The Ballad of Mary Magdalen
rusty76 made my night by uploading the Cry Cry Cry version of "The Ballad of Mary Magdalen" to her lj.

See, somewhere in my move, I seem to have lost my copy of Cry Cry Cry, as I discovered when I tried to listen to it the other day.

So, in the spirit of sharing the love I've uploaded to yousendit both the Cry Cry Cry version of the song, with lead vocals by Dar Williams and the original as sung by the songwriter, Richard Shindell.

The Ballad of Mary Magdalene - Richard Shindell. A beautiful, haunting ballad from the point of view of Mary Magdalen, looking back on her relationship with Jesus Christ. Shindell has an interesting tendency to write gorgeous first-person narrative songs from the perspective of women and this is truly one of his best.

The Ballad of Mary Magdalen - Cry Cry Cry. Cry Cry Cry was sort of a folk supergroup, composed of Richard Shindell, Lucy Kaplansky and Dar Williams. Here, Dar takes over lead vocals on Shindell's song, and the result is heartrendingly perfect. Those who are disconcerted by a man singing a song written from a woman's pov will probably prefer this version, but honestly I think both are equally stunning.

While on the subject of Cry Cry Cry. Seeing as how I'm broke at the moment I can't really pick up a replacement copy right this second, so if someone who has it would be willing to yousendit me a copy of "Cold Missouri Waters" I'd be forever grateful. It's the beginning of fire season, my brother's on a fire team again, and I need to cry over that song a bit.