Little Miss Miller was a hard song to write. For Nanny’s 90th birthday there were strongly worded suggestions that I should write a song for her. But where to start?
To folks who don’t write songs, this doesn’t sound like a huge issue. But to songwriters out there, they can relate when the muse does not hit and you sit there wondering “When will I come up with a melody?”
I realized the first step was that I needed some information so I asked Nanny to write the story of her life. Sitting in front of me right now are around a dozen letters about her life that she wrote to me in the year 2020. It was an interesting glimpse into her life and there were some fascinating tales. I really enjoyed receiving letters every few weeks which answered my questions about her life.
Vero had been practicing the fiddle for the past few years and I grew fond of the genre…a lot of days have been spent listening to some classic French ‘call and response’ songs that have been heard throughout kitchens across Canada over the years.
I decided to attempt a song like that as I felt that those may have been songs that Nanny may have heard when she was a young child. Vero graciously offered her fiddle skills and was quite excited when I told her she didn’t have to play the entire song in one shot…the power of modern recording would allow her to record snippets that I could stitch together!
This particular song encompasses the first fifteen years of her life as an original version started to spiral out of control when I realized it would take twenty minutes to fit the entire life of a great woman!
As I write this, I have plans to record further songs about different chapters of her life, but considering it took me two years to get this one done, I’m not sure if that will happen! Perhaps the muse will hit again.
Recording Notes
Fiddle: Vero
Feet: Vero
Vocals: Ryan
Backing vocals: Sierra, Vero, Connie and Troy
Lyrics
(call and response style, double up each verse)
There was a girl from Upper Wakeham
She was born on a February day
Her father had to get a wagon
Not enough snow for a sleigh
Chorus:
Little Miss Miller, where to next?
Little Miss Miller, where to next?
Then it came not three months later
Ruth set off to live with kin
She had to leave her two brothers
Aunt and uncle took her in
Chorus:
Little Miss Miller, where to next?
Little Miss Miller, where to next?
Times were good with friendly neighbours
That’s where Ruth spent most her days
Being poor meant being creative
Skis were made from barrel staves
Chorus:
Little Miss Miller, where to next?
Little Miss Miller, where to next?
Dances at the parish hall
Ruth was there each Saturday night
People came from all around
Danced until dawn’s first light
Chorus:
Little Miss Miller, where to next?
Little Miss Miller, where to next?
Waltzes, 2-step, jitterbug
Sidney driving the drum beat
And don’t forget “In The Mood”
That got everyone on their feet
Chorus:
Little Miss Miller, where to next?
Little Miss Miller, where to next?
At age fifteen, Ruth met Sidney
When they walked home from a dance
Back then that was all it took
To give birth to a great romance
Chorus:
Little Miss Miller, where to next?
Little Miss Miller, where to next?