I don't want to be accused of overkill, but Kevin posted the following on another thread and I think it belongs here, as well. From Kevin Littlewood: Dear Mudcats Re- On Morecambe Bay Sorry, I am not a regular, so didn't see this. This is a bit of a long posting, as it contains the words of the song. (If you sing it it lasts over 5 minutes) Thankyou all very much for the kind words about the song. It commemorates the events on the night of 5/6 February 2004 when at least 23 Chinese men and women were killed on the cockle beds of Morecambe Bay. One press report mentioned that some of the workers, and their families at home in China, called the area 'devil bay'; the phrase triggered a childhood memory of warnings that there was 'the devil of a tide' there. I wrote this song in solidarity with those who live and work along this coast. It's always difficult to sing about other people's tragedies; but I thought something should be said about it, and someone should record it. After I'd written it I saw that the film maker Nick Broomfield recently made a film "Ghosts" about this same topic; it was premiered at a film festival abroad and was on TV recently. I believe there are other songs and poems about it, so maybe if you hear them you can put them on the forum. Below you will find the words and the chords. For the tune, you can get it on the CD which mon ami Les Brown and others mention earlier. I must emphasise that the track is very much a collective endeavour, with harmonies from Bev Sanders and fiddle from Chris Nelson. The CD from which it comes, "Residents' Lounge" is also a collective effort, and on that you can hear another ten songs from the Bothy Folk Club residents. Here's the song; good luck with it. ON MORECAMBE BAY (I play this with a dropped 6th string. The switch from the A minor chord to the A major chord is something which I do in the song, but if it is too fiddly, you can just stay on the A minor I guess. Anything to keep it simple!) Verse 1. Dm Out beyond the street lamp's empire Am Amaj And the calliope's roar, Dm Beyond the thrift, the wrack, the samphire, Am A maj Where the sea betrays the shore, Dm I have seen them in the tide's wake, Gm As the rain cuts through the spray, Dm Figures on the edge of daybreak Am A maj Walking out on Morecambe Bay chorus Dm For the tide's the very devil, Gm It can run you out of breath, Dm It can race you on the level, Am Amaj It can chase you to your death, Dm Yes the tide's the very devil Gm And the devil has his day Dm Am Amaj Dm On the weary cockle grounds of Morecambe Bay 2. Here's the very life to die for, Here's a life not as it seems, Sleeping on a foreign floor Five to a room no space for dreams. Tempted by the urge to travel, Strangers in a stranger land, Now they dig in sand and gravel, Plastic bags gripped in their hands. chorus For the tide's the very devil, It can run you out of breath, It can race you on the level, It can chase you to your death, Yes the tide's the very devil And the devil has his day On the weary cockle grounds of Morecambe Bay 3. Letters home with money orders See how much we earned today; Tales of crossing Europe's borders, So we came to Morecambe Bay; This is where the cockles sleep In their beds so soft and sound; This is where our watch we keep On these weary cockle grounds chorus For the devil's in the tide's flood He'll be weighing down your shoes He'll be churning up the sea's mud This is one race he won't lose Yes the tide's the very devil And the devil has his day On the weary cockle grounds of Morecambe Bay 4. I have met them in the markets, Brushed their arms in grocery queues, I should have grabbed them by the jacket, Should have told them what I knew; Told them what my mother told me As we paddled in the waves Never try and race the tide Across the sands of Morecambe Bay chorus For the devil's in the tide's flood He'll be weighing down your shoes He'll be churning up the sea's mud This is one race he won't lose Yes the tide's the very devil And the devil has his day On the weary cockle grounds of Morecambe Bay 5. Now I see them in the distance Laid out in the dawn's hard light, Helpless in the sea's persistence, Twenty-three drowned in one night. Up above in skies so clear Their phone calls half the world had crossed 'Between the rivers Kent and Keer We have raced the tide and lost.' chorus For the tide's the very devil, It can run you out of breath, It can race you on the level, It can chase you to your death, Yes the tide's the very devil And the devil has his day On the weary cockle grounds of Morecambe Bay 6. In Fujian, Xelang, Baihu, Where they mourn their next of kin, Where the men with snake tattoos, Rack up the debts and call them in; Parents stand, their arms flung wide As their children drive away, Heading out to race the tide Across some foreign bay. chorus For the tide's the very devil, It can run you out of breath, It can race you on the level, It can chase you to your death, Yes the tide's the very devil And the devil has his day On the weary cockle grounds of Morecambe Bay ______________________________________________
|