Lyr Req: Rock On Rockall (Brian Warfield)

Subject: Rockall
From: Wolfgang Hell
Date: 13 Jun 97 - 06:18 AM

A little rock named Rockall has been occupied by Greenpeace activists. That reminds me of a contemporary Irish song called "Rock on, Rockall" (or "Rock on, rock all"). Does somebody know whether the place mentioned in the song ("never fall to Britain's greedy hands")is the one occupied now? And does somebody have the complete lyrics?

Yours Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Rockall
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 13 Jun 97 - 06:44 AM

It's the same bleak place, alright. I don't have the words to the song but will dig them up if no-one else posts them.

Regards

Subject: RE: Rockall
From: AndyG
Date: 13 Jun 97 - 06:59 AM

Which reminds me of the Flanders & Swan song written around the time that HMG took over Rockall for rocketry testing.

The fleet set sail for Rockall, Rockall, Rockall.
To free the isle of Rockall. from fear of foreign thrall.
They sped across the planet,
To find that lump of granite,
One rather startled gannet,
In fact they found - Rock-all!

AndyG

Subject: RE: Rockall
From: Martin Ryan
Date: 13 Jun 97 - 07:23 AM

Andy

Lovely! Any more?

Martin

Subject: RE: Rockall
From: Wolfgang Hell
Date: 19 Jun 97 - 06:33 AM

Thank you both so far for the information and the additional song. Wolfgang

Subject: Lyr Add: ROCK ON ROCKALL (Brian Warfield)
From: Benjamin Hollister
Date: 19 Jun 97 - 10:55 PM

Here are the words to ROCK ON ROCKALL. The House Band, on their album "Rockall", give this note about the island:

"To people familiar with the name, Rockall is usually associated with the BBC Shipping Forecast. Described by Encyclopedia Britannica as "an uninhabited Islet, Rockall Bank, North Atlantic, 200 miles (354km) west of the Outer Hebrides," it is little more than a large rock, often swept by huge seas and North Atlantic gales. It is the westernmost of all the British Isles and is claimed by both Ireland and the United Kingdom for its oil and fishing rights. A wild and contentious place"

The chords are sort of in the right places. I don't play guitar, and these were scribbled down hurriedly by one who does.

         C                                        Am
  Oh! The empire is finished; no foreign lands to seize
           F            C                                G
  So the greedy eyes of England are looking towards the seas
       C                  Am                  C
  Two hundred miles from Donegal, there’s a place that's called Rockall
            F                C             G              C
  And the groping hands of Whitehall are grabbing at its walls
  
  CHORUS:
           C                          Am       C
  Oh! Rock on. Rockall, you'll never fall to Britain's greedy hands
             F               C                             G
  Or you'll meet the same resistance that you did in many lands
           C                           Am            C
  May the seagulls rise and pluck your eyes and the water crush your shell,
           F                C                  G              C
  And the natural gas will burn your ass and blow yis all to hell.

For this rock is part of Ireland, 'cos it's written in folklore
That Fionn mac Cumhaill took a sod of grass and he threw it to the fore,
Then he tossed a pebble across the sea, where ever did it fall,
For the sod became the Isle of Man and the pebble's called Rockall. CHORUS

Now the seas will not be silent while Britannia grabs the waves
And remember that the Irish will no longer be your slaves,
And remember that Britannia, well, she rules the waves no more
So keep your hands off Rockall. It’s Irish to the core. CHORUS

Subject: RE: Rockall
From: bh again~!!!!
Date: 19 Jun 97 - 11:03 PM

can't get the chords in the right places. Anyone who wants them write me:

[e-mail]

Ta/ bron orm

Benjamin

Subject: RE: Rockall
From: Wolfgang Hell
Date: 20 Jun 97 - 03:33 AM

many thanks for the lyrics Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rock On Rockall (Brian Warfield)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Aug 20 - 05:00 PM

Needs consolidation and update.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Rock On Rockall (Brian Warfield)
From: Richard Mellish
Date: 18 Aug 20 - 09:23 AM

Some relevant info is here.

And the Flanders & Swann words are here.