Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise

Subject: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Arkie
Date: 29 Aug 12 - 12:29 PM

Can't think of a better place for help on this. Two songs that come readily to mind are Fiddler's Green and Big Rock Candy Mountain. I know some will argue that there is a darker meaning to Big Rock Candy Mountain, but I hold to the opinion that songs may have more than one meaning and one does not totally negate the other. And there are songs in the Christian tradition about streets of gold, etc. Any songs come to mind?

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: GUEST,highlandman at work
Date: 29 Aug 12 - 12:59 PM

There's "Golden Slippers," which is said to have a darker double meaning as well. And "Land of Pure Delight," the hymn by Isaac Watts. That's what comes to mind right now, surely there are countless others.
-Glenn

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Elmore
Date: 29 Aug 12 - 01:11 PM

Farthest Field by David Dodson.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 29 Aug 12 - 01:25 PM

Peace in the Valley by Thomas A. Dorsey

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Gda Music
Date: 29 Aug 12 - 01:39 PM

*Somewhere over the rainbow*

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: fat B****rd
Date: 29 Aug 12 - 03:30 PM

"Itchycoo Park"

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: GUEST,Stuart Reed
Date: 29 Aug 12 - 03:41 PM

Land Of Hope And Glory

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: GUEST,Anne Lister, still cookie-less
Date: 29 Aug 12 - 04:11 PM

My song "A Flame in Avalon".

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 29 Aug 12 - 04:26 PM

For race car fans:
Tracks Of Gold

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Amos
Date: 29 Aug 12 - 05:22 PM

"Last Night I had the Strangest Dream has always been a favorite

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 29 Aug 12 - 07:10 PM

Oleena..Hanalee??, the land across the river that they call the great?? forever, blue tatoo has some lines...

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Arkie
Date: 29 Aug 12 - 08:38 PM

Hanalee, is that the home of Puff the Magic Dragon?

Another song that comes to mind is "Gold Mine in the Sky"

Thanks for all the great input. I have found some of the songs suggested and discovered that I already had several on my computer. And some are songs I already know, but they had not popped up on the radar. Seems like Eric Bogle wrote a song for Stan Rogers, but I cannot think of the title and do not recall if that would fit into this theme or not.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Bobert
Date: 29 Aug 12 - 09:08 PM

"Atlantis" by Donovan...

B~

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Elmore
Date: 30 Aug 12 - 10:47 AM

Arkie: The Eric Bogle song you mentioned is "Safe in the Harbour" Great song, but perhaps a little abstract to fit this theme.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 30 Aug 12 - 10:51 AM

Angel Band.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Sandy Mc Lean
Date: 30 Aug 12 - 12:44 PM

Hillbilly Heaven by Tex Ritter and Far Side Banks Of Jordan by the Carters.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 30 Aug 12 - 05:54 PM

And nobody mentioned Big Rock Candy Mountain.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 30 Aug 12 - 06:05 PM

Look at the first post, Dick. But why a 'darker meaning'? It is anything but. It was originally a 17th century advert to attract people in Britain to emigrate to Virginia, a description of utopia, 'An Invitation to Lubberland', later 'An Invitation to the Famous and Plentiful island of Pleasure call'd, New Scotland, in the Northern Parts of America', presumably Nova Scotia.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: open mike
Date: 30 Aug 12 - 06:14 PM

The Digger Song...by Leon Rosselson...In 1649 to St. George;s Hill a ragged band they call the diggers came to show the people;s will. ...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=594JpY2ahFg

It has its roots in the song levellers and diggers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJYUz31i_Go
a 17th century ballad, in terms of content a protest song concerned with land rights, inspired by the Diggers communal movement.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Bill D
Date: 30 Aug 12 - 06:16 PM

I think "oleena" meant Oleanna... sung by Pete Seeger

YouTube

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Elmore
Date: 30 Aug 12 - 06:24 PM

Yes, Oleanna, written by Ditmar Meidell, translated from the Swedish and recorded by Pete Seeger.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Joe_F
Date: 30 Aug 12 - 08:49 PM

Fiddler's Green.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: GUEST,BobL
Date: 31 Aug 12 - 03:03 AM

John Lennon's "Imagine".

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 31 Aug 12 - 09:36 AM

What your list really needs is some cheesy 80s pop...

Fantasy Island - Tight Fit

Land of Make Believe - Bucks Fizz

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: open mike
Date: 31 Aug 12 - 12:15 PM

Oleanna, a community in Ole Bull's colony New Norway, Pennsylvania.
Ole Bullws a fiddler...and a dreamer. The original song about this utopian community would have been in Norwegian. Here is the thread where I posted the bio of Ole Bull...http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=117859

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Betsy
Date: 31 Aug 12 - 03:32 PM

Could try "Eldorado" by Graeme Miles - various notable singers have covered it ,

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: GUEST
Date: 01 Sep 12 - 10:39 AM

i've got a song along these lines. it's called 'someplace fine'

first verse;

some day, i'm gonna dream myself to a better place
people'll say that boy vanished without a trace
he must have gone someplace fine
may be sleepin,maybe day dreaming or combing my hair
suddenly vanish in thin air
and come out someplace fine

you can find it here:

http://www.daveshiflett.com/music.html

scroll down a ways -- it's there

dave shiflett

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: GUEST,John Foxen
Date: 01 Sep 12 - 10:43 AM

Many, many years ago in Liverpool I herd the fine blues harp player and singer Raphael Callaghan sing a number called Utopia.
I can only remember a verse that went: "They say that in Utopia nobody's got the blues/
Well I wouldn't want to go there cos I've got too much to lose."
Anyone know the other verses?

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Elmore
Date: 01 Sep 12 - 11:48 AM

Oops! I said Oleanna was Swedish instead of Norwegian. I'm fading fast.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: oldhippie
Date: 01 Sep 12 - 12:57 PM

Suddenly There's A Valley

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Owen Woodson
Date: 01 Sep 12 - 03:06 PM

On my shelf there's a book called Nowhere In America; The Big Rock Candy Mountain & Other Comic Utopias, by Hal Rammel. I've never got round to reading it, but I'd say there's a fair bit of material in there.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Larry The Radio Guy
Date: 01 Sep 12 - 09:11 PM

I remember a pop song from the early 60's....it wasn't a big hit....called Utopia. Blocking on the singer's name (I have the record in my big collection of 45's).

It started with "Everybody's searching for Utopia".

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: gnomad
Date: 02 Sep 12 - 03:44 AM

'Liverpool Town for Me' might be seen as speaking of an Utopia, not one that would suit all of course, but that seems to me to be the nature of the beast. We all want something different, or at least our own version.

'Jerusalem' speaks of a different vision.

The more overtly religious ones I will leave to the current adherents, but as a childhood Anglican I remember there were a few that would fit your criteria.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 02 Sep 12 - 05:01 AM

Sandwood Down to Kyle, by Dave Goulder, would seem to fit in here.
Talk to me of Mendocino, by The McGarrigles, also.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Arkie
Date: 03 Sep 12 - 12:10 AM

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Some I have, some I have located sources, and will keep searching for others. The book Nowhere in America is enticing. I have captured the Contents and index and may end up with a copy of the book.

We have a Norwegian settlement here in Stone County. Someone bought up quite a few acres, cleared some land, and has built some nice log houses scattered on the property.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Sep 12 - 09:45 AM

There are a lot of gospel songs which might be revived. Here's one that Jeanne Ritchie suggested to me that's in danger of being forgotten:

Words and music by F.M. Lehman © 1914
Rodeheaver's Gospel Songs, © 1922, pp. 34-35

No Disappointment in Heaven

There's no disappointment in heaven,
No weariness, sorrow or pain;
No hearts that are bleeding or broken,
No song with a minor refrain;
The clouds of our earthly horizon
Will never appear in the sky,
For all will be sunshine and gladness,
With never a sob nor a sigh.

Chorus:

I'm bound for that beautiful city,
My Lord has prepared for His own;
Where all the redeemed of all ages
Sing "glory" around the white throne;
Sometimes I grow homesick for heaven,
And the glories I there shall behold:
What a joy that will be when my Savior I see,
In that beautiful city of gold.

We'll never pay rent for our mansion,
The taxes will never come due;
Our garments will never grow threadbare,
But always be fadeless and new;
We'll never be hungry nor thirsty,
Nor languish in poverty there,
For all the rich bounties of heaven
His sanctified children will share. (CHO)

They'll never be crepe on the doorknob,
No funeral train in the sky;
No graves on the hillsides of glory,
For there we shall nevermore die;
The old will be young there forever,
Transformed in a moment of time;
Immortal we'll stand in His likeness,
The stars and the sun to outshine. (CHO)

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: deepdoc1
Date: 03 Sep 12 - 10:28 AM

"Fifty Miles of Elbow Room" is pretty good.

Subject: ADD: Come Back Paddy Reilly^^^
From: GUEST,mayomick
Date: 03 Sep 12 - 10:55 AM

COME BACK PADDY REILLY
(By Percy French)

The Garden of Eden has vanished, they say
But I know the lie of it still;
Just turn to the left at the bridge of Finea
And stop when halfway to Cootehill.
'Tis there I will find it,
I know sure enough
When fortune has come to me call,
Oh the grass it is green around Ballyjamesduff
And the blue sky is over it all.
And tones that are tender and tones that are gruff
Are whispering over the sea,
Come back, Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff
Come home, Paddy Reilly, to me.

My mother once told me that when I was born
The day that I first saw the light,
I looked down the street on that very first morn
And gave a great crow of delight.
Now most newborn babies appear in a huff,
And start with a sorrowful squall,
But I knew I was born in Ballyjamesduff
And that's why I smiled on them all.
The baby's a man, now he's toil-worn and tough
Still, whispers come over the sea,
Come back, Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff
Come home, Paddy Reilly, to me.

The night that we danced by the light of the moon,
Wid Phil to the fore wid his flute,
When Phil threw his lip over Come Again Soon,
He'd dance the foot out o' yer boot!
The day that I took long Magee by the scruff
For slanderin' Rosie Kilrain,
Then, marchin' him straight out of Ballyjamesduff,
Assisted him into a drain.
Oh, sweet are the dreams, as the dudeen I puff,
Of whisperings over the sea,
Come back, Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff
Come home, Paddy Reilly, to me.

I've loved the young women of every land,
That always came easy to me;
Just barrin' the belles of the Black-a-moor brand
And the chocolate shapes of Feegee.
But that sort of love is a moonshiny stuff,
And never will addle me brain,
For the bells will be ringin' in Ballyjamesduff
For me and me Rosie Kilrain!
And through all their glamour, their gas and their guff
A whisper comes over the sea,
Come back, Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff
Come home, Paddy Reilly, to me.

Encore verse

I've struck oil at last!
I've struck work, and I vow
I've struck some remarkable clothes,
I've struck a policeman for sayin' that now,
I'd go back to my beautiful Rose.
The belles they may blarney,
the boys they may bluff
But this I will always maintain,
No place in the world like Ballyjamesduff
No guril (sic) like Rosie Kilrain.
I've paid for my passage, the sea may be rough
But borne on each breeze there will be,
Come back, Paddy Reilly to Ballyjamesduff
Come home, Paddy Reilly, to me.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Jan 16 - 10:19 PM

Robert Rodriquez called me this afternoon from snowbound Manhattan. His calls often end up in Mudcat thread. Today he was asking about "Big Rock Candy Mountain," "Oleanna," and other songs about Utopia/Paradise.
I have two friends who are Irish-born nuns with dementia. I often have them teach me songs they learned when they were growing up in Ireland, and one of them sang me the song about Ballyjamesduff last week [Come Back Paddy Reilly, by Percy French]. It's a pleasure to see that song here.
Anybody else have songs to add to this wonderful thread?
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: GUEST,SqueezeMe
Date: 27 Jan 16 - 08:47 AM

Henry Lawson's (?) "The Shearer's Dream" probably fits the bill as an Australian suggestion.(Lyrics in Digitrad)

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Jack Campin
Date: 27 Jan 16 - 09:54 AM

[thread brought to the top by spam from a California legal firm]

Now that's a utopia too far-fetched for anyone to have written a song about - a place where lawyers charge affordable fees.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: GUEST,Julia L
Date: 27 Jan 16 - 08:23 PM

Fairytale Lullabye- learned this from an English singer a long time ago. used to sing it to my kids
Anyone know the writer?

"If you want to catch a star then come with me
I will take you to a magic purple sea"
Maybe we will find a thousand magic sugar fish
If you eat one it will grant your every wish

chorus "And if you want you friend to come
Then bring them all along"

If you want to ride a rainbow, walk my way
I will take you where the night is always day
You can follow it if you really try
Maybe we will find a rainbow and teach you how to fly (?)

I will take you to the magic dancing wood
I will take yo where the goblins are all good
I will take where the elves and the pixies do sing
I will take you round the magic fairy ring

Bow your head and let your eyelids close on down
Where we're going you don't need to bring your frown
You will find that all the things that I have said
Will come true when you are lying in your bed

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Jack Campin
Date: 27 Jan 16 - 08:39 PM

It's "lullaby". Spelling it right might have got you here:

John Martyn

Faked quainte spellynges gette on my tittes.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: GUEST,ketchdana
Date: 27 Jan 16 - 10:10 PM

Camelot, from the musical of the same name?

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Mark Ross
Date: 27 Jan 16 - 11:15 PM

Streetsingers Heaven by Bob Bovee and Stevie Beck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlRQX9o43DM

Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: GUEST,Julia L
Date: 28 Jan 16 - 12:12 AM

Jack- too bad you are so uptight
but thank you for the information

He's only cranky online, Julia. In person, he's a delightful gentleman. -Joe Offer, Mudcat Music Editor-

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: akenaton
Date: 28 Jan 16 - 07:36 AM

Anyone interested in "Utopian" literature should try reading "City of the Sun" by Tommasso Campanella   1623.

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Cool Beans
Date: 28 Jan 16 - 02:54 PM

How about Bluegrass Music Heaven:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBUsdYEfwK0

Subject: RE: Songs about fantasy utopia or paradise
From: Joe_F
Date: 28 Jan 16 - 04:25 PM

"Beasts of England" (with "a tune somewhere between Clementine and La Cucuracha") in Orwell's _Animal Farm_.