Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)

Subject: Lyr Add: FAREWELL TO ANZAC (C. Fox Smith)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Jan 11 - 08:21 PM

This is another vintage World War 1 poem by Cicely Fox Smith that has haunted me for some years. It was composed shortly after the Allied Forces withdrew their troops from their precarious beachhead on the Gallipoli Peninsular in Turkey, leaving behind thousands of their slain. The ANZAC (Australian New Zealand Army Corps soldiers made up a high proportion of the killed and wounded, as has been commemorated in "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda." But Cicely's poem is contemporaneous with the event and shows empathy, anguish, as well as a resolve to fight on if not there, somewhere else.

Here's a link to how I sing it: click here for lyrics and MP3!

Here are the lyrics as I've adapted them for singing (paste into WORD/Times/12 to line up chords):

Words by Cicely Fox Smith, © 1918
Adapted by Charles Ipcar 1/13/2011
Tune: inspired by You Gave Me a Song by Hazel Dickens
Key: F (3/D)

Farewell to Anzac

D----------------------------------C-----------------G-----------------------D
Now it's hump your swag and leave, me lads, the ships lie in the Bay;
------------------------------C----------------G---------------------A7
We've got our marching orders and it's time we're on our way;
-------D-------------------C------------------------G-------------------------D
It's a long good-bye to Anzac Beach, where blood has flowed in vain –
-----------------------------C--------------G-----------------A
For we're leaving now, leaving now, game to fight again!
--------------D---------------C-------------G----------------A-D
Yes, we're leaving now, leaving now, game to fight a-gain!


But there's some who'll never leave this bleak and bloody shore,
And some that's marched and fought with us will fight and march no more;
Their blood has paid till Judgment Day the slopes they stormed so well,
And we're leaving them, leaving them, sleeping where they fell.(2X)

Leaving them, leaving them – the bravest and the best –
Leaving them, leaving them, and maybe glad to rest!
We did our best with yesterday, tomorrow's still our own –
But we're leaving them, leaving them, sleeping all alone. (2X)

Yes, they've gone beyond all wondering, the praising and the blame;
Now many a man may win renown, but none so fair a fame;
They showed the world Australia's lads knew well the way to die,
But we're leaving them, leaving them, quiet where they lie. (2X)

Leaving them, leaving them – sleeping where they lie –
Leaving them, leaving them, in their glory and their pride;
All around the sea and hills, over them the sky –
Oh, we're leaving them, leaving them, so quiet where they lie –
Yes, we're leaving them, leaving them, so quiet where they lie.


Original words by Cicely Fox Smith, © 1918, in a book of WWI poetry called "War Verse" published in 1918 and was originally printed in "Chamber's Journal"

Farewell to Anzac

Oh, hump your swag and leave, lads, the ships are in the bay -
We've got our marching orders now, it's time to come away -
And a long good-bye to Anzac Beach -where blood has flowed in vain
For we're leaving it, leaving it, game to fight again!

But some there are will never quit this bleak and bloody shore -
And some that marched and fought with us will fight and march no more;
Their blood has bought til Judgment Day the slopes they stormed so well,
And we're leaving them, leaving them, sleeping where they fell.

Leaving them, leaving them - the bravest and the best -
Leaving them, leaving them, and maybe glad to rest!
We did our best with yesterday, tomorrow's still our own -
But we're leaving them, leaving them, sleeping all alone.

Ay, they are gone beyond it all, the praising and the blame
And many a man may win renown, but none more fair a fame;
They showed the world Australia's lads knew well the way to die;
And we're leaving them, leaving them, quiet where they lie.

Leaving them, leaving them sleeping where they lie -
Leaving them, leaving them, in their glory and their pride.
Round the sea and barren land, over them the sky -
Oh! We're leaving them, leaving them, so quiet where they lie.

I tried this one out last evening at the Press Room in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: Bob Bolton
Date: 17 Jan 11 - 09:49 PM

G'day Charley,

That's a beaut song! (It's probably a national / accent thing ... but I tend to prefer Cicely's original words ...) Anyway, my English Grandfather, Albert Bolton, just missed out on the Anzac debacle ... His widowed mother wouldn't sign his admission papers until his apprenticeship was signed off, so he left Australia later in 1915 - and spent the rest of the war as a driver in the Australian artillery in the European theatre. He then stayed in the Militia between the wars ... lined up and enlisted in the Second World Stoush!

Our local papers, yesterday, covered the discovery of (presumably) an Australian soldier in France -killed near Poziers (Mouquet Farm ... ?). His remains were associated with a Lee-Enfield .303" rifle and bayonet; 150 rounds of .303" ammo,; a Webley revolver, in a West Australian-made holster, and 8 Mills bombs (grenades). It took a shrapnel shell to fell him!

I hope they find enough to identify his remains and lay him out, at last, with some vestige of the honour due to him!

Regards,

Bob

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: The Doctor
Date: 18 Jan 11 - 04:54 AM

Coincidentally Martyn Wyndham-Read put a tune to these same words earlier last year, and the result can be heard on his latest CD, 'back to you'.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Jan 11 - 07:34 AM

Bob-

Good to hear from you.

I do hope that this song gains some traction in Oz, in one form or another.

The Doctor-

I'll certainly be curious what tune Martyn Wyndham-Read came up with, and I'm sure it's a good one.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: Brian May
Date: 18 Jan 11 - 07:46 AM

I must say that Martyn's version really gives that poignant song both the beauty and gravitas it deserves.

It's a sad and beautiful song about a sad and ugly event.

Lest we forget (which frankly, most politicians have to the nth degree).

Thanks for the lyrics, I shall add that to my personal repertoire.

Martyn's melody is, of course enhanced by the squeeze box of Iris Bishop, for me, it's the meaning of synergy.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 22 Mar 11 - 03:39 PM

Does anyone have a link to Martyn Wyndham-Read's setting for this song on his latest CD, 'Back to You'?

No doubt we've come up with the identical tune, in my dreams!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: bfdk
Date: 22 Mar 11 - 04:47 PM

I can do better than that, Charlie. I recorded this at Whitby last year and posted it with Martyn's permission. It's a beautiful song. Enjoy!

Leaving Anzac

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Mar 11 - 06:28 PM

Too bad the youtube presentation doesn't credit C. Fox Smith.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 22 Mar 11 - 07:34 PM

bfdk-

That's exactly what I wanted. Thanks for finding the YouTube presentation. Mudcat is such a useful service.

I'm certainly curious what other people think of the two settings. I'm not the best person to judge this comparison for obvious reasons.

And, Q, I certainly agree that the title should be "Farewell to Anzac" and fully credited to Cicely Fox Smith.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: bfdk
Date: 22 Mar 11 - 07:35 PM

It does, however, credit Cecily Fox Smith. Wouldn't that be the same person?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 23 Mar 11 - 09:40 AM

Absolutely, one and the same. I didn't see the credit there myself.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 23 Mar 11 - 10:41 PM

Got a nice e-mail back from Danny Spooner who's been working on my setting for this poem, and he says that he loves Martyn's singing but prefers my interpretation of the poem.

We'll see what the Sydney gang thinks.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 24 Mar 11 - 05:34 AM

It is so refreshing to have a WW1 song that is genuinely of the time.
I enjoyed and appreciated both versions very much.
Thanks,
keith.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: Charley Noble
Date: 24 Mar 11 - 08:46 AM

Keith-

I also liked with what Eric Bogle did with his song "The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" which rings true to many of us in retrospect.

As you say "Farewell to Anzac" is a song composed in its time, attempting to make sense of a disastrous military campaign in which hundreds of thousands died on either side while hoping for Allied victories on other fronts and other battles.

C. Fox Smith always identified with the common soldiers, in defeat or victory. She was fiercely patriotic but not blind to the grim reality of the war on land and at sea, or its effect on the home front. This poem is much more than a lament. It is also an attempt to bolster flagging spirits. That's why my presentation isn't a continuous dirge.

There's an amazing tribute composed by the surviving Turkish general who later became president of the new Turkish Republic after the fall of the Ottoman Empire:

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives, you are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers who sent their sons from far away countries, wipe away your tears. Your sons are now living in our bosom and are in peace. Having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

Mustafa Kemel Ataturk, 1934, ANZAC Memorial at Gallipoli, Turkey

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 24 Apr 15 - 12:14 PM

Refresh for the commemoration today and Anzac Day tomorrow.
Another video of Martyn Wyndham-Read singing his version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBvIDHguIhc

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: Jack Campin
Date: 24 Apr 15 - 01:51 PM

Another song, from the Turkish side, dating from the period of the battle itelf:

Canakkale Icinde

as sung by Ruhi Su

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 24 Apr 15 - 10:38 PM

Charley - there is scholarly doubt at the moment about Kemal Ataturk's exact words

Ataturk's 'Johnnies and Mehmets' words about the Anzacs are shrouded in doubt The heartfelt speech attributed to Ataturk about Turks and Australians in Gallipoli is historically dubious, extensive research shows
These famous, heart-rending words, attributed to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who was a commander of Ottoman forces at the Dardenelles during the first world war and later the founder of modern Turkey, grace memorials on three continents, including at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli. A procession of Australian prime ministers, from Bob Hawke to Kevin Rudd to Tony Abbott, have spoken them to invoke a supposedly special bond between Australia and Turkey forged amid the slaughter of the 1915 Gallipoli campaign in which some 8,700 Australian and more than 80,000 Ottoman troops died.

As Australia prepares to commemorate the centenary of the British invasion of Gallipoli on 25 April, the authenticity of these emotive words, supposedly uttered in 1934 and interpreted in Australia as a heartfelt consolation to grieving Anzac mothers, are being challenged with assertions that there is no credible definitive evidence Ataturk ever wrote or spoke them.

Cengiz Ozakinci, a Turkish writer about his country's politics and history, has spent a decade researching the purported Ataturk quote. (read on)

Martyn sang Anzac when he appeared at The Dog earlier this year

sandra

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 27 Apr 15 - 04:45 PM

Charlie, I like both versions of the song. Danny Spooner's endorsement does you proud!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Apr 22 - 02:51 AM

Daniel Kelly has yet another setting of this poem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvH2YTTo-Uw

All of these are wonderful!

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Farewell to Anzac (C. Fox Smith)
From: Daniel Kelly
Date: 25 Apr 22 - 04:02 AM

Thanks for sharing this Joe. Cicely had a way of capturing the essence of whatever she put her pen to.