THE BATTLEFIELDS OF SPAIN / THE CIVIL WAR IN SPAIN / THE CONNOLLY COLUMN
By Joe Mulheron
CLARIFICATORY NOTE: This song was originally written by Joe Mulheron who called it The Connolly Column but it has since been sung by a number of other performers who have sometimes changed the title and/or added to the lyrics. The resulting song may be sung under any of the above titles. The following posts discuss all three Versions of the song and include a link to another thread which tries to summarise the discussion of the different versions - including an email from Joe Mulheron.
The following 6 posts about this song are consolidated and copied from an earlier Mudcat thread
thread.cfm?threadid=44455#654357
Subject: Lyr Add: THE BATTLEFIELDS OF SPAIN
From: Suffet - PM
Date: 20 Feb 02 - 09:07 PM
To the same tune of "Roddy McCorley" and "Sean South" is this song from the Spanish Civil War.
THE BATTLEFIELDS OF SPAIN
For the James Connolly Column of the International Brigade Tune: "Roddy McCorley" (or "Sean South")
Oh, workers dear, did you hear our comrades' call to arms?
It echoed in the cities and it echoed on the farms,
In shipyard and in factory, and upon the fields of grain,
To defend our fellow workers on the battlefields of Spain.
John Riley was a trade union man, our shop floor he did lead,
He fought against the fascist thugs, he fought the bosses' greed,
And now he leads the Connolly Column of the bold Fifteenth Brigade,
And he's gone to fight the fascists on the battlefields of Spain.
Who will call the meeting now and who will take the chair?
And who will lead us out on strike when we demand our share?
For Johnny, brave young Johnny, at home shall not remain,
For he's gone to fight the fascists on the battlefields of Spain.
If fascist bullets won't permit our Wild Geese to come home,
Their tragic loss to Ireland we'll never cease to mourn,
For they fought for the Connolly Column in the bold Fifteenth Brigade,
And they died for the Spanish working class on the battlefields of Spain.
Great song!
--- Steve
--- Steve Subject: RE: Patriot Game
From: Suffet - PM
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 04:54 PM
I heard "Battlefields of Spain" sung by three men in a pub -- the King's Head, I believe -- in Galway in 1987. I asked one of them to sing it again so I could write down the words. That's all I know about the song. I never heard it before or since.
--- Steve
Subject: RE: Patriot Game
From: MartinRyan - PM
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 03:09 AM
Suffet Haven't heard that Spanish Civil War song before. Looks like it was intended to go to the "Bantry Girl's lament" air, appropriately enough, rather than "Patriot game".
Regards
Subject: RE: Patriot Game
From: Suffet - PM
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 09:47 AM
"Battlefields of Spain" is set to the tune of "Sean South" or "Roddy McCorley." I mentioned it in this thread because the discussion turned to the late Mr. South and the song named after him.
--- Steve
Subject: RE: Patriot Game
From: GUEST,Martin Ryan - PM
Date: 05 Apr 02 - 05:23 AM
"The Battlefields of Spain" was written by Joe Mulheron of Belfast/Derry, using "Bantry Girl's Lament" as the model. He also included it in a set of balladsheets he produced many years ago - which had an interesting consequence. When he had finished screen-printing them on to 500 sheets of high quality paper ("A pound a sheet, damn it!", as he said)he realised he'd overlooked a typo in the spelling of "Connolly Column"! This explains why, during a run of Spanish Civil War songs at the recent Inishowen Singing Festival, Frank Harte was heard to call on Joe to "Give us the one about the Con-ON-olly Column!"! Regards
Subject: RE: Patriot Game
From: Suffet - PM
Date: 15 Jun 02 - 07:52 AM
Martin:
Job well done in tracing the origins of "The Battlefields of Spain"! Thanks.
--- Steve
From: GeoffLawes - PM
Date: 23 April 10
THE BATTLEFIELDS OF SPAIN / THE CIVIL WAR IN SPAIN
By JOE MULHERON with amendments and additions by Pol MacAdaim (and others unknown?)
I have begun a new thread to try and establish the origin and history of this song which seems to have developed into two songs. THE BATTLEFIELDS OF SPAIN / THE CIVIL WAR IN SPAIN
https://www.antiwarsongs.org/canzone.php?id=57844&lang=en