Jon says, “Bellamy was always a bit disappointed that this setting of a Bob Copper poem didn’t become more of an anthem for the folk club circuit. I suspect the problem is it’s a bit too wordy, but it’s a shame because it just sums up very well the enduring appeal of folk songs and folk singing.” We’re back to Songs An’ Rummy Conjurin’ Tricks for Peter’s version of this and wordy or not, it’s another welcome addition here, although of course this is another that isn’t Trad. Arr. You’ll find the lyrics and more at Mudcat here. For those short on time, this is the most interesting entry on the thread.
Bob Copper originally wrote this as a poem around 1945; the above is his revised version of 1984, which Peter Bellamy set to music. Bob had this to say about it, in an interview with Peter for Sing Out! magazine conducted in 1970: “I felt as if I was the only man in the country who thought the old songs were worth saving…we had no idea of the existence of the English Folk Song Society, even though [in 1887] Granddad had been instrumental in its formation…I was frantically trying to find someone who was interested in these things and who shared my feelings for them. I even became a member of the Sussex Archaeological Society, and I wrote to them saying that I was in possession of a large number of songs which I considered to be as important as a part of Sussex history as any bit of flint, or old tomb or piece of old furniture (though I was interested in those too), and much more vulnerable, but that didn’t come to anything. Anyway, this reflects what I was feeling at the time.”
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The buy links should now work properly. We had some problems with a duplicate track and everything needed to be updated, but I’ve just tested them and they are now OK!
You can buy the digital album now from the following stores:
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Hello there. I just skimmed the Guardian’s article on your project and I wanted to wish you good luck. I recorded/released a song a day in 2008 and plan to return to the process in 2012. Of course, I’m not as skilled as you are, but it’s nice to see a shared affection for repetitive creativity. Anyway, good luck and best wishes.
I’ve just discovered this project through the Guardian too, and wanted to add my best wishes.
I tried to sing along with something the other day and found my singing voice (never great at any time) had almost completely seized up! I persevered, and definitely felt better for it. So I shall be singing along with you, for my health’s sake if nothing else.
It’s also a great way to share some traditional British music with my friends here in Spain, who like to exchange information about our disparate cultures.
More power to your accordion, sir!
A wonderful song and a very nice version from Jon. I first heard this song about ten years ago on Peter Bellamy’s ‘Wake the Vaulted Echoes’ 3 CD set. Way back in the 1960s, when I was still a teenager living in Norwich, I was walking down the street with a couple of friends one day when one of them nudged me and pointed out the flamboyantly dressed chap with the long yellow hair walking in front of us. It was Peter Bellamy of course. “He’s a folk singer”, they said. To my great regret I never followed this up and it was only several decades later – after moving to Japan – that I finally discovered him and caught up with what I’d been missing. Any chance of Jon singing ‘Yarmouth Town’ during this series?
What a great combination, Bob Copper, Peter Bellamy and Jon’s fine voice. One to learn methinks
Lifts the spirit on this rather grey and overcast morning, thanks
Full of admiration for the project, Jon, which I’ve been following since getting back from Trowbridge. Love the variety as well as the principle.
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Thank goodness for the tenacity of the Copper family. This song gets straight to the point…there are some good old songs out there to collect and sing! I was privileged to join Bob Copper’s funeral procession. Very poignant as his ashes were enclosed in a little, red velvet bag on a girt -big, daffodil be-decked, farm wagon , drawn by two lovely horses. Great song and well sung.
Great idea Jon – good luck for the year
Bob sang this at the Peter Bellamy Memorial Day at the Conway Hall. I was in a singaround elsewhere in the building, but Gill still gets a lump in her throat at the memory.
This one doesn’t do it for me! But I totally agree with the well-made point that this song “sums up very well the enduring appeal of folk songs and folk singing.” I’d give it a thumbs up for that alone….but I won’t be voting for it! Hahahahaha!
This is the first one that really does do it for me in that I’ve started learning it. Most of the others are fine versions but I either know the songs already or I don’t feel the urge to add them to my repertoire. How I have not heard a song this good is a mystery to me!
I finally learned this when I got the Bellamy boxed set, and really started singing it out shortly after Bob Copper died. It’s a devil of a song to pitch – I’ve lost count of the times I found myself singing “… and songs that Nelson’s sailors s… not in that key” when I started singing it out, but it’s worth sticking with.
Bob really thought that he and Ron were the last people in the world singing the ‘old songs’ when he wrote the lyric and that’s the thought I keep in my head as I sing it. Yes, the lyrics don’t have the polish that generations of the folk process give to a song, but you can’t beat that opening verse, nor the sentiment of “… they will echo onwards down the years and never, never fade // while fifty thousand singing men shall never be afraid // to raise their lusty voices, their spirits to revive // and tell to all eternity, we’re glad that we’re alive!”
Gives me the goosebumps just typing out, that does. Pete Bellamy and Bob Copper – two very fine men indeed – the world is a poorer place without them in it.
I appreciated this one better second time around, and after reading through all the comments. This shows me I have moved on a pace in my folk ‘edukashun’ than when AFSAD started out! I’d prefer the line Piers quotes to read ‘while fifty thousand singers shall never be afraid’ than just ’singing men,’ but one can always improvise!
First time round for me with this one,[a later starter with AFSAD ] really liked this one .
@Jane…….perhaps…..‘while fifty thousand singers THEN, shall never be afraid’
@ Muzza: You might also need to modify the word ‘lusty’ too… but I appreciate switching the ‘l’ for a ‘b’ would create a bias the other way… HAHAHAHAHAHA!