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Lyr/Tune Req: Humping the Drum
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Subject: Lyrics/Tune Req: Humpin the Drum From: John in Brisbane Date: 14 Nov 05 - 09:23 PM A truly beautiful Aussie song, the title probably referring to "carrying a rolled up blanket and mattress (swag) on your back" - just trying to pre-empt those who'll inevitably quip about banging or other forms of percussive copulation. I've heard Blackwood who do it very well and it's a beautiful old Irish tune. Anyone have the lyrics please, but in particular does anyone know the name of the original tune? I'm no Andy Rigby but I'd like to play it on my Harp as part of a medley. Many Thanks, John |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics/Tune Req: Humpin the Drum From: Peace Date: 15 Nov 05 - 12:07 AM http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:YmCTQlu93kUJ:www.tabpower.com/s31858.html+Humpin+the+drum,+lyrics&hl=en |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics/Tune Req: Humpin the Drum From: Peace Date: 15 Nov 05 - 10:23 AM Link maker wasn't working yesterday. I hope that's what you're lookin' for, John. |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics/Tune Req: Humpin the Drum From: Little Robyn Date: 15 Nov 05 - 01:49 PM I don't think that's the one - that's a rousing bush band type of tune. You're not thinking of 'Year of the Drum' are you? Robyn |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics/Tune Req: Humpin the Drum From: Bob Bolton Date: 15 Nov 05 - 08:50 PM G'day John, Is that the one that runs (!): Humping old bluey; It is a stale game, And that I can plainly see. Battling with poverty, hunger, (stray thorns ... ?). Things are just going middling with me. Humping your drum, and that after rum - Wasting your young life away ... ... ... Now shearing's all over, and I'm such a swell ... I'm riding a very fine hack. If my mates were to see me - I'm not humping bluey, I'm pushing a bit further back. ... ... ... ... I need to look it up - I haven't sung it for two or three decades! Regards, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics/Tune Req: Humpin the Drum From: Peace Date: 15 Nov 05 - 09:59 PM On the Wallaby (poem by Lawson) contains the phrase. Interesting English in Australia. |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics/Tune Req: Humpin the Drum From: John in Brisbane Date: 15 Nov 05 - 10:33 PM Thanks foe the help folks. I have most of the tune in my head fairly solidly but the only other clue I can offer is that the lyrics refer to "milky way". Does this assist. Regards John |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics/Tune Req: Humpin the Drum From: Bob Bolton Date: 15 Nov 05 - 11:56 PM G'day again John, That's from a Steamshuttle (eponymous ... ?) LP in the 1970s (basically a group around Graham Seal ... now Professor of Folklore at Curtin, West Australia). Graham sings what I suspect is something he constructed from material including traditional toasts (... and curses ... ?). (Come to think of it ... it may be on the Larrikin Records LP On the Steps of the Dole Office Door ...) I'll see what I dig up at home. (This one raised my interest in some traditional toasts ... that I hope Graham could elucidate ... but no ... ) Regards, Bob |
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Subject: Lyr Add: HUMPING THE DRUM From: Peace Date: 16 Nov 05 - 12:11 AM LYRICS HUMPING THE DRUM I've humped my drum from Kingdom Come To the back of the Milky Way Boiled my quart on the Cape of York And starved last Christmas Day. I crossed the Murray and drank in Cloncurry Where they charged a bob a nip I worked on the Gulf where the cattle are duffed And the squatters let them rip. I've worked from morn in the fields of corn Till the sun was out of sight I've cause to know the great byno And the Great Australian Bight I danced with Kit when the lamps were lit And with Doll when the dance broke up I flung my hat on the Myall track When Bowman won the Cup I laughed aloud with the merry crowd In the City of the Plains I sweated too on Onderoo While bogged in those big bore drains I wheeled my bike from the Shearer's Strike Not wanting a funeral shroud And I made the weight for the Flying Stakes But I dodged the lynching crowd. I carried a gun through World War One Then went on the track again From Omeo to Bendigo To Bourke and back again I shed some tears in the hungry years When jobs were short and few Then I packed up a swag and an old tucker bag There was nothing else to do. Yes, I've humped my drum from Kingdom Come To the back of the Milky Way. from here. Found with a Google of humpinG the drum, milky way |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics/Tune Req: Humpin the Drum From: Bob Bolton Date: 16 Nov 05 - 04:20 AM G'day Peace (and John i B), Good on you! I haven't yet tracked down my old Steam Shuttle LP ... or even a cassette copy (I usually listened to records on the car stereo ... on the way back from gigs ... at 1.00 AM - 2.00 AM - when the radio stations were all playing deadly boring "easy listening" tracks. I had no wish to fall asleep and crash into a truck or a power pole!) I was slowly reconstructing most of the words from memory (about a third ... so far ... ) but it's hard when there is little coherent structure. It's a pity Graham doesn't identify (or source) the poem that was his starting point - or the "Irish tune". I'll give him a nudge, now he's settled down into his full professorship (Australia's first in folklore) and see if we can put John's query to bed. (I should post the words and tune for Humping Old Bluey - the other song I had suggested ... it's a good one ... and not yet in the DT.) Regards, Bob |
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Subject: Lyr Add: HUMPING THE DRUM From: Bob Bolton Date: 16 Nov 05 - 05:15 AM G'day again, As I was parking the files from posting Humping Old Bluey ... I realised I had a file on the original poem, on which Graham Seal based his song. In fact, I now see that I was remembering some verses that Graham didn't use ... but hearing them to Graham's "Irish tune". The last verse is where I had the feeling of a traditional "toast": "I've seen and heard upon my word, some strange things on my way, but spare my days, I was knocked sideways when I landed here today." is a fairly traditional line to end a humourous toast, delivered by a visitor to an outback town. Regards, Bob Humping the Drum Anon. I humped my drum from Kingdom Come To the back of the Milky Way, I boiled my quart on the Cape of York, And I starved last Christmas Day. I cast a line on the Condamine And one on the Nebine Creek, I've driven through bog, so help me bob, Up Mungindi's main street; I crossed the Murray and drank in Cloncurry Where they charged a bob a nip. I worked in the Gulf where the cattle they duff, And the squatters let them rip. I worked from morn in the fields of corn Till the sun was out of sight, I've cause to know the Great Byno, And the Great Australian Bight. I danced with Kit, when the lamps were lit, And Doll, as the dance broke up; I flung my hat on the myall track When Bowman won the Cup. I courted Flo in Jericho, And Jane at old Blackall, I said farewell to the Sydney belle At the doors of the Eulo hall. I laughed aloud in the merry crowd In the city of the plains; I sweated too on Ondooroo While bogged in the big bore-drains. I pushed my bike from the shearers' strike Not wanting a funeral shroud; I made the weights for the Flying Stakes And I dodged the lynching crowd. I've seen and heard upon my word, Some strange things on my way, But spare my days, I was knocked sideways When I landed here today. From Old Bush Recitations, collected by "Bill Bowyang". |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics/Tune Req: Humpin the Drum From: Bob Bolton Date: 16 Nov 05 - 05:41 AM Errr ... G'day again, Just a few bits of that Mudcat esprit de l'escalier (or is it seven degrees of separation?): ... I notice that Peace found the words on Simply Australia: a site run by occasional 'Catter Roo and: ... Another of Graham's songs, listed for that CD, is The Country Knows the Rest, which concerns the ("accidental ...") shooting, by police, of a striking miner in 1929. As it happens, this miner (also commemorated in another traditional Australian song: Norman Brown) was the uncle of another Aussie 'Catter, JennieG! (Just picking up the stray threads ... while I can still remember what they are!) Regards, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics/Tune Req: Humpin the Drum From: Peace Date: 16 Nov 05 - 07:29 PM Thanks for the kind words, Bob. It was luck, and mostly due to the'wild geese' remark from John. |
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Subject: Tune Add: HUMPING THE DRUM From: Bob Bolton Date: 18 Nov 05 - 11:00 PM G'day again John, Your enquiry has haunted me for the past three days! I was surprised, for a start, that I don't seem to be able to find a single recording of Graham's song ... yet I could remember quite a bit of it ... and "hear" Graham singing it ... Sundry e-mails betweem myself and the good Professor never established the name of the (presumably Irish) tune Graham recycled ... and I've gradually dredged up my memory ... from some very verdigrised grey cells. This is my attempt to pin it down to a set of coherent "dots" - converted in Alan of Oz's now "No Longer Supported By Mudcat" MIDIText app. (If you don't have a workable copy of Alan's program ... well, you can, at least, grab the ABC notation and either read it (if you are that way inclined) - or drop it into the free converter (on Concertina.net ... ?) and get it as dots ... or a MIDI. Otherwise, you could PM me your own e-mail - and I'll send you a MIDI and "dots" from my music program. Incidentally, the "Irish" tag may turn out to be (appropriately) a bit of a Furphy ... My final notation makes the tune out as a very minorish (modulating) Myxolydian mode ("D" initial and final notes ... in the natural scale of "G".) - and that is much more characteristically Scottish. Regards, Bob
This program is worth the effort of learning it. To download the March 10 MIDItext 98 software and get instructions on how to use it click here
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Subject: Lyr Add: THE TENT POLES ARE ROTTEN (Henry Lawson) From: Barbara Date: 19 Nov 05 - 02:28 AM So you probably don't want this one: THE TENT POLES ARE ROTTEN (Henry Lawson) The tent poles are rotten, and the campfires dead And the possums they ramble in the trees overhead I'm out on the wallaby, I'm humping my drum And I tramp down the road where the sundowners come. And it's north west by west over ranges and far To the plains where the cattle and the sheep stations are With the sky for my roof and the earth for my bunk And the calico bag for my damper and my junk. And scarcely a comrade my memory reveals But the spirit still tingles in my toes and my heels. Now my tent is all torn and my blankets are damp And the fast-rising waters still flow by the camp And the cold water rises in jets from the floor As l lie on my bed and I listen to it roar And I think of tomorrow how my foot-steps will lag As I tramp beneath the weight of a rain-sodden swag. But the way of a swagman is mostly uphill But there's joys to be found on the wallaby still When your day has gone by with its tramp and its tail And your campfire you build and your billy it can boil Oh, there's comfort and peace in the bowl of your clay Or the yarn of a mate who is tramping that way. But beware of the city where it's poison for years And there's always a danger in drinking long beers For a bushman gets bushed in the streets of the town And he loses his friends when his cheque's all knocked down He's alright 'til his pockets are empty and then He must hump his old bluey up the country again. Blessings, Barbara |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics/Tune Req: Humpin the Drum From: Bob Bolton Date: 19 Nov 05 - 09:04 AM G'day Barbara, John in Brisbane's second posting (with the "Milky Way" reference) immediately pinned it down to the song located by Peace. Quite a lot of songs (especially those coming from poems) used the expression "humping the drum" for carrying a swag ... and this is another beaut example. (BTW: Your words aren't, exactly, Henry Lawson's original words ... more like the orally-collected version popularised by Dave de Hugard, in the late '60s. Dave's version is interesting ... but, on the whole, I prefer Henry's! Regards (indeed ... blessings), Bob |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics/Tune Req: Humpin the Drum From: Barbara Date: 19 Nov 05 - 06:12 PM So, I found these in the forum posted by John of Brisbane. Do we have Henry's original words here? If not, would you post them? I only know this version, but I'd love to see the original. Blessings, Barbara |
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Subject: Lyr Add: ON THE WALLABY (Henry Lawson) From: Bob Bolton Date: 19 Nov 05 - 08:32 PM G'day Barbara, Here are the words, from: Henry Lawson, Collected Verse, Volume one: 1895 - 1900, (Ed.) Colin Roderick, Angus & Robertson (Australia, 1967). On The Wallaby Henry Lawson Now the tent poles are rotting, the camp fires are dead, And the possums may gambol in trees overhead; I am humping my bluey far out on the land, And the prints of my bluchers sink deep in the sand: I am out on the wallaby humping my drum, And I came by the tracks where the sundowners come. It is nor'-west and west o'er the ranges and far To the plains where the cattle and sheep stations are, With the sky for my roof and the grass for my bunk, And a calico bag for my damper and junk; And scarcely a comrade my memory reveals, Save the spiritless dingo in tow of my heels. * But I think of the honest old light of my home When the stars hang in clusters like lamps from the dome, And I think of the hearth where the dark shadows fall, When my camp fire is built on the widest of all; But I'm following Fate, for I know she knows best, I follow, she leads, and it's nor'-west by west. When my tent is all torn and my blankets are damp, And the rising flood waters flow fast by the camp, When the cold water rises in jets from the floor, I lie in my bunk and I list to the roar, And I think how to-morrow my footsteps will lag When I tramp 'neath the weight of a rain-sodden swag. Though the way of the swagman is mostly up-hill, There are joys to be found on the wallaby still. When the day has gone by with its tramp or its toil, And your camp fire you light, and your billy you boil, There is comfort and peace in the bowl of your clay Or the yarn of a mate who is tramping that way. But beware of the town-there is poison for years In the pleasure you find in the depths of long beers; For the bushman gets bushed in the streets of a town, Where he loses his friends when his cheque is knocked down; He is right till his pockets are empty, and then - He can hump his old bluey up country again. [Brisbane, July 1891 (revised August 1891)l Chris Kempster, in a footnote, in his The Songs of Henry Lawson, remarks:: * In the version collected by Arthur, Michell and McGoldrick, some changes in the poem have occurred. All however are minor except for this half line, which became 'And the spirit does tingle at my toe and my heel." I guess that's an interesting early "Mondegreen"! It is interesting that this poem was written in the midst of the great strife of the Shearer's Strike ... a seminal event that drove Australia towards a democratic and egalitarian temper that is only now being ground under by our Federal Goverment and it US allies. Enjoy!, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics/Tune Req: Humpin the Drum From: Bob Bolton Date: 20 Nov 05 - 04:04 AM G'day John in Brisbane, I knew there was something else nagging away, as I fretted over this tune ... and today (at a rather delayed party for my (mumble ... mumbleth ... ) birthday - it struck home during a bit of a music session ... the tune is, essentially, a rather modulated version of The Star of the County Down. At least that vindicates my feeling that the tune was Scottish. (Contemplator says: The Star of the County Down The oldest copy of this tune is Gilderoy, which appears in Musick for Allan Ramsay's Collection of Scots Songs [Tea Table Miscellany] by Alexander Stuart (c 1726). Gilderoy also appeared in Thomas D'Urfey's Pills to Purge the Melancholy III (1707), although that version is less recognizable as this tune. The tune has been used for numerous songs, including Divers and Lazarus, The Murder of Maria Martin, and Claudy Banks. In addition, the tune is used for several English and American Hymns and Carols.) My transcription seems to modulate away from Aeolian (minor) to Mixolydian ... at the end. The Star of the County Down seems to stay Aeolian ... but Graham has bent the tune in a number of ways to suit a very different lyric. Regards, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics/Tune Req: Humpin the Drum From: Barbara Date: 21 Nov 05 - 12:51 AM Thank you, Bob. The Mondegreen is interesting, as is the missing verse. Blesssings, Barbara |
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Subject: RE: Lyrics/Tune Req: Humpin the Drum From: Bob Bolton Date: 21 Nov 05 - 06:37 PM G'day Barbara, I thought you might enjoy Danny Spooner's notes from his latest CD "'ard Tack" ... one that covers many of the Australian "Bush" standards, rather than his usual tales of maritime drama ... and toil. I reviewed the CD in a recent issue of Mulga Wire / Singabout ... but it's hard to go past Danny's own words! 'ard Tack / FolkTrax The site - FolkTrax - is a good source for Australian recordings that don't get out into the main stream. Regards, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Humping the Drum From: katlaughing Date: 26 Feb 10 - 11:41 PM refresh for the GREAT stuff in here. Fantastic work, folks! |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Humping the Drum From: GUEST,Dodsworth Date: 22 Dec 12 - 10:23 PM I believe at least one title for this popular tune is 'The Star of the County Down'. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Humping the Drum From: Bob Bolton Date: 21 Jan 13 - 09:25 PM G'day GUEST Dodsworth, If you go up about 5 postings, you'll see that I did ... finally ... recognise the tune as The Star of the County Down: "- it struck home during a bit of a music session ... the tune is, essentially, a rather modulated version of The Star of the County Down. At least that vindicates my feeling that the tune was Scottish." The relevant reference to that nationality is: "The oldest copy of this tune is Gilderoy, which appears in Musick for Allan Ramsay's Collection of Scots Songs [Tea Table Miscellany] by Alexander Stuart (c 1726). " I had been looking ... some 8 years back for, the partially remembered tune (used by a Sydney singer for a new song ...) that "John in Brisbane" was trying to work out on his harp ... and he thought the tune was Irish ... but there is a lot of travelling, by tunes, across that Irish Sea! Unfortunately for my protracted search, on behalf of "John in Brisbane" ... John drowned in a swimming accident - so I guess he now has an entirely different repertoire for his harp! Regards, Bob |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Humping the Drum From: GUEST Date: 26 Jul 13 - 03:37 AM thank you Bob the culmination of my research re this song has determined that it's not quite 'Star of County Down' but more 'Summertime' a version of which can be found by the Chieftains and is possibly a Carolan or O'Carolan tune but is at least of that vintage and is mostly known by its Gaelic title. my version of lyrics with above mentioned tune: http://youtu.be/rPBUNxgJikM Graham Dodsworth |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Humping the Drum From: dbranno Date: 28 Jul 13 - 10:07 AM Heya... The 'Summertime, Summertime It Will Come' tune on Chieftains 5 is a Paddy Maloney composition, which may (or may not) have been inspired by the tune "Eibhli Gheal Chiuin ni CHearbhaill" (Fair and Beautiful Eileen O'Carroll? Ask Frank Gallagher or another Gaelic speaker for translation!) on Chieftains 3, which is most definitely the tune used by the Steamshuttle band on their eponymous album to carry the (edited) text of 'Hump the Drum' whose only previous existence (as Guru Bob points out) was in a Ben Bowyang Songster. It's in Bill Scott's big book. No possible relation to 'Star of the County Down'. Different mode entirely. Nice version but! There are more words in the original, though the WW1 bit is NOT there, an interpolation of that other Graham's I think. Cheers from 40 degrees South... Branno |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Humping the Drum From: GUEST,Shane Howard Date: 10 Oct 15 - 12:17 AM The tune for Humping the Drum is from the old Irish tune, Eibhli Ghail Chiuin Ni Chearbhail, (Sweet & Gentle Eibhlin O'Carroll). I sang it at a sesiun in Ireland back in the 1990's and one of the fiddle players, who knew the tune, joined in immediately. It would be fair to say that the tune travelled across the World faithfully, all those years ago. John Martyn recorded a distorted electric guitar version back in the 1970's. The lyrics from 'Peace' and Bob Bolton are both legitimate from my experience. I recorded this track, under the direction of James Griffin, for the ABC back in the early 1990's on an album called 'Going Home'. |
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Subject: RE: Lyr/Tune Req: Humping the Drum From: GUEST,Hampton Date: 25 Apr 16 - 04:49 PM The Chieftains recorded a tune which I think was called The South Wind & I remeber hearing someone sing Humpin' me drum using that air. love combination. |
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