Biography:
Stanley Allison Rogers (November 29, 1949 – June 2, 1983) was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter.
Rogers was noted for his rich, baritone voice and his traditional-sounding songs which were frequently inspired by Canadian history and the daily lives of working people, especially those from the fishing villages of the Maritime provinces and, later, the farms of the Canadian prairies and Great Lakes. Rogers died in a fire aboard Air Canada Flight 797 on the ground at the Greater Cincinnati Airport at the age of 33.
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Other songs:
- 45 Years
- Lies
- Make And Break Harbour
- Witch Of Westmoreland
- A Matter Of Heart
- Acadian Saturday Night
- Barretts Privateers
- Bluenose
- California
- Canol Road
- Cape St Marys
- Cliffs At Baccalieu
- Dark Eyed Molly
- Delivery Delayed
- Down The Road
- Evangeline
- Field Behind The Plow
- First Christmas
- Fishermans Wharf
- Fogartys Cove
- Forty
- Free In The Harbour
- Guysborough Train
- Harris And The Mare
- House Of Orange
- Jeannie C
- Leave Her Johnny Leave Her
- Let Me Fish Off Cape St Marys
- Lock
- Lookout Hill
- Love Letter
- Macdonnell On The Heights
- Mary Ellen Carter
- Northwest Passage
- Pharisee
- Sailors Rest
- Scarborough Settlers Lament
- Second Effort
- Song Of The Cradle
- Strings And Dory Plug
- Take It From Day To Day
- The Bluenose
- The Field Behind The Plow
- The Flowers Of Bermuda
- The House Of Orange
- The Idiot
- The Jeannie C
- The Maid On The Shore
- The Mary Ellen Carter
- The Rawdon Hills
- The White Collar Holler
- The Witch Of The Westmorland
- The Witch Of Westmorland
- Three Fishers
- Tiny Fish For Japan
- Turnaround
- White Squall
- Wreck Of The Athens Queen
Four years of hard work!This month of May we celebrated four years on the air. We continue working on the dissemination of this wonderful instrument, thank you for participating in our story!
This is one of my favorite songs from the Live in Halifax album. The lyrics strike close to home and it has a
great throbbing, knuckle-dragging, Neanderthal kind of rhythm. This coupled with Stan Rogers's voice makes an
amazing song.
From what I can tell based on this track most of the chords out there are slightly off, but I guess that may
be just me. There are some fill lick/riff/things that I could not quite figure out, but they seem to be a
variation of the "Travis" picking pattern. From what I can figure it is something like this,
(the strings change based on the chord, but this should be the pattern):
E|------------------|
A|----------0-------|
D|--0---0-----------|
G|------2-------2---|
B|------3-----3-----|
e|------2---------2-|
That could be very wrong, if anyone has anything better let me know! I believe it is also this or something
similar that is played for most of the song.
In some places it can be heard clearly-(ish) and sounds more like this:
E|------------------|
A|----------0-------|
D|--0---0-----------|
G|------2-----2-----|
B|------3-------3---|
e|------2---------2-|
Also, Stan seems to use an odd tuning for most of his songs, but I could not tell if this was one of them,
I tried to use it but couldn't make it work. His tuning is a variation of DADGAD and can be decently
replicated as such. From what I can tell his exact tuning is: DADGBD.
Anyway, with due apologies to my fellow Albertans and Ontarians, but no apologies to Morris Dancers, here is
my rendition of The Idiot by Stan Rogers.
[Intro] (D Chord)
E|------------------|-------------------|
A|------------------|-------------------|
D|--0---0---0-------|--0---0---0--------|
G|------------2-----|----------2--------|
B|--------------3---|----------3--------|
e|----------------2-|----------2--------|
[Verse]
D A Bm G Bm
I often take these night shift walks when the foreman's not around.
G D A
I turn my back on the cooling stacks and make for open ground.
D A Bm G Bm
Far out beyond the tank farm fence where the gas flare makes no sound,
G D A G D
I forget the stink and I always think back to that Eastern town.
[Verse]
D A Bm G Bm
I remember back six years ago, this Western life I chose.
G D A
And every day, the news would say some factory's going to close.
D A Bm G Bm
Well, I could have stayed to take the Dole, but I'm not one of those.
G D A G D
I take nothing free, and that makes me an idiot, I suppose.
[Chorus]
G D D/A A
So I bid farewell to the Eastern town I never more will see;
G D A
But work I must so I eat this dust and breathe refinery.
D A Bm G Bm
Oh I miss the green and the woods and streams and I don't like cowboy clothes;
G D A D
But I like being free and that makes me an idiot I suppose.
[Break] (same as verse with a fiddle playing the melody)
D A Bm G Bm
G D A
D A Bm G Bm
G D A D
[Verse]
D Bm G Bm
So come all you fine young 'fellers who've been beaten to the ground.
G D A
This western life's no paradise, but it's better than lying down.
D A Bm G Bm
Oh, the streets aren't clean, and there's nothing green, and the hills are dirty brown,
G D A D
But the government Dole will rot your soul back there in your home town.
[Chorus]
G D D/A A
So bid farewell to the Eastern town you never more will see.
G D A
There's self-respect and a steady cheque in this refinery.
D A Bm G Bm
You will miss the green and the woods and streams and the dust will fill your nose.
G D A D
But you'll be free, and just like me, an idiot, I suppose
great throbbing, knuckle-dragging, Neanderthal kind of rhythm. This coupled with Stan Rogers's voice makes an
amazing song.
From what I can tell based on this track most of the chords out there are slightly off, but I guess that may
be just me. There are some fill lick/riff/things that I could not quite figure out, but they seem to be a
variation of the "Travis" picking pattern. From what I can figure it is something like this,
(the strings change based on the chord, but this should be the pattern):
E|------------------|
A|----------0-------|
D|--0---0-----------|
G|------2-------2---|
B|------3-----3-----|
e|------2---------2-|
That could be very wrong, if anyone has anything better let me know! I believe it is also this or something
similar that is played for most of the song.
In some places it can be heard clearly-(ish) and sounds more like this:
E|------------------|
A|----------0-------|
D|--0---0-----------|
G|------2-----2-----|
B|------3-------3---|
e|------2---------2-|
Also, Stan seems to use an odd tuning for most of his songs, but I could not tell if this was one of them,
I tried to use it but couldn't make it work. His tuning is a variation of DADGAD and can be decently
replicated as such. From what I can tell his exact tuning is: DADGBD.
Anyway, with due apologies to my fellow Albertans and Ontarians, but no apologies to Morris Dancers, here is
my rendition of The Idiot by Stan Rogers.
[Intro] (D Chord)
E|------------------|-------------------|
A|------------------|-------------------|
D|--0---0---0-------|--0---0---0--------|
G|------------2-----|----------2--------|
B|--------------3---|----------3--------|
e|----------------2-|----------2--------|
[Verse]
D A Bm G Bm
I often take these night shift walks when the foreman's not around.
G D A
I turn my back on the cooling stacks and make for open ground.
D A Bm G Bm
Far out beyond the tank farm fence where the gas flare makes no sound,
G D A G D
I forget the stink and I always think back to that Eastern town.
[Verse]
D A Bm G Bm
I remember back six years ago, this Western life I chose.
G D A
And every day, the news would say some factory's going to close.
D A Bm G Bm
Well, I could have stayed to take the Dole, but I'm not one of those.
G D A G D
I take nothing free, and that makes me an idiot, I suppose.
[Chorus]
G D D/A A
So I bid farewell to the Eastern town I never more will see;
G D A
But work I must so I eat this dust and breathe refinery.
D A Bm G Bm
Oh I miss the green and the woods and streams and I don't like cowboy clothes;
G D A D
But I like being free and that makes me an idiot I suppose.
[Break] (same as verse with a fiddle playing the melody)
D A Bm G Bm
G D A
D A Bm G Bm
G D A D
[Verse]
D Bm G Bm
So come all you fine young 'fellers who've been beaten to the ground.
G D A
This western life's no paradise, but it's better than lying down.
D A Bm G Bm
Oh, the streets aren't clean, and there's nothing green, and the hills are dirty brown,
G D A D
But the government Dole will rot your soul back there in your home town.
[Chorus]
G D D/A A
So bid farewell to the Eastern town you never more will see.
G D A
There's self-respect and a steady cheque in this refinery.
D A Bm G Bm
You will miss the green and the woods and streams and the dust will fill your nose.
G D A D
But you'll be free, and just like me, an idiot, I suppose
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