Songs about Printing

Subject: Folklore: Songs about Printing
From: GUEST,A Letterpress Printer
Date: 10 Aug 14 - 10:16 AM

I'm looking for songs that relate to the art of printing, typesetting, letterpress composition, etc. I've tried searching but keep finding info on how to print songs and such, not songs about printing. Any suggestions?

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Printing
From: GUEST,Fred McCormick
Date: 10 Aug 14 - 10:25 AM

I'm not sure whether this counts, but Erin the Green (aka The Forger's Farwell, aka Adieu Lovely Erinn) Roud 6992, concerns an engraver who turns his hand to counterfeiting bank notes.

SFAIK, the song has only been collected once (from Robert Cinnamond of Ballinderry Co. Antrim) but appears on CD quite a lot, courtesy of other singers. So a bit of googling should find it.

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Printing
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Aug 14 - 10:32 AM

The ink is black, the page is white
Together we learn to read and write

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Printing
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 10 Aug 14 - 10:49 AM

"She was very fond of dancing, but allow me to remark
That one fire day she danced away with the Calico Printer's Clerk."

Fabric printing permissible, I wonder?

Oh well...

≈M≈

Subject: RE: Folklore: Songs about Printing
From: GUEST,Troy Groves
Date: 10 Aug 14 - 11:01 AM

THE PRINTER
Air -- "Not a Drum Was Heard"

He stood there alone at that shadowy hour,
   By the swinging lamp dimly burning;
All silent within, save the ticking type,
All without, save the night-watch turning;
       And-heavily echoed the solemn sound,
       As slowly he paced o'er the frozen ground.

And dark were the mansions so lately that shone,
With the joy of festivity gleaming,
And hearts that were beating in sympathy then,
Were now living it o'er in their dreaming ;
       Yet the Printer still worked at his lonely post,
       As slowly he gathered his mighty host.

And there lay the merchant all pillowed in down,
And building bright hopes for the morrow,
Nor dreamed he that Fate was then waving a wand
That would bring to him fear and sorrow;
       Yet the Printer was there in his shadowy room,
       And he set in his frame-work that rich man's doom!

The young wife was sleeping, whom lately had bound
The ties that death only can sever;
And dreaming she started, yet woke with a smile,
For she thought they were parted for ever 1
       But the Printer was clicking the types that would tell
       On the marrow the truth of that midnight spell!

And there lay the statesman, whose feverish brow,
And restless, the pillow was pressing,
For he felt through the shadowy mists of his dream
His loftiest hopes now possessing ;
       Yet the Printer worked on, mid silence and gloom,
       And dug for Ambition its lowliest tomb.

And slowly that workman went gathering up
His budget of grief and of gladness;
A wreath for the noble, a grave for the low,
For the happy a full cup of sadness;
       Strange stories of wonder, to enchant the ear,
       And dark ones of terror, to curdle with fear.

Full strange are the tales which that dark host shall bear
To palace and cot on the morrow;
Oh welcome, thrice welcome, to many a heart!
To many a bearer of sorrow;
       It shall go like the wild and wandering air,
For life and its changes are impressed there.

July 20, 1845
London Weekly Dispatch.

Subject: RE: Songs about Printing
From: GUEST,Troy Groves
Date: 10 Aug 14 - 11:10 AM

THE PRESS.
Air - Unknown...

Let monarchs revel while they may,
And drain their goblets bright;
No heart's so free, or gay as we,
On this our festal night:
We need no regal pageant here,
No banners wreathed with fame;
For brighter far, our trophies are,
Our history and name!

Each Printer lives himself a king,
A monarch in his might,
And throne and crown must topple down,
When he is in the right.
And o'er the world his banner waves,
Where freedom's sung or told,
The printed page—the truths of age,
And glorious songs of old!

High honor to the noble art!
By far the brightest gem
That ever threw its lustrous hue
From freedom's diadem !
E'en now it gleams the guiding star,
Far distant o'er the wave,
Where millions fight, to gain the right
Of freedom, or a grave!

Then, brothers, let our daily toil
Be sung in festal strains,
'While bards shall sing or weapons ring
On earth's wide battle plains;
Or while one tyrant's throne is left
For truth to trample down,
Our mystic art will bear its part
Of glory and renown!

Sung at the Printers' Festival, in the city of Boston, April 14., 1848.

Subject: RE: Songs about Printing
From: Jim Carroll
Date: 10 Aug 14 - 11:32 AM

FOLLOW THE PRINTER'S TRADE (1960)
Ewan MacColl

The British Printers' Union, one of the large unions pledged to a policy of unilateral disarmament at the time, commissioned this song for use on the 1961 Aldermaston March. It is cheerful and rhythmic: perfect for a brisk march.

In the beginning was the word.
In the beginning was the word.
And when the time was ripe
We took paper, ink and type
And sent it out in print to all the world.

Chorus:        We belong to the union,
The union we have made;
Together we stand in a strong and lively band
And follow the printer's trade.        

The author is the one who has the dream (2)
But the printer sets the stage,
Gets the dream down on the page,
You've got to have the printer and the team. (chorus)

The journalist is paid to get the news (2)
But it cannot circulate
Till the printer and his mate
Proof and print and pack and send it round the world. (chorus)

It was in the year of 1889 (2)
In the fight for higher pay
And a shorter working day
That printers in a union did combine. (chorus)

We helped to build the union, saw it grow (2)
And we fought at every stage
For a decent living wage
And we gave the printing bosses blow for blow. (chorus)

They say the pen's more mighty than the sword,
But the printing press is stronger than the pen;
And mightier still
Is the power and the will
Of an army of union men and women, Who (etc.) (chorus)

Jim Carroll

Subject: RE: Songs about Printing
From: GUEST,Troy Groves
Date: 10 Aug 14 - 12:42 PM

The Printer's Devil.
Air - "I'm Jolly Dick, the Lamplighter"

I'M saucy Nick, and would you know
My birth and education,
I'll tell ye, 'cause I likes to show
I'm not of vulgar station:
'Tis true I never saw my dad,
But folks are very civil,
They say as how he lives below,
Old Nick his name, like mine egad,
And I'm a printer's devil-

One night dad set a mount on fire,
At last it 'gan to groan,
Then up I flew, and in the mire
   I fell a pummice-stone.
But die I should not father swore,
I'm sure 'twas monstrous civil;
So light and trim,
He made me swim,
Until at last he drove ashore
I'm now I'm a printer's devil.

My master Inky thought, d'ye see,
To keep me in my station,
But father's deeper far than he,
He's had an education.
He swore that I should rub no more,
I'm sure 'twas monstrous civil;
So quick and straight,
He chang'd my gate ;
And so, sir, as I said before,
I'm now a printer's devil.

I by-and-by a vamp shall be,
And have the poet's plenty ;
And then, sir, what dy'e think of me,
   I'll damn a ten or twenty.
You see how deep old father he,
Yet sure he's monstrous civil--
A lad like I,
You'll seldom spy
So quickly chang'd from low degree,
To be a printer's devil.

Then ye who quibble so and quirk,
   I pray leave off your sarmont,
But do a little dirty work,
And soon you'll gain prefarment.
I've heard a snug warm birth ye like,
And father's monstrous civil-
   He'll warm you all,
Both great and small,
So take my 'vice and then be like,
You'll praise the printer's devil.

{From The Orchestra; a Choice of Fashionable Songs" }

Subject: RE: Songs about Printing
From: Mr Red
Date: 10 Aug 14 - 12:50 PM

Mudcat search for Printer
0.8164 - THE CALICO PRINTER'S CLARK
0.7967 - LOW DOWN IN THE BROOM
0.7742 - RODNEY'S GLORY (2)
0.7742 - A SONG, CALL'D MOLLY BAWN
0.7742 - JOHN BROWN'S ENTRANCE INTO HELL.
0.7742 - FLORA AND DONALD, OR, THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE
0.7742 - MONITOR AND MERRIMAC
0.7742 - SALLY WHEATLEY
0.7742 - S-100 BUSS
0.7742 - EILEEN AROON NOTES
0.7742 - BALLAD OF THE SCHOOL LEAVER
0.7742 - ABDUL ABULBUL AMIR

search for printing
0.8169 - EILEEN AROON NOTES
0.7967 - SCEW BALL (STEWBALL)
0.7967 - Notes for Bonnie Lass of Fyvio/Peggy of Darby/Dandy
0.7742 - ROSIN THE BEAU 2
0.7742 - THE LAMENTING MAID (CURRAGH OF KILDARE)
0.7742 - THE IRISH LOVERS (CURRAGH OF KILDARE)
0.7742 - LININ' TRACK
0.7742 - WE HAVE FED YOU ALL FOR A THOUSAND YEARS
0.7742 - NICHT OWRE
0.7742 - BESSY BELL AND MARY GRAY 2

search for print
0.7967 - Notes for Bonnie Lass of Fyvio/Peggy of Darby/Dandy
0.7742 - THE TUNNEL TIGERS
0.7742 - TIME TO REMEMBER THE POOR
0.7742 - MARY HAMILTON (5)
0.7742 - HEY, CA' THRO'
0.7742 - HUNGRY GOAT
0.7742 - THE RIVER LEA
0.7742 - STEPSTONE
0.7742 - THE BALAENA
0.7742 - WHAT'S THAT I HEAR? (FREEDOM CALLING)
0.7742 - WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED
0.7742 - THE SANDSHARK
0.7742 - THE PROGRAMMER'S LAMENT
0.7742 - THE MAID OF MOURNE SHORE
0.7742 - THE CRASH SONG
0.7742 - TEACHERS' HARD, HARD TIMES
0.7742 - NOSTRADAMUS
0.7742 - LIMMERICK PROGRAMMER
0.7742 - LAMOILLE RIVER
0.7742 - HIELANT DONALIE
0.7742 - GENTLE ANNIE 2
0.7742 - EILEEN AROON NOTES
0.7742 - DUST ON THE BIBLE
0.7742 - COAL TATTOO
0.7742 - BOUND FOR GLORY
0.7742 - BLUEY BRINK
0.7742 - BALLAD OF LYDIA PINKHAM
0.7742 - AULD LANG SYNE

worth a look if you are patient.

Subject: RE: Songs about Printing
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Aug 14 - 04:06 PM

Not to forget Disney. "Some day my prints will come". At any rate, it's better than the limp-dick original.

Subject: RE: Songs about Printing
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 10 Aug 14 - 04:09 PM

Jim Carrol beat me to it, Ewan MacColl's "The Printer's Trade". I've been trying for years to learn more than the first verse and chorus.

Linn

Subject: RE: Songs about Printing
From: Bill D
Date: 10 Aug 14 - 05:37 PM

I used to have a foot-treadle letterpress, but never even thought of songs on the topic.

*sigh* I miss it. (I lived 10 minutes from a type foundry)

Now I'm a wood turner, and only know one song about it.

Subject: RE: Songs about Printing
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 10 Aug 14 - 05:50 PM

Considering the chemicals for ink and cleaning ink, and the blades for cutting and trimming paper, plus stations for binding and stapling, there are lots of hazards to that trade. It's the hazardous conditions that often times generate the songs, so I bet there are some out there.

SRS

Subject: RE: Songs about Printing
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 10 Aug 14 - 06:13 PM

Poor old Marat, they hunt you down
The bloodhounds are sniffing all over the town
Just yesterday, your printing press was smashed
Now they're asking your home address

Poor old Marat, in you we trust
You work till your eyes turn as red as rust
But while you write, they're on your track
The boots mount the staircase
The door's thrown back

Marat/Sade by Peter Weiss

Subject: RE: Songs about Printing
From: GUEST,John Foxen
Date: 10 Aug 14 - 07:22 PM

The Press by Rudyard Kipling

Subject: RE: Songs about Printing
From: mg
Date: 11 Aug 14 - 12:01 AM

I have one about a.paper mill.

Subject: RE: Songs about Printing
From: mg
Date: 11 Aug 14 - 12:02 AM

How about if i were.a.clerk and could write a.fine hand.