Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War

Subject: Lyr Add: BLOOD AND RAIN (John Young)
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 12 Feb 12 - 06:33 PM

BLOOD AND RAIN


By John Young


Welcome all..... to blood and rain
Welcome all..... who seek no gain
Welcome all..... like John Maclean
Welcome all..... who fight for Spain

Come miner, come farmer, men of trade
Come join the Inter-nation-al Brigade
Fight for your comrades, fight for Spain
Fight for the freedom, of all men
Aye, where were you when the fascists came
As Franco marched, twas Britain's shame
When Madrid fell, five hundred lay slain
Where were you in the blood and rain

My name is Thomas Brannan, Blantyre born and bred
A working man and socialist, though some may call me red
I fought for King and country, but they did not follow me
But I'll fight for their conscience, and Spanish liberty
Across the Pyrenees, with my comrades I came
I dug in at Madrid, but what a price we paid
And as the shells rained down, was it all in vain
The rivers ran red, with the blood of Spain

On Jarama field, we held our ground
Shell on shell, our hell we found
Three hundred marched that day to pa-ra-dise
Today I would make the final sacrifice
When my comrade fell, I ran to his aid
But the snipers bullet, I could not evade
As I lay there dying in the blood and rain
I breathed no more for home and Spain

Tell them Cathie, I stood the test
Forgive me Cathie, for here I rest
When the bugle resounds to the call of the cannon
Forget me not, my name is Thomas Brannan
Farewell to the people, alas I am free
Farewell to my loved ones, forever I wae thee
Farewell to my comrades, in the blood and the rain
Viva la Republic, Viva la Spain (repeat line)

Written in remembrance of Thomas Brannan of Blantyre who was killed by a sniper at the Battle of Jarama trying to save the life of a wounded comrade. The song recalls the bloody reality of war and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in the fight against fascism in Spain. Cathy his daughter still resides in Blantyre and was present at the unveiling of the memorial at the Blantyre Miners Welfare. Liner notes from the CD

This song is recorded on the CD From Blantyre to Barcelona. Further details of this CD can be found here   thread.cfm?threadid=143174

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GeoffLawes - PM
Date: 19 July 12
Part of this song can be heard at the beginning of this YouTube video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsE43DPDTiU
And all of it HEAR HERE

Subject: Lyr Add: FROM BELLSHILL TO BARCELONA (Chris Rogers
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 12 Feb 12 - 06:30 PM

FROM BELLSHILL TO BARCELONA

By Chris Rogers

From Bellshill to Barcelona, she rode on the wings of her dreams
From Coatbridge to Catalunya, she followed her faith as it seemed
And all those, who travelled with her, had done so with never a pause
All wide-eyed and full of fervour, determined to fight for the cause
Miners, mechanics and medical men, poets, professors and all
From Bellshill to Barcelona, they rallied to answer the call

A young girl with wild ideas, who knew that her reasons were right
Had left home with her companions, to follow a path to the light
A long road of many dangers, through Scotland and England and France
Held no fears, or premonitions, for those who would now take their chance
To join las Brigadas, en bien amistad, and follow the three-pointed star
From Bellshill to Barcelona, they knew why they'd travelled so far

But to Bellshill, from Barcelona, she came back in sadness and pain
Her dreams full of hell and horror and friends she would not see again
Jarama and Guadalajara were wounds that could never be borne
And when bombs fell upon Guernica, it felt like her soul had been torn
Monuments stand, to the fallen and brave, in London and Paris and Rome
But to Bellshill, from Barcelona, l'anagalida came home

From Bellshill to Barcelona is dedicated to Ethel McDonald, one of the first women to join the international support in Spain, who transmitted regular English-language reports on the war on Barcelona’s widely heard Anarchist radio station. In the crackdown following the events of May 1937 she assisted the escape of anarchists wanted by the Communist secret police and smuggled into prison letters and food for fellow anarchists. Through her activities in helping anarchists escape Spain, she became renowned in the British press as the “ Scots Scarlet Pimpernel”. Liner notes from the CD

This song is recorded on the CD From Blantyre to Barcelona.
Further details of this CD can be found here   thread.cfm?threadid=143174
HEAR THE SONG HERE The original recording is available to download from http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=795261 - there are also 3 CDs of original material, as well as a new album (Sunday Clothes) available. Please contact [e-mail] for details - thanks.

Link to YouTube page giving links to TV programme about Ethel McDonald

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_MacDonald

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 12 Feb 12 - 06:26 PM

MOTHER'S WISH, A


By Claire McGhee

HEAR IT HERE
>
This song is recorded on the CD From Blantyre to Barcelona. Further details of this CD can be found here   thread.cfm?threadid=143174
I will try to obtain the words and post them here as soon as I can.

Subject: Lyr Add: VIVA ESPANYA; FIGHTING AGAINST FASCISM
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 12 Feb 12 - 06:22 PM

VIVA ESPANYA; FIGHTING AGAINST FASCISM

By Graham Fudge ( aka Graham Carter)

LISTEN HERE
All across the Spanish plains, the guns are ringing out,
Ole! Viva España!
In the streets of Madrid, people scream and shout,
Ole! Viva España!

And we've been fighting against Fascism for liberty,
Ole! Viva España!
Waging bloody war for Democracy.
Ole! Viva España!

Adolf Hitler dropped his bombs down on Guernica,
Ole! Viva España!
And the Nationalists have taken Malaga,
Ole! Viva España!

And we've been fighting against Facism for Liberty,
Ole! Viva España!
Waging Bloody war for Democracy,
Ole! Viva España!

There's a Nationalist advance in Catelonia,
Ole! Viva España!
And they say Negrin has fled to Gerona now,
Ole! Viva España!

And we've been fighting against Facism for Liberty,
Ole! Viva España!
Waging bloody war for Democracy,
Ole! Viva España!

The Civil war is lost and the Republic's through,
Ole! Viva España!
Franco was proclaimed Generalísimo,
Ole! Viva España!

And we've been fighting against Fascism for liberty,
Ole! Viva España!
Waring Bloody war for Democracy,
Ole! Viva España!

This song was based on an arrangement of the traditional sea-shanty "Santy Anno". You can find out a bit more about me, Graham, on www.reverbnation.com/growlingrahamcarter

This song is recorded on the CD From Blantyre to Barcelona . Further details of this CD can be found here thread.cfm?threadid=143174

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 12 Feb 12 - 06:12 PM

WHITE FLAG


By Heather Young

HEAR THE SONG HERE
This song is recorded on the CD From Blantyre to Barcelona. Further details of this CD can be found here thread.cfm?threadid=143174
From the sleeve note) This song has been written from the woman's point of view and describes how she feels watching those she loves going off to war. It tells the story of her lovers 'surrender' to his conscience and leaving to fight against Franco and fascism.

I will try to obtain the words and post them here as soon as I can.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE FIGHT FOR SPAIN
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 12 Feb 12 - 06:07 PM

FIGHT FOR SPAIN, THE


By Billy Stewart

HEAR IT HERE

The fight for Spain has just begun my boys
The fight for Spain has just begun
They're marching to war fae all the country oer
And the fight for Spain has just begun

1. They are marching from the factories from farmlands and the mines
They're marching fae the shipyards on the Clyde
To Madrid and Barcelona to right the wrongs of Spain
And to fight with her people side by side

2. From the city streets of Glasgow, Aberdeen and fae Dundee
From the villages of Blantyre and Newmains
They will fight to hold to their beliefs with comrades by their sides
And some will lie upon the fields of Spain

3. They left their homes and families and marched away to war
A choice was made by every man and boy
Politicians did not call on them while they stayed safe at home
And each one of them was quite prepared to die

4. From the valley of Jarama to the mountains high and cold
To battle scarred Belchites ruined walls
The Scottish Brigaders fought bravely for their cause
Salute Camerada was their call

Words and Music Billy Stewart ( Garriongill Music )

Men went to fight in the Spanish Civil War from every walk of life and from cities and villages alike. Miners, factory workers, ship builders, agricultural workers all left homes and families to join the fight against fascism. Many never returned Liner notes from the CD.
This song is recorded on the CD From Blantyre to Barcelona. Further details of this CD can be found here thread.cfm?threadid=143174

Subject: Lyr Add: FOR EDDIE
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 02 Feb 12 - 05:54 PM

FOR EDDIE


By Skip Haynes & Eugene von Heitlinger

Aliotta, Haynes and Jeremiah singing For Eddie on YouTube
,This is a song about Eddie Balchowsky, the pianist who lost his hand in the Spanish Civil War.

He'd been dealt a bad hand,
Nearly fifty years old.
Cleanin' glasses,
At night in a bar.
Only one good hand,
For to play him his tunes,
On a piano,
Tired out and marred.

And the stone angel hung,
On the wall up above.
Looked out blind,
All the nights long,
But when the one-armed man played,
To an empty saloon,
She looked down and smiled,
As he played her his songs.

Duke, the white Shepherd,
Who guarded the room,
Never leavin'
The back of the bar.
Would climb up on the stage,
And curl up around his feet,
As to guard him,
And his music from harm.

And the stone angel hung,
On the wall up above.
Looked out blind,
All the nights long,
But when the one-armed man played,
To an empty saloon,
She looked down and smiled,
As he played her his songs.

I heard him one night,
When he thought to be alone.
And I lied,
And I did him a wrong.
I can't give back the pleasure,
His music gave to me,
I can only,
Give him this song.

He played better with one hand,
Than most men with two.
Yet made posters,
For all of the stars,
And I wish to my heart,
He could play for you.
So you'd know,
Just how happy you are.

And the stone angel hung,
On the wall up above.
And me and the big white dog,
All stopped,
Once to listen,
To the one-armed man play,
To their smiles,
In an empty saloon.

Issued on Songs(1994) & Lake Shore Drive(1995)
There is another Mudcat thread about this song thread.cfm?threadid=29521

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LAST LINCOLN VETERAN
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 02 Feb 12 - 05:11 PM

LAST LINCOLN VETERAN, THE


By David Rovics


David Rovics singing The Last Lincoln Veteranon YouTube

David Rovics performing The Last Lincoln Veteran on YouTube

They were old when I was young
Now they're all but passed away
Now it's just a second hand
Memory of the day
When from all around the world
They sailed off to Spain
Where they fought against the fascists
Where so many men were slain
Who will recall the days
When we all stood side by side
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died

Beside Martin Luther King
Or in a Veterans Parade
You could see the men who made the journey
To join the Fifteenth Brigade
When men of many nations
Of most every creed and hue
Catholics and Protestants
Atheists and Jews
Joined together in the trenches
To turn back the fascist tide
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died

The working class of many countries
Joined in a desperate bid
With what weapons they could find
They fought to save Madrid
From Brussels and Berlin
Galway and London town
Who will recall the Brigadistas
Who tried to take the fascists down
When there beside the people
Even the figs and olives cried
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died

The Republic had the people
But the fascists had the tanks
Il Duce and Der Fuhrer
Deserve only some of Franco's thanks
'Cause the fuel to move the armor
Came from the USA
And the men that they gunned down
Were from New York and Frisco Bay
Uncle Sam said he was neutral
Who will remember how he lied
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died

Some say people get conservative
The older that they age
They say that being radical
Is just a youthful stage
But the finest communist I've known
Lived to 95
And he spent his whole life fighting
For democracy to thrive
To forget these fallen heroes
Is something I cannot abide
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died

Subject: Lyr Add: SILVER DURO
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 01 Feb 12 - 07:54 PM

SILVER DURO

By Na- Mara


Performances of Silver Duro by Na-Mara can be seen Here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvLLurWc24o
And Here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBBVuxdRq2g

On the quayside at Santurce, our tears they mixed with rain
We held tight until parted, and swore that we’d soon meet again,
With a wink and a kiss, as the wind it did blow,
You pressed in my hand, as I turned to go,
A silver duro

And all through that long journey, the Habana did roll and heave
To England we were heading, but for our mothers did grieve
Down below decks, we were pitched to and fro
But my fingers held tight to that treasure bestowed
My silver duro

For eight long years then we travelled, moving from town to town
We enjoyed the kindness of strangers and feared not the xenophobe’s frown
But my thoughts turned to Spain when my spirits ran low,
When staring at rain through a dusty window
Or my silver duro

When at last peace had returned, I started to count the days
But with the cruel revenges of Franco, you implored me to stay away
From a boy to a man, as the years they turned slow
Until all I had left was a faded photo
And that silver duro

When at last we were united, the tears of joy did pour
A dream made real in that moment, a grown man a son once more
Around you then, my arms I did throw
I opened my fist and to you I did show
Our silver duro

And now we are together, we never once more shall part
No writer, painter or poet can capture the love in my heart,
But we’ll never forget that pain long ago
When the rain it did fall and the tears they did flow,
Or that silver duro

© na-mara: Words and Music P.Mcnamara / R.Garcia

Thanks to Rob Garcia for giving me permission to post the lyrics to Silver Duro.He also gave me permission to post the following information about this new song.
'The Silver Duro' is another of na-mara's original songs about the Spanish Civil War and the evacuation of the children from Bilbao in May 1937, following the bombing of Guernica. The ‘Silver Duro’ is a sequel to their first song ‘Only for Three months’, and tells of the reunification of some of the children with their parents at the end of the Second World War - ten years after they had been evacuated from Bilbao'.

Subject: Lyr Add: ONE LAST KISS IN THE RAIN
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 01 Feb 12 - 10:51 AM

ONE LAST KISS IN THE RAIN


By Greg Quiery



One Last Kiss In The Rain by Greg Quiery on YouTube

This new song is reported in the January 2012 edition of The IBMT Newsletter.

One hundred and sixty soldados,
Set out on that roadway to Spain,
Which of those brave young soldados,
Will ever come this way again?

In ones and twos at Lime Street Station,
Unnoticed they got on the train,
One last wave from a sweetheart,
One last kiss in the rain.

One hundred and sixty soldados,
Set out on that roadway to Spain,
Which of those brave young soldados,
Will ever come this way again?

In London they gave them five shillings,
In Paris a new set of clothes,
In the South they waited in cafes,
For the signal to go.

Under dark they left for the mountains,
For days they tramped through the snow,
‘Til they caught the first glimpse of Espagne,
Far down in the valley below.

They enlisted near big Barcelona,
Prepared the men best as they could,
Marshalled them into battalions,
Some trained with mock weapons of wood.

They’d never been drilled up as soldiers,
Never before fired a round,
When the fascist came at them,
Every man jack stood his ground ?

One hundred and sixty soldados,
Set out on that roadway to Spain,
Which of those brave young soldados,
Would ever cross Lime Street again?

Women and men from all nations,
Each one of them volunteers,
Dockers, street traders and nurses,
Firemen, engineers.

Painters and glaziers and brickies,
Laid down the tools of their trades,
To fight for the freedom of others,
In the International Brigades.

Though fascist guns pounded like thunder,
With the Spanish they fought side by side,
Those volunteers never went under,
Though many were wounded and died.

Hit by a shell at Jarama,
Tom Silcock, he died from the blow,
Al Mc Cabe he fell in Aragon,
Frank Proctor at the Ebro.

One hundred and sixty soldados,
Set out on that roadway to Spain,
Which of those brave young soldados,
Will ever come this way again?

When at last those brave young soldiers,
Made it back home on the train,
They brought news of their bold comrades,
Who’d never cross Lime Street again.

Buried in far-off Espagne,
They joined the bold company,
Of those who gave up their own lives,
That others might one day be free.

One hundred and sixty soldados,
Set out on that roadway to Spain,
Which of those brave young soldados,
Will ever cross Lime Street again?

One hundred and sixty soldados,
Set out on that roadway to Spain,
Which of those brave young soldados,
Will ever come this way again?

Ones and twos at Lime Street Station,
Unnoticed they got on the train,
One last wave from a sweetheart,
One last kiss in the rain.

( I think I got the words down correctly from the video but let me know if I didn't and I will correct them.)

The song is a tribute to the men from Liverpool who volunteered to fight for the Spanish Republic. More information about these men can be found Here

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 25 Jan 12 - 07:53 PM


CIVIL WAR YEAH!

By 12E AS History & Leonard Cohen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgfcOiwSkB4

Subject: Lyr Add: RED MOON
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 24 Jan 12 - 05:22 PM


RED MOON


Lyrics by Norman Bethune, Music by Robert Rival


And the same pallid moon tonight,
Which rides so quietly, clear and high,
The mirror of our pale and troubled gaze
Raised to a* cool Canadian sky.

Above the shattered Spanish troops**
Last night rose low and wild and red,
Reflecting back from her illumined shield
The blood bespattered faces of the dead.

To that pale disc we raise our clenched fists,
And to those nameless dead our vows renew,
"Comrades, who fought for freedom and the future world,
Who died for us, we will remember you."

Below are the words Bethune wrote in his poem in 1936
*the
**mountain tops



Recording of the song RED MOON on Robert Rivals website (scroll down a bit from the top of the first page)



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Bethune

Subject: Lyr Add: FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 24 Jan 12 - 01:13 PM


FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS   


By Metallica

Make his fight on the hills in the early day
Constant chill deep inside
Shouting gun on they run through the endless gray
On they fight for their right, yes, but who's to say?

For a hill, men would kill, why? They do not know
Stiffened wounds test their pride
Men of five, still alive through the raging glow
Gone insane from the pain and they surely know

For whom the bell tolls
Time marches on
For whom the bell tolls

Take a look to the sky just before you die
It is the last time he will
Blackened roar, massive roar fills the crumbling sky
Shattered goal fills his soul with a ruthless cry

Stranger now are his eyes to this mystery
He hears the silence so loud
Crack of dawn, all is gone except the will to be
Now they see what will be blinded eyes to see

For whom the bell tolls
Time marches on
For whom the bell tolls

METALLICA YouTube video of For Whom the Bell Tolls


Video with singalong lyrics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Whom_the_Bell_Tolls_(Metallica_song)

Subject: Lyr Add: TOM WINTRINGHAM
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 22 Jan 12 - 07:15 PM


TOM WINTRINGHAM


By Paul Frith


Can anyone complete the parts of the lyrics which I cannot catch in this song as performed by Paul Frith and the Considerate Lovers
CHORUS
address
He struck up the band,
Marched on the land,
Tom Wintringham,
D--- his debt began.???

He was the last to bleed, believe ???
When they took his strength from him,
He could not quite believe,
All the things they took from him.

CHORUS

Would I do the same?
Would I go to war in Spain?
Put aside all my grief ,
For something that I believe.

CHORUS

CHORUS

Because this perma-thread is now so long it is a bit unweildy for collecting new information so I have also started another Mudcat thread called TOM WINTRINGHAM, Spanish Civil War Song which can be reached using this link Here

The following sites give information about Tom Wintringham who was commander of the British Battalion of the XVth International Brigade at the Battle of Jarama during the Spanish Civil War.(the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the battle is in three weeks time).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Wintringham


http://www.myspace.com/tomwintringham   ( although this site is a bit cavalier with the facts in saying that He founded the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War .

If Anyone discovers somewhere where this song can still be heard on-line then please let us know. 23/02/2016 - Still not found an easy link to hear the song but it can be heard for free if you sign up for Spotify herehttps://play.spotify.com/track/4vZ6ERulO3uLFPaR2LmLOd?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open

---

Here is a post on another Mudcat thread which help clarify some of the Lyrics to this song Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tom Wintringham (Spanish Civil War Song) From: GUEST,Paul Frith - PM Date: 24 Jul 22 - 05:06 AM

So 10 years too late, but I just came across this!

D--- his debt began.??? = All of his deadly gang

He was the last to bleed, believe ??? = bleed

Also the original lyric was "When all Franco's fascists reigned", but I think I prefer "old Franco's"!

---

Tom Wintringham · Paul Frith & The Considerate Lovers on YouTube    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvS8mRoGI3o

Subject: Lyr Add: GENERAL LISTER'S LAST COMMAND
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 05 Jan 12 - 06:31 PM


GENERAL LISTER'S LAST COMMAND


By Manus O'Riordan


I met Enrique Líster
And I took him by the hand
"Adelante, Comandante!
To the front, your last command."

Though one commander, Alexander,
- Captain Bill - tried to deny:
Bob, Mick and Peter hugged their leader,
General Líster's last goodbye.

At General Líster's last command
Those brigadistas said goodbye - ( Repeat )

Though one commander, Alexander,
- Captain Bill – tried to deny:
Bob, Mick and Peter hugged their leader,
General Líster's last goodbye.


(air: The Wearing of the Green: The Wearing of the Green sung by The Wolfe Tones on YouTube

This song was written by Manus O'Riordan and appears on this website. http://irelandscw.com/ibvol-DoyleLister.htm
There is more information about the song to be found on the site.
Thanks to Ciaran Crossley who runs the Ireland and the Spanish Civil War website.

Subject: Lyr Add: GOODBYE BARCELONA (Karl Lewkowicz)
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 06 Dec 11 - 07:25 AM

GOODBYE BARCELONA
Words & Music: Karl Lewkowicz

Goodbye Barcelona and goodbye Spain,
We came when you called us, we'll come again,
We gave all we had,
Should we go when there's so much to do?.

Goodbye Barcelona, the skies are grey,
The storm is approaching, with no delay,
Hold on through the dark
We'll be waiting to see much you come through.

Will you remember, why we came today,
Not to find the glory, no revenge or pay,
Just for a moment there seemed to be a way,
We could stand up and fight, but now we must say;

Goodbye Barcelona the world was blind,
Goodbye to the friends that we leave behind,
They'll stay here forever
Be sure you remember their names

So when your children ask you why we came,
Say these open eyes could see no other way,
Say how we tried, to keep alive the flame,
How we wanted to stay, but just had to say,
Goodbye, Barcelona goodbye


Thanks to Karl Lewkowicz for responding to my request for the lyrics to this song which is the title song from the musical Goodbye Barcelona for which he wrote the songs and music.
Link to sound clip of the song
Other information about the song and the musical is accessible on that site.
The musical is still playing in London until 23rd December 2011 at the Arcola Theatre.

Subject: Lyr Add: ENGLISH PENNY
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 01 Dec 11 - 06:47 PM

ENGLISH PENNY

Words & Music: Paul McNamara / Roberto Garcia. © copyright 2011.
Reproduction only permitted with prior consent of the copyright holders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MJW9wP8FRg

Sister, you have asked to hear my story,
And in this calm, it seems a world away,
When heroes fought for principle not glory,
And the sound of battle thundered every day.

[Chorus] They knew that, as the day of battle it drew nearer,
And the sun's bright rays o'ercame the dark of night,
With the armoury of her station gleaming clearer,
'English Penny' she stood ready for the fight.

In '37, I arrived at Albacete,
From there to work with nurses, doctors, brave and good,
At Tarancon, Jarama and Brunete,
In the days when Spain was red – with Spanish blood.

Chorus

Unlike this room so peaceful and so calming,
It's the dreadful sounds of battle still I hear,
The chaos of the transports to the front line,
And the bombing raids when children cried in fear.

Chorus

Unlike the chill nights of an English autumn,
I can still feel the cruel Murcian sun,
When working day and night with army surgeons,
To heal the damage wrought by shell and gun.

Chorus

And unlike the softness of this bed I lie in,
It's the endless toil of nursing I recall,
Dividing up the living from the dying,
In makeshift wards in burnt out barn and hall.

Chorus

And quite unlike our sober conversation,
It's the strutting demagogues that I abhor,
That play upon the basest of emotions,
And march young men and women off to war.

Chorus

This new song by Na Mara is reproduced with kind permission of the copyright holders, Paul McNamara / Roberto Garcia. I had heard that Na Mara had written a new Spanish Civil War related song and asked Rob Garcia for the words. Rob says in his covering email :
We have plans in the New Year to record an EP of our Spanish Civil War related songs - 'English Penny' will be one of these. We played this at the IBMT Gala Event in London in October and it went down very well.

The song takes the form of an imagined conversation between Penny Feiwel and a young nurse who is nursing her in her old age. It compares and contrasts the tranquillity of where she is now, with the chaos, noise and terror of war. It is based heavily on Penny's own words as recorded in Max Arthur's 2009 book The Real Band of Brothers Google Books Link

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: mikesamwild
Date: 30 Nov 11 - 04:14 AM

I was listening to Abba's 'Fernando' on the car radio and it could easily be about Spain. The Rio Grande mention indicates US/Mexico border though.

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: mikesamwild
Date: 26 Nov 11 - 05:36 AM

THEY SHALL NOT PASS
by Grace Petrie


Nice to see the Katie Mellua singing of Mike Batt's Guernica (he of the Wombles!)

Grace Petrie is on Youtube singing the song she sang at the concert for the 75t Anniversary and AGM of IBMT in Islington in October 2001
They Shall Not Pass.. (With comments added by a viewer condemning Communist murderers and praising Franco )


They Shall Not pass by Grace Petrie.I'll do a transcription if I can't get the words printed out.

Thanks Mike,

Here on YouTube -Geoff

International Brigade 75th Anniversary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY4Ic_Er66I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDgp4Ovva9w&index=2&list=RDrqfomuTNJsY

LYRICS:

You're not my brother, nor my countryman
Not my sister or my friend
But you're my comrade, be so 'til the last
They shall not pass; they shall not pass
Now blood is running through the streets of Spain
And London gripped in fear
Oh, smell of gunfire, sound of breaking* glass
You shall not pass; you shall not pass

Why fight the good fight, fight the good fight? Why not let them burn?
I dread the day when the suffering of my fellow is none of my concern, so

Stand up today that we might save tomorrow
Oh I know there's a way that we might save tomorrow
Yes its late in the day but we might save tomorrow, if we try
I shall not turn against my brother
For his creed or for his colour
Nor the one he takes his lover
Or his class
You that beckon me that way, you shall not pass

And you who speak of ideology, who speak of people like they're pawns
Whose motives lie 'neath frosted glass
You shall not pass; you shall not pass
In the name now of humanity,
Not left nor right, not black nor white
Tear the fascist flag now from its mast
It shall not pass; it shall not pass

Why fight the good fight, fight the good fight? Why not let them burn?
I dread the day when the suffering of my fellow is none of my concern, so

Stand up today that we might save tomorrow
Oh I know there's a way that we might save tomorrow
Yes its late in the day but we might save tomorrow, you and I
We shall not turn against each other
For our creed or for our colour
Nor the ones we take our lover
Or our class
You that beckon me that way, you shall not pass

Stand up and speak, it's not a call to arms
Get on your feet, it's not a call to arms
Get on the street, it's not a call to arms
It's a call to helping hands

Why fight the good fight, fight the good fight? Why not let them burn?
I dread the day when the suffering of my fellow is none of my concern, so

Stand up today, that we might save tomorrow
Oh I know there's a way that we might save tomorrow
Yes its late in the day, but we might save tomorrow, if we try
I shall not turn against my brother
For his creed or for his colour
Nor the one he takes his lover
Or his class
You that beckon me that way, you shall not pass

Subject: Lyr Add: VIVA LOS BRIGADISTAS
From: mikesamwild
Date: 26 Nov 11 - 05:23 AM

VIVA LOS BRIGADISTAS
by Geordie McIntyre


Geordie McIntyre and Alison McMorland, who were fellow presenters at the Whitby Folk Week concert in August sent me the song Viva Los Brigadistas written by Geordie and put to the adapted trad. tune Band O'Shearers

We will not forget their names
We will not forget their pains
Those who did their bit for Spain   Viva Los Brigadistas

Men and women side by side
They defied the fascist tide
Many suffered , many died          Viva Los Brigadistas

It was not for glory that they came
United by a worthy aim
To challenge Franco's deadly games   Viva Los Brigadistas

Injustice has not gone away
Cruel wars and greed hold sway
The struggles live on to this day   Viva Los Brigadistas......!

Repeat verse 1

To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the start of the Spanish Civil War
G. McIntyre 2.10.2011

Here is a selection of YouTube videos of Band O'Shearers to give an idea of the tune to which Geordie has fitted his words BAND O'SHEARERS He sent me the music for his adaptation but of course you can't yet put that up on Mudcat - Geoff I have found that Geordie and Alison McMoreland have a YouTube video of their performance of Geordie's song here Viva Los Brigadistas, Geordie and Alison on YouTube There are several other Spanish Civil War song videos at the end of the link.

Subject: Lyr Add: OWT FOR NOWT
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 18 Nov 11 - 06:10 PM

OWT FOR NOWT
by John Watt


When you're lounging on the beaches of España's sunny shore,
And the hawkers group like leeches ' helados, por favour?',
Remember Franco's icy reign as you ride on RENFE's rails,
Think on the terror and the pain that lurked in Spanish goals.

CHORUS
España, you bled from Bilboa to Seville,
While the ghosts of your dead,
Oh they walk the beaches still,
So while you're busy getting laid and you're raising merry hell,
Think of what the price was paid for your dirt cheap San Miguel

A holiday for Adolph's plane's, with Spain the practice course,
While Uncle Joe he pullled the reins when he backed a losing horse,
As Albion left Madrid to bleed as she watched the game being played,
The backbone of España's need International Brigade.

Costa Brava , costa plenty, more than you will ever know.
And that card from San Vincente , where all the tourists go,
No-one gives you owt for nowt, when you think that you've got friends,
That España soon found out, each one pursues his ends.

España tu sangresta a Bilbao a Sevilla,
Mientras tanto, los fantasmas andan por la playa,
Cuando tu éstas borracho, a la noche el hotel,
Que un precio muy grande, por el San Miguel.

Hear John Watt sing the song here
Heroes, a Neon/Watt production issued by The Tradition Bearers, LTCD3001, 2000, downloadable at www.go2neon.com

Many thanks to Tich who, as Guest TC, posted on the Mudcat thread Lyr Add: Owt for Nowt by John Watt to give me corrections to the lyrics which I had incorrectly or incompletely transcribed from the John Watt Heroes recording. The lyrics should now be accurate since Tich was given the words by John Watt himself.

The following post is copied from a leter post by Tich on the Mudcat thread dedicated to this song Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Owt for Nowt by John Watt From: GUEST,Guest TF - PM Date: 20 Nov 11 - 02:37 PM

Hi Geoff. In 1994 John was doing some work for the WEA on the Spanish Civil War. Here are John's notes on the song. 'In 1936, 38 people from the mining villages of Fife joined the 5000 Britons who fought for the International Brigade in Spain. Willie Gallagher, Communist MP for West Fife acted as special correspondent for The Daily Worker in Spain. The last surviving member of this party, Hugh Sloan from Buckhaven died on 20th Dec 1994'. The song was written in that year. John had a great story (presumably told to him by Hugh) about Hugh Sloan meeting Ernest Hemmingway who was sitting on the tail of a truck Hugh was supposed to be guarding. The conversation went something like, Hugh; "Get off that truck you". Hemmingway, puffing on a cigar, "What if I don't pal?" Hugh; "Then I'll fuckin' shoot ye". Hemmingway got off the truck. Tich

Thanks Tich

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 18 Nov 11 - 05:29 PM

Thank You, Trevor Sheridan , I mistakenly thought that I had already posted the words for John Watt's Owt For Nowt above. Geordie McIntyre gave me the words in the Summer, when I was very busy, and I clearly forgot to put them up. Thanks for the reminder and I will type the words out as soon as I can.Thanks for your information that Jim Bainbridge has also recorded the song.

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GUEST,Trevor Sheridan
Date: 18 Nov 11 - 08:15 AM

Great song by the late John Watt called "Owt for Nowt" on his "Heroes" CD and also on "Lights on the River" CD by my mate Jim Bainbridge

Subject: Lyr Add: MINERS AGAINST FASCISM
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 22 Sep 11 - 06:35 PM

MINERS AGAINST FASCISM
by Tracey Curtis

RECORDING ON MY SPACE

The world is our country
And unity is strength
That's what they told us
Since their first banner
Supporter solidarity
For women and for men
Not just for miners
But for all workers
Both young and older
Shoulder to shoulder
We'll march together
They'll try so hard to break us
But we're strong

W.E.A. and N.C.L.
See education classes
And education for working classes
Anarchist, Socialist
Group meetings at the White House
Supporting conscientious objectors
Of the great war
Both young and older
Shoulder to shoulder
We'll march together
They'll try so hard to break us
But we're strong

Anthracite and General Strike
Of '25 and 6
Camping at Caswell Cotterell
To support the bus strike
Libraries and cinemas
Welfare halls and theatres
The pick and shovel set are
By-workers for workers
Both young and older
Shoulder to shoulder
We'll march together
They'll try so hard to break us
But we're strong.

Amman Valley miners
Go to Spain to fight Franco
A picture postcard
Says share the rhubarb
Hunger marches, Vietnam
Right-to-work and Greenham
National and International causes
Fought by Welshmen
Both young and older
Shoulder to shoulder
We'll march together
They'll try so hard to break us
But we're strong

The World is our country
And unity is strength
That's what they told us
Since their first banner
Support for nurses, teachers
Rail and steelworkers
Fighting aparteid, fascism worldwide
And to the workers of tomorrow
We can say "We Tried"

Thanks to Mike Anderson, treasurer of the International Brigades Memorial Trust for emailing me to tell me about this song. It only has a passing reference to the SCW in verse four but I reproduce the lyrics in full for the sake of completeness.

Subject: Lyr Add: MARKET DAY AT GUERNICA
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 21 Jul 11 - 11:23 AM

MARKET DAY AT GUERNICA
by Mike Batt




My children played a skipping game
On market day in Guernica
On market day before they came
Before they came to Guernica.

I search my soul but cannot start
to find forgiveness in my heart.
My little ones no longer play
In Guernica on market day.

My father wore his linen suit
On market day in Guernica
He always sold the finest fruit
Before they came to Guernica

Now there's no way to let him know
How much I loved and miss him so
I watched as he was blown away
In Guernica on market day.

Away
Away
All blown away

My children played a skipping game
On market day in Guernica
On market day before they came
Before they came to Guernica.

I search my soul but cannot start
To find forgiveness in my heart.
My little ones no longer play in Guernica
On market day.

This song was broadcast on by Mike Harding on the BBC 2 Folk Programme this Wednesday and can be heard for another six days on the BBC i player. It was released on an EP called 9 Million Bicycles. It is the last song in the programme (at about 53.00 minutes into the programme) which also includes Christy Moore singing Viva La Quince Brigada.
LInk To BBC 2 Available for the next week 21/08/2015 Posted by Geoff Lawes

Katie Melua - Market day in Guernica HEAR IT HERE

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 13 Jun 11 - 05:55 PM

I have received a newsletter from na-mara with information about a performance which they will give of three of their SCW related songs on July 2nd 2011,12.30-2.00 at the International Brigades Memorial Day on the South Bank at Jubilee Gardens, next to the London Eye. They will be singing a new song about Penny Fywell,the inspirational nursing volunteer who died recently . Unfortunately I can't get down for the commemoration this year but I hope we can have the lyrics posted here and a YouTube video of what I missed would be good.Apparently there is more music afterwards at the Camel and Artichoke121 Lower Marsh Street,SE1.
__________________________________________________________________
na-mara's newsletter
"International Brigade Event"


Dear friends,

Many of you will know that na-mara is a keen supporter of the International Brigade Memorial Trust (IBMT) which remembers all those who left their homes in the 1930s to fight fascism in Spain.

On a number of occasions, we have had the honour to play at the Annual Commemoration ceremony of the IBMT. We are pleased to report that we have again accepted an invitation for this year's event which will be held on Saturday 2 July 2011, at Jubilee Gardens, Belvedere Road, on London's South Bank.

At what looks to be a very musical event this year, we will be playing three songs - including a new song in honour of the nurse Penny Feiwel and all her nursing colleagues who served the International Brigade in Spain. Also taking part in the event this year will be the Strawberry Thieves choir and the cast of the musical "Goodbye Barcelona".

As we often say, it would be lovely to see some familiar faces in the crowd that always gathers for this popular and moving event.

Paul & Rob

Subject: Lyr Add: THE NEW SAINT (Lorcan Otway)
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 13 Jun 11 - 05:10 PM

YOUR NEW SAINT
by Lorcan Otway

I found this song on Mudcat over a year ago and have sent a couple of PMs asking if Lorcan Otway ( INobu) would like to post it here himself but I have not had a reply yet and so I am harvesting the relevant parts of the several other Mudcat threads in which the song appears.

YOUR NEW SAINT
Words Lorcan Otway, Tune traditional The Bantry Girl's Lament   (Oh who will plow the fields now, and who will reap the corn, since Johnny lovely Johnny now plows the fields of Spain, )


Oh tell me Father Michael, What's that I heard you say
That the church for all its past neglect, named a Gypsy saint today.
Tell me all the details, I'd really like to know
For its been more than a little time, since to our church I'd go.

Tell me what his deeds were, and how he came to die.
Was he murdered by the Gadje, while in exile forced to fly
Or hanged by James of Scotland, when Faa was sent away
Or killed by a Polish peasant mob on some lonely cold byway

Did he die with the resistance, in that cold Vichy midnight
While bringing food and weapons to carry on the fight
Or aiding Jews and exiles to escape the Nazi scourge
Or killed by a Nazi death squad bent on their racist purge

Did he die in Auschwitz death camp, when Ziguenier Nacht took place
On that day that tens of thousand Rom, were murdered for their race
Or in in the Czech Republic, thrown from a bridge to die,
Oh tell me Father Michael, was that the reason why?

I can't believe what you're telling me, about the way he died
Defending a Fascist priest, defending Franco's side.
If that's the side that God was on, forgive me if I say
It will be a cold day in Hell before with you I'll pray.

The song is available on Lorcan "Larry" Otway's CD with Sorcha Dorcha, the name of which is Nil Sasta Ach Amadain (Only Idiots are Satisfied)
$15 US, available by Emailing [e-mail]

These are the Mucat threads which refer to the song.
MUDCAT THREAD: Lyr Req: Romany songs
MUDCAT THREAD: New Otway Songbook, out in a few days...
MUDCAT THREAD: Mudcatter's CD's Part 2
Many recordings of “The Bantry Girl's Lament “ on YouTube     https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=The+Bantry+Girls%27+Lament

Subject: Lyr Add: THE SKELETONS OF QUINTO
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 11 Jun 11 - 09:01 AM

THE SKELETONS OF QUINTO

By Christopher Guest
THE SKELETONS OF QUINTO YouTube video sung by The Folksmen


I worked the fields my father worked
From dawn until setting sun
My calloused hands and wind-burned face
Have marked me as a man
Who has no voice, no rights, no hope
No place to call his own
And the skeletons of Quinto call me home

The silver tentacles of the moon's rays caught me
The deathly silence of the mountains chill me to the bone
And the skeletons of Quinto call me home

If I lived to be a hundred, I won't know me Papa's plight
The cruelty of the master's whip
The horrors of the night
He braved them all and stood his ground
The bravest ever known
And the skeletons of Quinto call me home

I know that somehow, in the world,
The workers must be free
The toil and sweat, and tyranny, the fascist jeu d'esprit
Will only serve to keep us down, and make the bourgeoisie
And the skeletons of Quinto call me home


This song is from Christopher Guest's folkumentary A Mighty Wind and is clearly taking the Miguel out of the Spanish Civil War song genre. Towards the end of the film's concert section, The Folksmen are required to fill in time when the next performer goes missing. The banjo player announces an encore: a song about the Spanish Civil War called The Skeletons of Quinto. The bass player then talks at length about the song but because the missing singer then turns up they never actually perform it.

This is interesting because Christopher Guest, who co-wrote, directed and acted in the film as the Folksmen's banjo player is the nephew of David Guest, a young mathematician who was killed fighting with the International Brigades after the crossing of the Ebro in 1938.
I see in the film's credits that Christopher Guest is credited with the words to The Skeletons of Quinto and the Folksmen with its performance. This companion Mudcat link,A Mighty Wind & Spanish Civil War Song , confirms that the song was relased on a soundtrack album. I see from his Wikipedia entry,HERE, that Christopher Guest plays mandolin and guitar - does he play banjo in the film?

Subject: Lyr Add: COMMUNIST VERSION OF SUSSEX BY THE SEA
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 06:52 PM

COMMUNIST VERSION OF SUSSEX BY THE SEA

by Ernie Trory

Brass Band version of the Tune on YouTube HERE

Now is the time for marching, under our banners red,
Rank upon rank advancing, surely we forge ahead,
So let your voices ring, comrades, all who would be free,
And we'll sing a song as we march along,
Of peace and liberty.
For we are the men from Sussex, Sussex by the sea,
We plough and sow and reap and mow, and useful men are we,
And when you go from Sussex, wherever you may be,
You can tell them all that we stand or fall,
For peace and liberty.

Sussex, Sussex men are we,
On our march to victory,
Workingmen unite, we can win the fight,
And Sussex shall be free.

Out of the years of struggle, out of the years of toil,
Stride forth the people's heroes, sons of the Sussex soil,
The banner that they raised aloft, our heritage today,
We will bear with pride, marching side by side,
Where they have led the way.
Far o'er the seas we wander, wide through the world we roam,
Into the Spanish trenches, fighting for those at home,
Wherever there's a fight, comrades, to save democracy.
You can be sure then, you will find the men,
Of Sussex by the sea.

These words are reproduced from Between The Wars" (Recollections Of A Communist Organiser), Ernie Trory, Crabtree Press 1974. ISBN 0950350303 & 9780950350301

The book is the recollections of Ernie Trory, a communist historian and party organiser from Sussex who says in the bookthat he wrote new words for the famous Sussex song ( Wikipedia entry) especially for a Communist Party demonstration in 1938.He says, on pages 112 and 113:

The whole Party threw itself whole-heartedly into the preliminary work of producing historical banners, making flags and generally giving publicity to the forthcoming event. A thousand copies of a souvenir programme were printed and put on sale well in advance. For the first time the Brighton and Hove Herald gave us an advanced write-up, commenting on our programme as follows:

" The souvenir programme of the march sets out the part that Sussex men have played in history, and mentions such figures as Jack Cade, Deryk Carver and Tom Paine. It refers to the foundations of the Brighton Communist Party in 1926, and finishes up with the significant line, '1937: Tom Elloit, secretary of the Worthing Labour Party, is killed in action. somewhere in Spain'
" On the back of the pamphlet are set out a Communist version of 'Sussex by the Sea' and the 'International'."
The song referred to, "Sussex by the Sea"," was in its original form adopted as the marching song of the Sussex County Regiment. We kept the tune, which went with a good swing, but I rewrote the words giving them the social significance needed for our forthcoming demonstration. Later our version became very popular in the Labour Movement and in many ways better known than the original.

On the Sunday afternoon of the 7th August 1938, the demonstration lined up in front of the Brighton Labour Club in London Road, headed by the South West London Workers' Band, borrowed for the occasion.
Behind the band massed red flags were carried by gaily dressed girls. Then came the historical banners interspersed with the branch banners of the four main branches. The whistle blew and the drums thunderedout, bugles sounded and the march moved forward. After the bugles had played for some time they stopped and the marchers began to sing:

"Now is the time for marching, under our banners red,
Rank upon rank advancing, surely we forge ahead,
So let your voices ring, comrades, all who would be free,
And we'll sing a song as we march along,
Of peace and liberty.
For we are the men from Sussex, Sussex by the sea,
We plough and sow and reap and mow, and useful men are we,
And when you go from Sussex, wherever you may be,
You can tell them all that we stand or fall,
For peace and liberty.
Sussex, Sussex men are we,
On our march to victory,
Workingmen unite, we can win the fight,
And Sussex shall be free."

The marchers stepped out happily through Castle Square, singing as they went. Everyone was surprised at the strength of the Communist Party in Sussex could show, Curious sightseers craned their necks to read the inscriptions on the banners. We felt conscious of our responsibility for carrying on the traditions of those who had fought in the past.

"Out of the years of struggle, out of the years of toil,
Stride forth the people's heroes, sons of the Sussex soil,
The banner that they raised aloft, our heritage today,
We will bear with pride, marching side by side,
Where they have led the way."

At the Clock Tower the police had to hold up the traffic, while we turned into West Street> The salt sea air blew up from the sea, blowing the banners proudly. The holiday crowds stopped to watch the procession, commenting on the portraits of the Sussex men fighting in Spain.
"Far o'er the seas we wander, wide through the world we roam,
Into the Spanish trenches, fighting for those at home,
Wherever there's a fight, comrades, to save democracy.
You can be sure then, you will find the men,
Of Sussex by the sea."

Many thanks to Mike Anderson, of the International Brigades Memorial Trust who drew my attention to this song and sent me the information which I needed to compile this post.

A Mudcat thread about the original song and other variants

Does anyone have more information about this song?

Because this thread has now become so long and complex I have also posted this appeal for information on a dedicated Mudcat thread HERE

Subject: Lyr Add: ALWAYS THE CAUSE
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 01 Jun 11 - 06:52 PM

ALWAYS THE CAUSE
Words and Music by Al Stewart
Always the Cause AL STEWART (YouTube video)

Bad news over the great divide
Comes in from every side
Still hope won't be denied
There was always the Cause
There was always the Cause

Oh La Pasionara sang
This day, no pasaran!
It echoed out in Catalan
There was always the Cause
There was always the Cause

Mariposa
Late nights waiting on the Via Dolorosa
Hold me closer
Not long now, oh ma bella hermosa
There was always the Cause

Setbacks come at every turn
New ways are hard to learn
Tonight I saw Guernica burn
There was always the Cause
There was always the Cause

Mariposa
Late nights waiting on the Via Dolorosa
Hold me closer
Not long now, oh ma bella hermosa
There was always the Cause

Three years gone in the heart of Spain
He brings home a quiet pain,
He'll never be that young again,
There was always the Cause,
There was always the Cause,

Thanks to Mike Anderson of the International Brigades Memorial Trust for suggesting this song.
Wikipedia information about the Album on which this song was released

Recorded November 1994 – March 1995

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: mikesamwild
Date: 29 May 11 - 09:06 AM

I've just been rereading a book published in Rotherham about Tommy James who was in Spain

A lion of a man ed Brian Lewis & Bill Gledhill . In Pounded Earth TJs memoir p68 he mentions waiting to go to Brunete in June 37 thousands of men stretched outon tehbgarss, uncannily quiet 'suddenly the silence was broken by the strains of Tipperary coming from the British lines followed by a medley of music hall songs. Soon all the Brigade was singing, ech man in his particular tongue concluding with The Internationale. That night before the battle thousands stood u and sang. That was after the slaughter at Jarama earlier in the year.
On p 91 after the terrible onslaught at Brunete he mentions listening to Danny Boy being sung by an Irish Comrade in the moonlightand thinking back to the earlier mass sing on night of July 5th 1937

The power of song and the resilience of young men!

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 09 May 11 - 07:03 PM

PEOPLE'S FRONT

Words and Music by Edward Brangwyn

This song appears on page 54 of Canciones de las Brigadas Internacionales , the International Brigades Songbook, originally published in Barcelona in 1938.
The songbook gives no more information about the song or the writer, Edward Brangwyn, and so I have begun a new Mudcat thread to see if anyone knows more. The thread can be reached using this link:
EDWARD BRANGWYN,30's songwriter,INFO?
The new thread also includes a link to Google Books which shows the words and music for the song.

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 20 Apr 11 - 07:30 PM

ONCE A JOLLY FRANCO

TUNE: Waltzing Matilda

there is so far only a fragment of the lyrics to this song which was posted by GUEST: Gerry in another Mudcat thread called Australia and the Spanish Civil War which can be seen HERE


Once a jolly Franco started up a civil war
Liking himself as the top dog you see
....
Aeroplanes from Italy are raining bombs on wrecked Madrid
Gunners from the Volga side are firing merrily
And the League still declares, with the simple faith of infancy
Non-intervention's a reality.

Thanks Gerry.
Does anyone have more of the song which was culled from Amirah Inglis' book Australians in the Spanish Civil War

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: mikesamwild
Date: 18 Apr 11 - 12:33 PM

Re The olives bleeding , when we were at Jarama in March they were harvesting some black olives . I squahed some and the juice was red and bitter. So a great image.

I found several ancient trees with shrapnel embedded in the trunks from 74 years ago The battle was Feb 1937.. We found sardine tins and bullets etc all preserved as the limestone soil is dry and the climate is better than ours!


I read the poem by John Lepper where he says 'Death stalked the olive groves
His leaden finger beckoned again and again.' Somebody set that to music it was on youtube

I found it very powerful at the spot where my uncle Bert was killed along with Clem Beckett, Christopher St.John Sprigg (aka Caudwell) (Sprigg) and so many others - and my dad Sam was wounded on Feb 12 th 1937

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: mikesamwild
Date: 17 Apr 11 - 01:12 PM

AT THE SIEGE OF MADRID
By Robb Johnson
There is a good youtube of Robb Johnson singing The Siege of madrid , one of his.
At The Siege Of Madrid ROBB JOHNSON

I've just been sent a copy by Allen Warren in Barcelona, of a facsimile page in a book of Harry Pollitt in Spain where he mentions a Christmas party in 1937 where they sang songs such as One finger one thumb keep moving and Frankie and Johhny so it wasn't all The International!

I've sent it to Richard Thorpe of the IB Memorial Trust who is coordinating a songbook. He is in La Columna a reenactment socety in UK.

I think a more comprehensive book like the Poetry book published by IBMT would be good Geoff.

I was out at Jarama in March for the memorial march near Madrid and visted the battle site where my uncle Bert Maskey was killed and my dad Sam was wounded on the first day (Feb 1937).

At the meal in Morata there were songs from the various natinalities represented and I sang Our Open Eyes.



Martin Simpson told me he is recording Jamie Foyers with Dick Gaughan.


At a dedication at the memorial to Charlie Donnelly I realised the line 'Even the olives were bleeding' from his poem found its way into Christy's Viva la Quince Brigada.


The IBMT have asked for a proposal for the CD so any ideas welcome .

MySpace Link

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Mar 11 - 12:03 PM

Jamie O'Reilly FYI for your list.
Here are the songs Michael Smith and I recorded in English on Pasiones: Songs of the Spanish Civil War, recorded at
WFMT studios in Chicago 1997. Please include us in the list of folks who recorded these stirring songs. The live Pasiones by Peter Glazer, son of Tom Glazer. We will be performing it live AGAIN this Oct in Chicago in honor of the 75th anniversary of the International Brigades
in Spain. Song of the United Front, Peat Bog Soldiers, Comrade We Love You, Quartermaster's Store, Gunner Name of Bill (new Music by Michael Smith, setting words of Theodore Cogswell). Sweet Cookhouse, Young Man from Alcala, Los Cuatro Generales, Five O'Clock in the Afternoon (Eng translation of Lorca, new music by Michael Smith), Beloved Comrade, Jarama

The Spanish Civil War Songs - Who Sings What? thread is HERE

---

From: GeoffLawes - PM
Date: 10 Mar 11 - 08:03 PM

Hi Jamie I have posted you and Michael Smith as performers of most of the songs you give on the Mudcat thread to which I have provided a link above.

Could you ( or anyone else) provide the words for Gunner Name of Bill which is not a song included in this Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War thread so far? I found Theodore Cogswell on Wikipedia,HERE,
where it says he was an ambulance driver in the SCW. Did he write the poem during the war or later? Any more information about the poem or the song or Theodore Cogswell would be good.

Regards, Geoff

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 05:43 PM

Does anyone know anything about the song HANS BEIMLER KAMERAD as sung by Notorious Goose from Ireland.This song is in English and does not use the old German tune Ich Hatt'Einen Kameraden as Ernst Busch did when he re-wrote the song as a tribute to Hans Beimler in 1937. This is a YouTube video of the English/Irish song.

Hans Beimler Kamerad by Notorious Goose

as compared with
HANS BEIMLER by Ernst Busch

But the words in the English/Irish version seem to be a translation/rewrite of the Busch song.

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 20 Feb 11 - 01:10 PM

What book is that Mike - I wonder if it was really a concertina? People are often unsure what a concertina is and use it as a generic term for any squeezy free-reed instrument. I have never come across mention of a concertina in memoires of the SCW although I have seen pictures of Brigaders with accordians and possibly a melodeon in one photo of the Abraham Lincoln Battalion. The Bandoneon is a more likely possibilty if it were a Spaniard or South American playing it. But if it was a concertina that would be very interesting.

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: mikesamwild
Date: 18 Feb 11 - 10:31 AM

I'm just reading a book about Jarama and Harry Pollitt in a letter mentioned marching to a concertina and singing The Internationale at a memorial near Madrid after the battle where so many IBrs died.

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: mikesamwild
Date: 18 Feb 11 - 10:27 AM

Good song- Geordie sang it tome on the phone sounds good and I'm glad it's been passed on

Here's a version of the poem by John Lepper set to music and guitar / Lepper fought at Jarama ad came home shortly after but no trace after spain is kown apparently.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBJZAHmnUts

Martin Simpson told me the other night he has Jamie Foyers on his new album.

Subject: Lyr Add: SALUD INTERNATIONAL BRIGADE!
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 11 Feb 11 - 05:38 PM


SALUD INTERNATIONAL BRIGADE!


By Jim Brown
   

Salud International Brigade!
We honour the gallant part you played,
Remembered with pride on the banks of the Clyde,
Salud International Brigade!

From Scotland and every place they came,
To fight with the working class of Spain,
And they helped defend Madrid,
When Franco made his bid,
In the bombing and the shelling and the flame.
Salud International Brigade!
We honour the gallant part you played,
Remembered with pride on the banks of the Clyde,
Salud International Brigade!

When Franco said he'd pass they answered'Never!'
Said those heroes whose names will live forever,
And how valiantly they tried to halt that fascist tide.
From Jarama Valley to the Ebro River.
Salud International Brigade!
We honour the gallant part you played,
Remembered with pride on the banks of the Clyde,
Salud International Brigade!

Passionaria, her statue stands today,
On the banks of the Clyde at Customs Quay,
In memory of the time when from shipyard and from mine,
Those volunteers they chose to make their way.
Salud International Brigade!
We honour the gallant part you played,
Remembered with pride on the banks of the Clyde,
Salud International Brigade!

Better to die fighting on your feet ,
Than live forever on your knees,
And if the fascists rise again, the way they did in Spain,
We'll know the truth there was in words like these,
Salud International Brigade!
We honour the gallant part you played,
Remembered with pride on the banks of the Clyde,
Salud International Brigade!

© Jim Brown

The words and music for this song were written by Jim Brown of Cumbernauld, Scotland who died at the end of 2010. Thank you to Joan Brown for permission to post Jim's great song here and to Geordie McIntyre for sending it to me.
Jim Brown recorded the song on his cassette tape album My Old Guitar which contains other songs written by Jim.
The song is now performed by Geordie McIntyre.

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 06 Feb 11 - 10:31 AM

Here are some performances of Jarama/ Jarama Valley with a variety of lyrics and tunes:
EWAN Mc LENNAN
PETE SEEGER & THE ALMANAC SINGERS
WOODY GUTHRIE
ARLO GUTHRIE & PETE SEEGER
DAVID ROVICS

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 30 Jan 11 - 09:11 PM


LETTER FROM BILBAO

By Lowest Of The Low

Letter From Bilbao by Lowest of the Low on YouTube Letter From Bilbao by Lowest of the Low on YouTube

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 30 Jan 11 - 09:01 PM


ETHEL ON THE AIRWAYS

By Alister Hulett

Alistair Hulett performs ETHEL ON THE AIRWAVES a song about Scots Anarchist Ethel McDonald.

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 30 Jan 11 - 08:39 PM


SKETCHES OF SPAIN

By Nits

Sketches of Spain performed by Nits -

Does anyone know who the writer is in Nits?

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 30 Jan 11 - 08:32 PM


THE VOLUNTEER

By Stevie (?)

YouTube performance of THE VOLUNTEER by Stevie

Does anyone know his surname?

From: GeoffLawes
Date: 6 May 11 - 08:32 PM

Jim Jump writing in the International Brigades Memorial Trust's IBMT Newsletter ,Issue 29/ Spring 2011, says that it is STEVE SIMPSON
and gives this additional soundcloud link to an audio performance of the song
a http://soundcloud.com/stevieoneblokeonemandolin/the-volunteer

Subject: Lyr Add: THESE DAYS
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 30 Jan 11 - 07:43 PM


THESE DAYS

By Lothian 121

I was thinking late last night,
Have we forgot the meaning of sacrifice?
My grandparents’ generation well they didn’t think twice,
I wonder if it’d be the same these days.

Grandad had just fifteen years,
When he left me in my playroom ? without shedding a tear,
To fight Franco’s army with the other volunteers,
Could have been a thousand years ago.

I can’t imagine what he’d seen,
A catalogue of violence by the age of eighteen,
Things we’d only experience on the T.V. screen,
I don’t know if I could cope with that.

Two years later tired and sore,
He returned to a country on the brink of war,
He began to fight for something that’s worth fighting for,
Well they wouldn’t know a thing about that.

I was thinking late last night,
Have we forgot the meaning of sacrifice?
My grandparents’ generation well they didn’t think twice,
I don’t think it’d be the same these days.

Can anyone correct the words that I could not work out?

Here is a link to a YouTube video featuring These Days by a band called Lothian 121

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47WGSJglkjw

On another site, fm Radio, it says Lothian 121 are a Scottish band, based in Edinburgh and the Scottish Borders. They have recorded four albums of songs since 1999

Does anyone know more about the song or the songwriters?

---

HERE is another Mudcat thread devoted to collecting information about this song. Thank you, Mick Pearce (MCP), for the suggestions on that thread which I have incorporated into the lyrics above. The words suggested by Mick do sound like what is being sung although their meaning in the song seems obscure.

Subject: RE: Songs in English about the Spanish Civil War
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 02 Jan 11 - 07:27 PM

BELOVED COMRADE


by Lewis Allen (w)& Fred Katz (m) (Abel Meeropol)


The song Beloved Comrade has words written by Abel Meeropol under his pen name, Lewis Allen and is associated with the Spanish Civil War as a result of its having appeared on several records about the war and by virtue of its having been performed at memorial meetings of International Brigaders in memory of their dead comrades.

Here is a link to another Mudcat thread which I have used to collect information about the origin and provenance of the song. Origins: Beloved Comrade: Spanish Civil War Song?

That thread includes links to a recording of the song by Josh White and the full set of lyrics.

The current state of information uncovered in that thread is that the song is by Lewis Allen & Fred Katz and was probably written in 1944 for a radio play scripted by Langston Hughes about race relations in the US army. However, Alan Lomax is credited with having helped in the selection of songs for this BBC broadcast and it is theoretically possible that the song had been written at an earlier date specifically about the Spanish Civil War On another Mudcat thread Joe Offer kindly posted the entries from some People's Songs publications which say that the song was written for combatants of the Spanish Civil War These may be seen using the following link Mudcat thread with Peoples Songs reference HERE
Thanks Joe
Any further firm evidence would be welcome.

Subject: Lyr Add: WE ARE THE FIGHTING ANTI-FASCISTS
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 27 Dec 10 - 08:17 PM

WE ARE THE FIGHTING ANTI-FASCISTS


We are the fighting anti-fascists,
We're members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade,
We are the fighting anti-fascists,
And we'll stay here, until the fascist tomb is laid.
And when we get back home once more,
We'll do, we'll do the same thing there.
And when we get back home once more,
We'll do the same thing there.


These are the words to a song sung by Milton Wolff, once the commanding officer of the Abraham Lincoln Battalion during the Spanish Civil War, as he sings them in the film The Good Fight. You can see and hear him singing the song on part VI of the film as it appears on YouTube Milton Wolff singing at 3.27/8.51 secs on THE GOOD FIGHT video

I used the first line of the song as its title:Does anyone know if that is correct, if there is any more of the song or who wrote it? I suspect the tune used is one borrowed from a song well known in the thirties: can anyone name that tune? Does anyone know anything more about the song?

Subject: Lyr Add: PAUL ROBESON (Sumishta Brahm)
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 23 Dec 10 - 12:14 PM

PAUL ROBESON
By Sumishta Brahm


Paul Robeson in the middle of a war
with Love in his heart...

In the middle of a war Paul Robeson
before the Second World War in a small
town in Spain where the bullets flew and fell like rain

In the middle of a war Paul Robeson
with microphone and speakers in the air
sending his beautiful voice everywhere

Paul Robeson in the middle of a war
sing "'Ol Man River" in the middle of a war
and the guns stopped killing
yeah the guns stopped killing

Paul Robeson with a silence all around
singing about injustice
and who is to blame when we are all equal
to God we're all the same
I hope to God ...we're all the same

Paul Robeson in the middle of a war
I think of you when I feel so pulled apart
when all I'm doing is what I believe in my heart

Paul Robeson reminds to be
a human being with individuality
In the middle of a war
if that's how it has to be...

Paul Robeson in the middle of a war
with love in his heart.

Hear it Here