Lyr Req: pulling hard against the stream(firemen)

Subject: Lyr Req: pulling hard against the stream(firemen)
From: Rincon Roy
Date: 15 Mar 05 - 07:51 AM

Old version of the Fireman's Polka contains this verse from an earlier song:
"Do your best for one another;
Making life a pleasant dream;
Help a worn and weary brother;
Pulling Hard against the stream."

Would like to find that earlier song! It may be titled,"Pulling Hard Against the Stream."

Didn't find it in the DT database.

thanks for your help. Roy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: pulling hard against the stream(firemen)
From: Noreen
Date: 15 Mar 05 - 08:26 AM

Roy, your earlier request was answered here: Lyr Req: Fireman's Polka (Ripley) verse is what?(click here)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: pulling hard against the stream(firemen)
From: Noreen
Date: 15 Mar 05 - 08:29 AM

If you put the phrase "pulling hard against the stream" into the box at the top of the page, Lyrics & Knowledge Search it brings up the lyrics where they have been previously posted in this forum, even though they have not yet made it into the DT.

The original is a lovely song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: pulling hard against the stream(firem
From: Rincon Roy
Date: 16 Mar 05 - 08:09 AM

Thanks, Noreen for helpful suggestion & the link to the answer(which I'd missed somehow...) The chorus is fun to sing; nice to see what the verse is all about. Roy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: pulling hard against the stream(firem
From: Billy Weeks
Date: 16 Mar 05 - 10:29 AM

I'm not sure which of the two threads this should be posted on, but I'll try this one. 'Pulling Hard Against the Stream' was sung in 1867 by the prolific music hall artist Harry Clifton, who also claimed its authorship. I don't see any reason to doubt the claim but so many of his songs have gone into oral tradition (some may,perhaps, have originated this way) that the idea of 'authorship' can get a bit fluffy at the edges. Many of his songs had a 'motto'character, as with 'Pulling Hard...', 'Always do As I Do', 'As Long as the World Goes Round', 'Bear it Like a Man', 'Work Boys Work and be Contented', 'Paddle your Own Canoe', 'Where There's a Will There's a Way' and so on... Clifton's songs were so popular that they were much borrowed and parodied.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: pulling hard against the stream(firem
From: Rincon Roy
Date: 17 Mar 05 - 08:57 AM

Thanks Billy, always appreciate another piece of the "grand puzzle." Now I know why the author of the Polka expected his audience to be familiar with the song the verse came from. (& familiar enough with the song's studly virtue to make the leap to the tough brotherly "can do" attitude of the rugged & brave fire brigades...) Roy