"And the Band Played Waltzing Mathilda"
Patricia
artist whose name I can't remember. Anyone out
there know who wrote this song?
Patricia Wahl
SUNY @ Buffalo
Simon Hart
heard him sing it I have heard Mike Harding's rendition. Excellent. It is track 2
side 1 of Mike Harding's Album 'Bombers Moon'.
I also sing it but have a lot of trouble finishing it! I always end up in tears
before the end.
If really needed I will post the words for you...
---
Simon Hart, Decision Power Support
tel: 0344 473742 intl: +44-344-473742
e-mail: ha...@sst.icl.co.uk
Life is like a sewer. What you get out depends on what you put in.
--Tom Lehrer's friend, Hen3ry.
Jon Berger
> I once heard this song on NPR, sung by a female
> artist whose name I can't remember. Anyone out
> there know who wrote this song?
Eric Bogle, as I think someone else already said. The singer was very
likely June Tabor.
This song, in its heyday, got so astoundingly popular in folk circles that
someone wrote a very wonderful parody called "And the Band Played 'And the
Band Played Waltzing Matilda'", which made the rounds of the net a few
years back. I don't know who wrote this, because it wasn't credited by
whomever posted it last -- someone Australian, at a guess. (Does this
make it a folk, traditional, "wrote", oral, filk, trafolk, or wrotrafilk
song? I don't know and I don't care; I just think it's hilarious.)
Anyway, looks like it's time to send it around again, so here we are...
AND THE BAND PLAYED
AND THE BAND PLAYED WALTZING MATILDA
When I was a young man I played the guitar
And I lived the gay life of the rover
From Brisbane's green river
To each dusty folk bar
I waltzed my old Martin all over
But in each club I played in
The people said, son
We do like your singing
But when I was done
They would leap on the stage
Saying now I'll sing you one
And this is the song that they sang:
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
And the audience forgot about me
So amidst all the tears, flag waving and cheers
I went to the loo for a pee
How well I remember that terrible day
How my blood boiled much hotter than water
For up to that time I'd been well on me way
to wooing the publican's daughter
Johnny Turk he was there
And he sang the song well
I rained him with insults
And truth is to tell
I wished Eric Bogle
Had gone straight to hell
And never had come to Australia
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
It was such a well-loved refrain
And when Johnny Turk was finished
The burke went and sang it all over again
So now every April I sits on me porch
ANd I watch my past life go before me
And I wish I had written that rambling song
That brought Eric Bogle such glory
The songs that I wrote
I don't sing 'em no more
They're tiring old songs
From a tiring bore
And when young people ask
What did he write them for
I ask myself the same question
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
And the singers respond to the call
As year after year all my hopes disappear
That no one will sing it at all
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
-__ __ /_ Jon Berger "If you push something hard enough,
//_// //_/ jo...@netcom.com it will fall over."
_/ --------- - Fudd's First Law of Opposition
Richard Cannings
--Dick Cannings
Cowan Vertebrate Museum
cann...@bcu.ubc.ca
David Wald
writes:
>Patricia (pw...@acsu.buffalo.edu) wrote:
>> I once heard this song on NPR, sung by a female
>> artist whose name I can't remember. Anyone out
>> there know who wrote this song?
>
>Eric Bogle, as I think someone else already said. The singer was
>very likely June Tabor.
>
>This song, in its heyday, got so astoundingly popular in folk circles
>that someone wrote a very wonderful parody called "And the Band
>Played 'And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda'", which made the rounds
>of the net a few years back.
Last summer, Gerry Myerson <ge...@macadam.mpce.mq.edu.au> posted an
article attributing both (ATBP)^2WM and "Bloody Rotten Audience" to
Tony Miles.
-David
--
============================================================================
David Wald wa...@theory.lcs.mit.edu
"Blessed are the peacocks, for they shall be called sonship of God"
-- Matt 5:9, from a faulty QuickVerse 2.0
============================================================================
Piers Cawley
> I once heard this song on NPR, sung by a female
> artist whose name I can't remember. Anyone out
> there know who wrote this song?
Time for an FAQ list methings :-) "And the Band Played Waltzing
Matilda" was written by one Eric Bogle, a very fine Scottish
songwriter who probably thinks of himself as Australian by now. You
can also hear it being murdered at at least 10 folk clubs in the
British Isles on any night of the week.
--
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Piers Cawley, 2 Widford Park Place, Chelmsford, ESSEX, CM2 8TB. |
| pdca...@iest.demon.co.uk pdca...@cix.compulink.co.uk |
| Once upon a time, and a very good time it was, there lived a . . . |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Andrea Aldridge
>Last summer, Gerry Myerson <ge...@macadam.mpce.mq.edu.au> posted an
>article attributing both (ATBP)^2WM and "Bloody Rotten Audience" to
>Tony Miles.
Don't suppose anybody has the words to "Bloody Rotten Audience," do they?
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
<> Andrea Aldridge E-mail: n904...@henson.cc.wwu.edu <>
<> WWU - 452 Edens Hall North/Bellingham, WA 98225-5971 (206) 650-2647 <>
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
"By the time I can make ends meet, they move the ends."
Tony Quinn
>I once heard this song on NPR, sung by a female
>artist whose name I can't remember. Anyone out
>there know who wrote this song?
I'm pretty sure it was written by Eric Bogle. Also June Tabor has
recorded a version of it, so it may have been her!
--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tony Quinn --- The Voice of Insanity
replies to tony...@sixpints.demon.co.uk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Schifreen
Eric Bogle's rendition is by far the best of all of them. He
does a couple of similar songs, one of which is superb but the name
escapes me. I *think* it's called Carry me Back to the Land of the
Dead but I may be mistaken. It starts:
Now, how d'you do, Private William McBride,
Do you mind if I sit here down by your grave side.
It's really powerful stuff, and excellently done. Recommended.
Rob Schifreen (h...@cix.compulink.co.uk)
David Wald
(Robert Schifreen) writes:
>Eric Bogle's rendition is by far the best of all of them. He does a
>couple of similar songs, one of which is superb but the name escapes
>me. I *think* it's called Carry me Back to the Land of the Dead but
>I may be mistaken. It starts:
>
>Now, how d'you do, Private William McBride,
>Do you mind if I sit here down by your grave side.
Bogle's name for this (at least on the recording I have in front of
me) is "No Man's Land". It's also known as "The Green Fields of
France," and probably other names. Plethyn did a variant in Welsh
called "Gwaed ar eu Dwylo" ("Blood on their hands").
>It's really powerful stuff, and excellently done. Recommended.
Agreed.
On the other side of Bogle, this discussion just inspired me to put on
"The Eric Bogle Songbook, Volume 2", and I'm currently having trouble
typing straight while listening to "Do You Know Any Bob Dylan?"
I said "No! No! A thousand times no!
I'd rather see my lifeblood spillin'
I'll sing anything,
Even "God save the King",
But I just won't sing any Bob Dylan
M. Jonas
> >This song, in its heyday, got so astoundingly popular in folk circles
> >that someone wrote a very wonderful parody called "And the Band
> >Played 'And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda'", which made the rounds
> >of the net a few years back.
>
> Last summer, Gerry Myerson <ge...@macadam.mpce.mq.edu.au> posted an
> article attributing both (ATBP)^2WM and "Bloody Rotten Audience" to
> Tony Miles.
That's interesting, as Bogle himself recorded "Bloody Rotten Audience" on
"Nice And Easy". Does anybody know if Tony Miles also wrote "A Country Song"?
Eric Bogle used to do this in concert in 1979 and maybe he recorded it too.
His intro is "This following song was written by a friend of mine who
specializes in writing song in very poor taste. This one is no different".
(I wonder if this refers to (ATBP)^2WM)
I can't understand the name he gives, but it may well be Tony Miles.
Oh, yes, all three songs should be in the new October edition of the Digital
Tradition, which was announced by Dick Greenhaus last week. It doesn't seem
to be on the popular ftp servers yet, though.
Martin
Geraint Jones
Flow'rs o' The Forest?" (rather than the band playing Waltzing
Matilda, this time) wa...@theory.lcs.mit.edu (David Wald) wrote:
(( Bogle's name for this (at least on the recording I have in front of
)) me) is "No Man's Land". It's also known as "The Green Fields of
(( France," and probably other names. Plethyn did a variant in Welsh
)) called "Gwaed ar eu Dwylo" ("Blood on their hands").
``Gwaed ar eu Dwylo'' is a different song (by Myrddin ap Dafydd) on
a similar anti-war theme, set to Bogle's tune and clearly inspired
by No Man's Land. It tells a different story, though, referring for
example to Ireland and the Irish prisoners in Wales during the Great
War as well as the Welsh soldiers in France. The occupant of the
grave in the Welsh song is from Fron Goch, where the IRA prisoners
were held after the Rising.
Plethyn recorded it, with other songs referring to the Great War on
an album called Golau Tan Gwmwl (a light in the darkness, literally
light below the clouds, referring to a dark day that brightens as the
sun sets) in 1980. Many of Plethyn's songs, if not traditional, were
written by Myrddin ap Dafydd, who is a one of the most spectacular
poets of this age in his language (and a publisher by day).
However this song was part of a commissioned stage performance called
``Tros Ryddid?'' (for freedom?, echoing a line in the national anthem:
tros ryddid collasant eu gwaed, for freedom they spilt their blood)
with words by Myrddin ap Dafydd and most of the music by Geraint
Lovegreen. (I think there was a song based on a Wolfe Tones song too.)
The first performance was in the field Theatre at the National Eisteddfod
in Llangefni in 1983 and it was spectacularly powerful. I believe that
it was Tim Hartley who sang this song in that performance.
Completed and performed in the aftermath of the loss of many Welsh
lives in the Bluff Cove disaster during the South Atlantic Conflict,
Tros Ryddid ties together three fictional characters, Welsh soldiers
who fought and died in Imperial wars: in the time of Robert de Bruce,
in the Great War, and in the Malvinas war. It recites the history of
the Welsh soldier at Bannockburn, at Rorke's Drift, on the Menin Road,
at Gallipoli, on the Somme, in Ireland, on both sides in the Malvinas
and now in Ireland again. ``Baner Lloegr, Gwaed Cymru'' is its theme. g
___
O Thomas John Williams, mi welaf dy fedd
Ar gaeau glas Ffrainc sydd heddiw mewn hedd,
'Rwyt heddiw mor unig, mor bell o'r Fron Goch
A'r pabi yn unig sy'n cofio'r gwaed coch;
Mi welaf nad oeddyt ddim ond deunaw oed
Wrth ddisgyn i'r Somme -- dyna'r hanes erioed;
Wrth ymladd 'dros wledydd', a 'thros eu rhyddhau'
Mi gefaist yn ddeunaw i'r ddaear dy gau.
Oh, TJW, I see your grave in the now peaceful green fields of France,
you are now so alone, so far from Fron Goch, and only the poppy
remembers the red blood; I see that you were but eighteen when you
fell at the Somme -- so was it ever; fighting `for countries' and
`to free them' (echoes of the national anthem) you were closed in the
earth at eighteen.
A phwy oeddan nhw dd'wedodd wrthyt ys gwn
Mai swanc oedd i lanc ysgwyddo y gwn?
A phwy oeddan nhw efo'u hiwnifform swel
A'th ddriliodd, a'th fartsiodd, a'th fwrdrodd mewn sbel?
Ni welaist drwy hyn tan rhy hwyr yn y dydd,
Ni che'st ti mo'r cyfle i dyfu'n ddyn rhydd,
Ond drwy'r mwg a thrwy'r medals wrth ddisgyn i'r llawr,
Mi welaist nad nhw fyddai'n wylo yn awr.
And who I wonder were they who told you that it was swank for a young
man to shoulder a gun? And who were they with their fine unifforms
who drilled you, and marched you, and soon murdered you? You did not
see through this until too late in the day, you had no opportunity to
grow up as a free man, but through smoke and through medals as you
fell you saw that it would not be them who would be weeping now.
'Roedd eraill mewn cell yn dy annwyl Fron Goch
Yn llwydaidd eu gwedd, yn cael bwyd cibau'r moch,
Ond fflam eu gwrthryfel a gadwent ynghyn,
A Werddon a gododd o'u safiad di-gryn;
Mi gawsant gaethiwed am geisio rhyddhau
Eu gwlad hwy o'r dwylo a'th yrrodd i'th wae,
A mam ym Mron Goch oedd a'i chalon yn drom
Wrth glywed fod llencyn yn llwch yn y Somme.
Others were imprisoned in your dear Fron Goch, grey of countenance,
and fed on pig's food, but they kept alight the flame of their revolt,
and Ireland arose from their unshaking stand; they were imprisoned
for trying to free their land from the hands which sent you to your
fate, and the heart of a mother in Fron Goch was heavy to hear of a
youth gone to dust on the Somme.
Mae dynion yn Llundain o'u seddau'n Whitehall
Yn gyrru i ryfel rhai byth na ddo+n' 'no+l,
O slymiau tre' Glasgo', neu Gymru cefn gwald
Mae hogyn diniwed yn cyrchu y gad --
I farw neu yntau i ladd ei gyd-ddyn
Yn enw rhyw ryddid nas gw+yr o ei hun,
'Rwyt ti Thomas Williams dros ddim yn y byd
Yn disgyn yn 'sglyfaeth i'r ffosydd o hyd.
There are men in London who from their desks in Whitehall send to war
those who will never return, from the slums of Glasgow or from rural
Wales an innocent lad goes off to war -- either to die or to kill his
fellow-man in the name of some freedom that he does not know himself,
you TW for nothing at all are still falling prey to the trenches today.
Ond ni che'st d'alw'n arwr, na dy gyfri'n wladgarwr,
Ac ni chwifiwyd y faner ar hanner y mast,
Ac ni wnaed uwch dy waed unrhyw wylo
Gan y rhai oedd a+ gwaed ar eu dwylo.
But you weren't called a hero, nor counted a patriot, and the banner
was not flown at half mast, and none wept over your blood of them
who had blood on their hands.
[ it has lost something in the translation back... ]
Piotrowski, Peter
> I once heard this song on NPR, sung by a female
> artist whose name I can't remember. Anyone out
> there know who wrote this song?
The song was written by Eric Bogle, and an excellent version
of it has been recorded by June Tabor on her _Airs And Graces_ album.
Paul
David Librik
>However this song was part of a commissioned stage performance called
>``Tros Ryddid?'' (for freedom?, echoing a line in the national anthem:
>tros ryddid collasant eu gwaed, for freedom they spilt their blood)
>with words by Myrddin ap Dafydd and most of the music by Geraint
>Lovegreen.
Well, this is rather unrelated, but since you mention the name and seem to
be in a generous mood: do you know the words to "Syched", written by Iwan
Llwyd (another great poet -- chaired at the '90 Eisteddfod in Cwm Rhymni),
and also set to music by Geraint Lovgreen? It shows up on Lovgreen's first
tape. I've always wanted to sing this one but could never catch all the
words -- I don't suppose you know them?
Diolch,
- David Librik
lib...@cs.Berkeley.edu
Trevor Pearson
> In article <CEK0G...@acsu.buffalo.edu> pw...@acsu.buffalo.edu writes:
>
> >I once heard this song on NPR, sung by a female
> >artist whose name I can't remember. Anyone out
> >there know who wrote this song?
>
> I'm pretty sure it was written by Eric Bogle. Also June Tabor has
> recorded a version of it, so it may have been her!
>
Trevor.
Gerry Myerson
>
> Patricia (pw...@acsu.buffalo.edu) wrote:
> > I once heard this song on NPR, sung by a female
> > artist whose name I can't remember. Anyone out
> > there know who wrote this song?
>
> likely June Tabor.
Or possibly Priscilla Herdman, it's on her Water Lily album. Or just
possibly --- though it's not very likely --- Phyl Lobl, an Australian
singer-songwriter who recorded it some years ago.
Gerry Myerson
John McKendy - St. Thomas University
>> likely June Tabor.
>
>Or possibly Priscilla Herdman, it's on her Water Lily album. Or just
>possibly --- though it's not very likely --- Phyl Lobl, an Australian
>singer-songwriter who recorded it some years ago.
>
>Gerry Myerson
Priscilla Herdman -- now there's a name from the past. I heard her
regularly on "Folkways" on CJRT (Toronto) back in the early 80s. I
also remember (vividly, fondly) a live concert at the "Groaning
Board" in 1981. I still have two of her albums -- "Forgotten Dreams"
and "Water Lily".
Anyone heard of her lately? Did she record additional albums, tapes,
CDs? Any info greatly appreciated!
J Lani Herrmann
an admirer of the -- hidden -- craft she brings to "just" singing, so
that her performances present _every word_ clearly. Not just a pretty
voice.) She's produced, recently, one small child and three more
recordings:
Star Dreamer: nightsongs & lullabies, 1988 (Alacazam 1001)
Darkness into Light, 1987 (Flying Fish 420)
(with Anne Hills and Cindy Mangsen) Voices, 1990 (FF 70546, a CD)
Previous recordings include The Water Lily and Forgotten Dreams, plus
Seasons of Change, 1983 (FF 309).
I have to admit that Voices is not my favorite (though it must have
been _fun_ for those folks to work on -- the blend of voices is
exquisite). But it's another of the times when (like the Trickett-Bok-
Muir trio) the whole appeals to me LESS than the individuals separately.
Maybe because they are such superb musicians that I get the feeling
there's no room for me, the listener....
Now that's something I have to think about. Hmmmm. -- Lani
< || > Lani Herrmann * School of Library and Information Studies * South Hall
< || > la...@info.Berkeley.EDU * Univ. of California, Berkeley CA 94720
< || > home: 5621 Sierra Ave., Richmond, CA 94805 * [510] 237-7360
ghost
>Priscilla Herdman is very much still with us, thank goodness. (I've been
>an admirer of the -- hidden -- craft she brings to "just" singing, so
>that her performances present _every word_ clearly. Not just a pretty
>voice.) She's produced, recently, one small child and three more
>recordings:
> Star Dreamer: nightsongs & lullabies, 1988 (Alacazam 1001)
> Darkness into Light, 1987 (Flying Fish 420)
> (with Anne Hills and Cindy Mangsen) Voices, 1990 (FF 70546, a CD)
>Previous recordings include The Water Lily and Forgotten Dreams, plus
> Seasons of Change, 1983 (FF 309).
>
>I have to admit that Voices is not my favorite (though it must have
>been _fun_ for those folks to work on -- the blend of voices is
>exquisite). But it's another of the times when (like the Trickett-Bok-
>Muir trio) the whole appeals to me LESS than the individuals separately.
>Maybe because they are such superb musicians that I get the feeling
>there's no room for me, the listener....
> Now that's something I have to think about. Hmmmm. -- Lani
Meat vs <not-poison, but not my favorite stuff here>.
The only way I can stand Gordon Bok for any extended period of time
is in that trio. I like individual songs, but Bok in performance, &
I presume on record, is such a guaranteed soporific that it should
be forbidden music while driving. I'm not sure that even he's awake.
Until he tells one of those interminable, boring, morality-play stories.
Him & Jay O'Callahan, except unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately)
O'Callahan doesn't sing. There are good story-tellers out there,
but apparently the USA can't grow one. He also has a propensity for saying
"I made this song" rather than "I composed"; I believe
its touchy-feely-political rather than merely vocabulary limitations.
I'm not that fond of Ann Mayo Muir either, based on one song she does
in the trio, Jez Lowe's "The Bonny Bark, the Bergen". Lowe, from the
North of England, says "Bur'gun" or "Bur'gin" (I'm not going to quibble)
as do most on the North American Eastern seaboard & in the Midwest.
Perhaps Muir is from some heavily Norwegian area where they really do say
"Behr'gen" or "Bear'gen", but if so, would she really pause slightly
1st as if she's giving all of us some sort of elocution lesson?
In Minnesota or Norway they'd pronounce all the other words
with an accent too. The ship crashed against the coast of
Northumberland; come on, Anne.
Can't pick on Voices because I haven't heard it; only hope that
Herdman's somewhat & Mangsen's very formal, distanced readings
don't overpower Hills' more human approach; doing MC between-set duets
at Old Songs, Altamont NY this year Hills (at least I think that
was Hills) did a lot to humanize Mangsen, so I can hope.
For years & years Priscilla Herdman was the only one doing exactly
what she does in the folk vein, but nowadays,
probably to her disadvantage, there are a lot of woman singers
out there doing things her style, as well as many who sound closer
to lyrical events. Herdman always sounds very concerned about,
but not that close to, whatever's happening in her songs.
She is responsible for bringing the works of Australian poet
Henry Lawson to North American light, & putting music to them, on
"The Waterlily" (something Garnet Rogers has also done, more recently,
for other of Lawson's poems).
Her voice & approach work best on those lyrics, which have a touch of
Victorian formality to them that the limited but real warmth in her voice
both respects & cuts through when necessary.
Jacob DeGlopper
>that her performances present _every word_ clearly. Not just a pretty
>voice.) She's produced, recently, one small child and three more
>recordings:
> Star Dreamer: nightsongs & lullabies, 1988 (Alacazam 1001)
> Darkness into Light, 1987 (Flying Fish 420)
> (with Anne Hills and Cindy Mangsen) Voices, 1990 (FF 70546, a CD)
>Previous recordings include The Water Lily and Forgotten Dreams, plus
> Seasons of Change, 1983 (FF 309).
I agree about her voice; I first saw her at a House of Musical Traditions
concert in White Oak, Maryland in 1990...
More recently yet, she's produced an album entitled DayDreamer,
on the Music for Little People label, which is a very good
collections of children's songs; it's a nice return to very
simple vocals. With the exception of The Water Lily, all
her albums are available on CD through her. I'll look up
and post the address later.
--
Jacob DeGlopper, EMT-A | Case Western Reserve University
ja...@mayhem.cwru.edu | Wheaton (MD) Volunteer Rescue Squad
deg...@snowhite.cwru.edu | Technical Director, WRUW-FM Cleveland
+1 216 754 1638 | Opinions my own...