotland, the festival was called Beltane which included the building of bonfires (written about here).


Fortunately May does not have as many songs that refer to it which is lucky for me as last month’s instalment nearly broke me with all the song suggestions. Not entirely true of course but a bit of a respite before we hit the month of June which I suspect will be very song heavy.

The first visitor to come up with suggestions for May, was Ernie Goggins. Here are his own words:

A couple of suggestions for May to get the ball rolling. My Girl The Month Of May by Dion. It is from the mid 1960s by which time he had given up rock ‘n roll and become a hippy folkie type. The other is The Watersons’ version of the Swinton May Song, one of the many traditional ‘May songs’ marking the peak of Spring and the imminent coming of Summer.

Thanks Ernie, and as I said in reply last month, I hadn’t known about Dion’s later change in direction until recently. He has had a long career and is still going strong it seems at age 83. As for The Watersons, all very Steeleye Span, but I like it.


The second set of song suggestions came from Rigid Digit and as ever he had lots of them:

Can I have Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven for the line “it’s just a spring clean for the May Queen”?
No – how about Robert Plant’s May Queen instead then.

Anything by Brian May ?
And continuing to push it, the first of May is celebrated with a May Fair.
So … The Quireboys debut single, Mayfair would fit.
That’s 3 duff suggestions and one sensible one

Back to being sensible: The Bee Gees – First Of May

Thanks RD and I hope I’ve correctly identified the one sensible suggestion of the first four?


As for the Bee Gees song it was always going to be one of my own suggestions as I am a bit of a fan. A lovely little film there of the brothers too. You forget how young the twins were when they started out with big brother Barry at the helm. It was this song that was their undoing for a time however as Robin had wanted the song he sang vocals on to be the A-side of this record, but Barry decided it should be on the B-side. This precipitated them parting company. Fortunately for us (if like me you are a fan) they got back together again a year later.

First of May by the Bee Gees:


The next suggestion came in from three different visitors last month – C, John Medd and Khayem – and although not month-related I feel duty bound to include it as they have all enthused about it so much. Here is Kevin Ayers with his song May I. Here is what C said about it:

Regarding May – may I suggest May I?! I mean ‘May I’ by Kevin Ayers and The Whole World. There’s a lovely clip of them performing it on OGWT on youtube. I love Kevin’s rich voice and his quite subtle, arty eccentricity, in my mind anyway I see him in a similar way to Syd Barrett, Julian Cope, Robyn Hitchcock. I know it’s not about the month of May but I do like to bend the rules a little. The lyrics might be seen as either sweet or a bit stalkery nowadays – but I’ll go for sweet!

It is sweet C, and what a lovely deep voice he has. Quite sad that we have to continually question nowadays if something is “stalkery” or not, as I’m pretty sure it wasn’t meant to imply that when it was written.


The final month-of-May-related song suggestion came from Khayem. Here is what he said about it:

Just one suggestion from me this time, but it’s from one of my favourite subversive pop bands, Black Box Recorder. May Queen is from their second album, The Facts Of Life, released in 2000. With Luke Haines (The Auteurs) one of the trio, along with John Moore and Sarah Nixey, sublime music and unsettling lyrics and vocals are present and correct.

From the image in the clip I wasn’t expecting that sound at all – sublime music and vocals as you say Khayem. As for the lyrics, yes a tad unsettling perhaps.


I usually like to add a picture of someone whose name is that of the current month before I finish, but other than Brian May mentioned above, not thinking of many. Perhaps timely therefore to include someone born with the middle name Mae who sadly died this week. Yes, it’s the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll herself, Anna Mae Bullock, more commonly known as Tina Turner. For some unfathomable reason she has never appeared around here although some of my favourite songs from the ’80s were by her. I still own my vinyl copy of her wonderful album Private Dancer. She was in her mid 40s when her career relaunched in 1983 after the success of her cover of Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together. Back in the day we didn’t watch YouTube, we watched The Tube on telly after coming home from work on a Friday. I still remember being blown away by her singing this song as she was no longer the, dare I say it,”mumsy lady” I had seen interviewed a year or so before. Against all the odds she was back, and this time there was no stopping her.


Well, that’s it for this month. As ever song suggestions for next month, the month of June, will be gratefully received.

RIP Tina Turner

Until next time…

First Of May Lyrics
(Song by Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb)

When I was small and Christmas trees were tall
We used to love while others used to play
Don’t ask me why, but time has passed us by
Some one else moved in from far away

Now we are tall and Christmas trees are small
And you don’t ask the time of day
But you and I, our love will never die
But guess we’ll cry come first of May

The apple tree that grew for you and me
I watched the apples falling, one by one
And I recall the moment of them all
The day I kissed your cheek and you were mine

Now we are tall and Christmas trees are small
And you don’t ask the time of day
But you and I, our love will never die
But guess we’ll cry come first of May

When I was small and Christmas trees were tall
Do-do-do-do-do, do-do-do-do
Don’t ask me why, but time has passed us by
Some one else moved in from far away

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Author: Alyson

Whenever I hear an old song on the radio, I am immediately transported back to those days. I know I'm not alone here and want to record those memories for myself and for the people in them. 58 years ago the song "Alfie" was written by my favourite songwriting team, Bacharach and David. The opening line to that song was, "What's it all about?" and I'm hoping by writing this blog, I might find the answer to that question.

22 thoughts on “Months Of The Year In Song: May, the Start of Celtic Summer and RIP Anna “Mae” Bullock”

    1. Thanks for dropping by Alan and for sharing that beautiful version of the song. I hope some of those who suggested it also drop by and listen to it.

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    1. That’s great Lynchie. Nothing like the Runaround Sue material I always associated him with. So glad he’s such a long and varied career as many of them burn out young.

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    1. Thanks for these new suggestions Ernie. I love Rumer so that’s a definite for inclusion.

      I’ve always wondered what a June Bug is and having just looked it up it’s a flying beetle! Every day’s a school day.

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  6. Good stuff, thanks for that. Lovely to hear Kevin Ayers singing in French too (with thanks to Alan), he sounds so Gallic – c’est très bien!
    I have a suggestion for June which I hope you like, it’s gorgeous and mellow; case/lang/veirs with ‘Greens of June’. As you say, though, I suspect there are going to be a lot to choose from.

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    1. Yes, that French version of the song sounds really good, especially with his deep voice.

      I discovered case/lang/veirs when I was doing my Full Moon series as their song Supermoon is just wonderful. Thanks for the suggestion. Only 3 months to go in this series so I’m going to stick with it now but some months definitely better than other for songs.

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  7. Another great entry for this series, Alyson, though a bit of a shock that we’re three quarters through already…though at times I can appreciate it may have felt a long longer for you! Thanks for sticking with it.

    Like Ernie, the title Junebug immediately popped into my head when thinking of the coming month, but a different song and a different artist. This Junebug is by the ever wonderful The B-52’s. It appeared on their 1989 album Cosmic Thing but here’s a live version from 1990 https://youtu.be/2GhQSwMdXJc

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    1. Hi Khayem – not sure if it is one of the better months to write about in this series but thanks to you too for sticking with it. It’s a while since I’ve had a successful series that I’ve kept going with but determined to see this one through. Think the summer months will be more fun.

      Another Junebug song so thanks for the suggestion. I wouldn’t have known about that 1989 album as my life was so busy with work and other things by then, music had taken a back seat. I could estimate the age of bloggers (even if I didn’t already know) by the music they most enthuse about – the music bloggers around my age have a great affinity for the ’70s and start of the ’80s. I suspect those of you around 10 years younger feel the same thing about the ’80s and start of the ’90s. All tied in with that stage in life and so much more meaningful in terms of an emotional response than things we discover later in life (in my opinion anyway). Always good to discover new things though and this series has been great for that – thanks again for your contributions.

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  8. Lovely post as always, Alyson. Some familiar tunes (Robert Plant, Dion & The Belmonts, Kevin Ayers, Bee Gees) and some wonderful new-to-me songs (The Watersons, Black Box Recorder). I was coming up empty regarding “June” songs, which is a shame since it’s my birthday month, but then a song I loved miraculously popped into my head: “June” by Spock’s Beard. They are a modern progressive rock band that started in the mid-’90s and I’ve been a huge fan since I first heard them around ’96 or ’97. Their music is super-melodic even when they go full-on “prog.” This particular songs is mostly acoustic with great harmonies. I hope you like it.
    Such sad news about Tina Turner. She had some amazing highs & unfortunate lows in her life, but it seems like the former outweighed the latter…especially over the past four decades. I had never seen that performance of “Let’s Stay Together.” Wow, absolutely phenomenal. Thanks for sharing it. Are you familiar with the Ike & Tina Turner song “Funkier Than A Mosquita’s Tweeter”? I believe it was the b-side of their version of “Proud Mary.” I first heard it about 20 years ago and it became an instant favorite.

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    1. Thanks for dropping by Rich and yes, June is my birthday month too and my favourite month of the year. It never gets truly dark where I live. A lot of older songs refer to it back when the lyrics were very twee and June rhymes with moon, spoon and swoon etc! I will mix it up next time with old and new I think. I will include your suggestion which I ironically will class as “new” but now nearly 30 years old.

      Yes, I’m glad Tina had a happier life over the last four decades but ill health seems to have plagued her over the last few years sadly. Another legend gone. No, not familiar with that song you shared and to be honest it sounds a lot better than the title might suggest. Thought it was going to be a novelty song or something! I think I could be alone in having never liked Nutbush City Limits and all down to dancing. It was always played at the places we used to go to dance, yet it’s nigh impossible to dance to (unless you are Tina of course with her unique style). On the other hand, all the non-dancers with no natural rhythm loved it and got up to dance as you can just throw yourself around to it – I on the other hand left the floor. What can I say, I’m a dance snob!

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  9. I appear to have completely missed out on this month. I don’t know where I was. My apologies. Not sure what I’d have suggested, but rather than worry about that, I set my mind to June…

    The Kinks have Rainy Day In June, and Melba Montgomery sang that June Is As Cold As December… but I prefer to hope for better weather, so my suggestion is…

    Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo feat. Frank Turner – Fields Of June

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    1. That’s ok. By rights, I should write about songs mentioning the current month right at the start of the month but I always seem to fit the latest edition in right before the end of the month. Only three months to go!

      Yes, adverse weather in the month of June is not something we would like but plenty of songs about it (although metaphorical I suspect). Thanks for your suggestions – it will definitely be included.

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  10. I stumbled across your blog this morning having been woken up at some ungodly hour by my cats who were looking for food. I had heard Jessie by Joshua Kadiston on the radio and wanted to find out more about JK himself and what inspired the song. Having developed the somewhat bad habit of scrolling through my phone at 5am, I was directed to your website. And how happy I am to have found it! Listening to music has always brought me joy and at one stage I wanted to be a DJ but was too shy to pursue it as a career. ( I am, however, brilliant at table quizzes featuring 60s 70s and 80s pop music!) I turned 60 last year and enjoy trips down memory lane and the emotional responses I get when listening to the soundtrack of my youth. Thank you for your insight and obvious passion of same.
    Greetings from Cork in Ireland.

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    1. Hi Sheelin – thanks for dropping by as it’s always good to have a new visitor. As you are female and around the same age as me, my “Nostalgic Journey Through the Tracks of My Years” should really resonate. I seem to have lost focus with this blog of late but am going to try and get it back on track over the summer – I used to have one song and one memory per post, but as the years roll by it kind of morphs into something else with the creation of series and the web-diary element creeping in as you build up followers.

      I’m guessing you found my Joshua Kadison post which became one of the most popular ones for many years – like you I had stumbled upon the song, liked it and wanted to find out a little more. Not many people seemed to have written about it so I popped up in searches.

      Sounds like you are like many of us around here – excellent at remembering all the music of the 60s/70s/80s but not really au fait with the new millennium as much. Me too. I have seriously lost the plot with what is out there now and the fact there is no physical product makes it less special somehow.

      Anyway, welcome aboard. Whenever I watch things on telly set in Cork it reminds me so much of where I live here in the North of Scotland which is probably not surprising. So many similarities between the two nations and the geography of it all.

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