Lyr Req: 'Black Eyed Gull' - Mystery Song!

Subject: Lyr Req: 'Black Eyed Gull' - Mystery Song!
From: GUEST,Ms. Marigold
Date: 25 Dec 23 - 02:14 AM

Hi all!

I am trying to track down an English folk song for my mom. She heard it once several years ago and thought it very special, but hasn't heard it since. I've looked all over but have had no success and thought someone here might know something. She can't remember any specific lines or tune, but she provides the following details:

About a lonely man on the shore singing to a beautiful "black eyed girl" which sounds in his accent like "black eyed gull" (might be dark-eyed)

Song ends with the "girl" turning into a gull and flying away, making him wonder if she was ever really there.

Only partial lyrics she thinks she remembers are something along the lines of "my black eyed gull/girl" as a chorus (maybe)

It was a slow, haunting song in a minor key sung by one man

Heard in a Google Music "English Folk Ballads" playlist in 2017, and she does not know if it is modern or not. Found it once in 2019 by tracking it down through Google Music but since that service has shut down she can't find it anywhere.

It is not: Black Eyed Susan, Dark Eyed Sailor, Maid on the Shore, Polly on the Shore, Black Eyed Suzie, etc. - the main thing she is very specific about is the girl/gull wordplay!

Any help or ideas anyone has would be amazing. She is legally blind and has limited mobility, so she takes a lot of delight in old ballads and songs with lots of vivid imagery and re-finding this song would make her day. I've long appreciated this community and the amazing things it provides, and I hope you all have a lovely day :)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Black Eyed Gull' - Mystery Song!
From: Helen
Date: 26 Dec 23 - 09:49 PM

Thanks for giving so much information on this mystery song. It helps to narrow down the search.

I tried doing an internet search but no luck. I'm hoping someone here might recognise the song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Black Eyed Gull' - Mystery Song!
From: Helen
Date: 27 Dec 23 - 01:54 PM

Anyone have any ideas?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Black Eyed Gull' - Mystery Song!
From: cnd
Date: 27 Dec 23 - 10:38 PM

No luck here, sorry.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Black Eyed Gull' - Mystery Song!
From: Helen
Date: 28 Dec 23 - 12:07 AM

Thanks cnd. I think the best chance is if someone here knows the song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Black Eyed Gull' - Mystery Song!
From: Helen
Date: 28 Dec 23 - 05:01 PM

Ms. Marigold, do you know whether the song is accompanied by any instruments, e.g a guitar or another stringed instrument, or other instruments?

Also does your Mother remember any of the lyrics at all, even just a few words or phrases? You described the song as an English folk ballad, so are there any words which might narrow down the area where the song was written, e.g. strand, lake, loch, beach, or other words which are specific to a part of England or the UK?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Black Eyed Gull' - Mystery Song!
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Jan 24 - 11:06 AM

Hi Helen, sorry for the late reply! I did try to ask her for anything specific - unfortunately (and she was frustrated with this) she couldn't remember any actual lines. She said it was a single man's voice and guitar for the song as in a more modern singer/songwriter I think.

The way she put it, she always found the song by going back to the Google Play autogenerated playlist and skipping until she found it. She is legally blind and not internet savvy, and so when Google changed its streaming service and deleted her music she lost access to it. I've spent a fair bit of time on various platforms trying to track it down and knowing the way of streaming services it might not even have been English. :P The only way I could think to narrow down region would be to see which regional accents make girl sound like gull, haha!

Knowing my mom too, she likes to "creatively rewrite" songs when she sings along, so it could have been any body of water, and any synonym for "dark eyed girl"! I knew this was a long shot when I came to this board, and I do want to thank you Helen for taking the time and energy to try and track this down, it means a lot to me and her :) maybe I'll try searching by region, and I'll let you know if there's any luck. Happy new year!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Black Eyed Gull' - Mystery Song!
From: Helen
Date: 07 Jan 24 - 01:48 PM

Thanks for the further information, Ms. Marigold.

I too am an expert at "creatively rewriting" songs, i.e. I am terrible at hearing lyrics and really good at creating mondegreens in my head. (There are a few fun discussions here on Mudcat about mondegreens if you want to fill in time while waiting for an answer to your mystery song. Just put the word mondegreen in the Filter box to the right of the Create A New Thread link at the top of the main page, and change the age to All and hit the Refresh button.)

The Google playlist issue makes it difficult, but I still think that someone here at Mudcat might know the song or give us some more clues to the singer.

My kindest regards to you and your Mom (or Mum as we say here in Australia), and Happy New Year to you both.

Helen

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Black Eyed Gull' - Mystery Song!
From: Helen
Date: 07 Jan 24 - 03:41 PM

I've also been wondering which areas of the world have black or dark eyed gulls. I haven't heard of them here in Australia, but a quick internet search hasn't helped much because they seem to be in a lot of places in Europe and North America. A quick search might have narrowed them down to being either Herring Gulls or Caspian Gulls.

I'm also thinking that the similarity of the sound of "gull" and "girl" might lead to northern English areas but I could be way off with that idea. Mudcatters from the UK will know. I'm only basing that idea on the accents I hear on UK TV shows.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Black Eyed Gull' - Mystery Song!
From: Helen
Date: 07 Jan 24 - 03:58 PM

I'm sure this isn't the right song but...

The Black-Eyed Girl, Ben-David Warner

I just did a bit of a search on YouTube using:

"black eyed girl" song

A trick I've learned to narrow down the search is to use double quotes around the name of the song, otherwise I get every song with any of those words in the title.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Black Eyed Gull' - Mystery Song!
From: GUEST,Speciality Ken
Date: 08 Jan 24 - 10:30 AM

Just a thought - don't suppose it was 'Golden Bird' by Coope Boyes and Simpson - from their 'as if ....' album ?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Black Eyed Gull' - Mystery Song!
From: Helen
Date: 08 Jan 24 - 12:20 PM

Thanks GUEST,Speciality Ken,

I did a quick search for the lyrics and one site said that the song Golden Bird was originally by Levon Helm and was also sung by Coope Boyes and Simpson.

The story line of the song seems similar to the song that Ms Marigold has described.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: 'Black Eyed Gull' - Mystery Song!
From: GUEST,John Robinson
Date: 12 Jan 24 - 10:16 AM

I had a look, but I couldn't find anything. Eventually, it struck me that such a song might be based on a folk tale: the idea of women turning into animals/birds seems quite Celtic to me (whatever we mean by Celtic: I know that's a separate subject and open to debate). I found a Welsh folk tale called, 'The Daughters of the Sea', so I wonder if the song you're referring to might be translated from another language.

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