Origins: Puzzle:Edmund Fitzgerald and Bobby Sands

Subject: RE: Origins: Puzzle:Edmund Fitzgerald and Bobby Sands
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 19 Jan 03 - 11:33 PM

The complete original poem, and the story, is in thread 5837: VOYAGE
It was set to Lightfoot's music.

Subject: RE: Origins: Puzzle:Edmund Fitzgerald and Bobby Sands
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 19 Jan 03 - 11:11 PM

Complete song at the Christy Moore website: Back Home in Derry

Subject: RE: Origins: Puzzle:Edmund Fitzgerald and Bobby Sands
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jan 03 - 07:49 PM

that song was orignally a longer poem that was put to the edmund fitzgerald song by others....i keep thinking christy moore but am unsure./

Subject: RE: Origins: Puzzle:Edmund Fitzgerald and Bobby Sands
From: MartinRyan
Date: 19 Jan 03 - 04:51 PM

Not Spancil HIll, I'm afraid.

Regards

Subject: RE: Origins: Puzzle:Edmund Fitzgerald and Bobby Sa
From: Melani
Date: 19 Jan 03 - 03:05 PM

Unsure, but I think the tune may be from a traditional song called "Spancil Hill." I'm thinking if this is the case, Bobby Sands would likely have used that as his basis rather than "Edmund Fitzgerald."

Subject: RE: Origins: Puzzle:Edmund Fitzgerald and Bobby Sands
From: Chip2447
Date: 19 Jan 03 - 02:14 PM

It's my understanding, nothing to back it up with though, that the tune is indeed an old traditional tune that both used to nice effect.


In my uninformed opinion,
Chip2447

Subject: Origins: Puzzle:Edmund Fitzgerald and Bobby Sands
From: Amos
Date: 19 Jan 03 - 01:50 PM

The good and fayre Gaelic Goddess has raised a puzzle which I would like any help I can find with.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Gordon Lightfoot's smashing hit, hit the charts not too long after the original catastrophe (the EF sank in November 1975). The album containing it is copyrighted in 1976.

Bobby Sands, the Irish poet and political activist was sent to prison in the infamous "H Blocks" also in 1976, I believe, and while he was there he lead a famous hunger strike during which he starved himself to death.

While he was there, he wrote a song:

Back Home in Derry
Bobby Sands

In 1803 we sailed out to sea
Out from the sweet town of Derry
For Australia bound if we didn't all drown
And the marks of our fetters we carried...

which uses the same tune as The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

It is possible that the tune was around earlier than either of these songs, also. But the DigiTrad lists the tune of "Back Home in Derry" as having been written by Bobby Sands.

So, which came first? Sands' tune or Lightfoot's? Or, was it a trad tune they both adopted?

Anyone able to give me some insight here?

Many many thanks...

A