Time for Another Ballad

"Barbara Allen," holds a peculiar fascination for me. Perhaps it's just that finely-distilled poignancy that can only result from a song being passed from ear to ear for who-knows-how-many hundred years. There's no artifice left in it, no poet's self-indulgence, just the strong lines of a very tragic story. Though I've all the patience in the world to sit through an all-the-verses rendition, I was quite happy to find this short version of the song by Bethany Hamilton and Kristy Fowler that uses my favourite setting for the tune, and uses it very well indeed.