Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again

Subject: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: GUEST,Hannalore
Date: 29 Aug 15 - 09:50 AM

Hey there Mudcats!
This is my first post so i'll try to make it brief.

Could anyone help me with finding some lyrics for the song The Geevor Lads, by Mike O'Connor.

I have a copy of the song but I can't quite hear everything clear enough to make out the whole song, so i have a couple of blank spots.

if you would like me to post what I have so far then don't hesitate to ask :)

Thanks in advance,

Hannalore :)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 29 Aug 15 - 10:03 AM

Hannalore, type in what you have I should be able to fill in the blanks

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 29 Aug 15 - 10:43 AM

I can give you it as I remember it.
I will just check the forum before I start typing.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: GUEST,Hannalore
Date: 29 Aug 15 - 10:47 AM

this is what i can work out, i've tried to fill in what i'm unsure about, and they're in brackets.

A cruel wind blew on the cape of Cornwall
The mist was carried on a driving rain
But on the storm I heard the sound of voices
The Geevor lads were singing once again
And down the coast from Geevor to (the tavern?)
From every house and every chimney stack,
A thousand voices joined the rising chorus
And (wheel Jane?) and (crofty) answered back

Chorus:
I asked them who, I asked them how
They answered you, They answered now

Oh tell me lads how can I hear you singing?
When most of you died many years ago?
They answered break the beam, the stack, the body
But they can't break our spirit, you should know
We're singing to all of those that yet must follow
Before our voices are to faint to hear
So they in turn can sing our song tomorrow
And sing again in each succeeding year

(Chorus)

Across the moor and to the harvest fields,
It seemed the very land took up the song
And from the deck and from the angry dock side
Men and women, old and young
The weaving loom the (winding wheel) and the tin stand
Fall across the years all beat in time
The clay pit and the old fish cellar answered
And the final voice to join them, it was mine

(Chorus)

A cruel wind blew on the cape of Cornwall
And the waves like cymbals crashed into the foam
The storm beats like a hammer on an anvil
I found that I was singing all alone
It seemed to me that I had just been dreaming
It seemed the chorus must have been in vain
And then I heard a whisper in the sunrise
The Geevor lads were singing once again

(Chorus x2)


thanks,

Hannalore :)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 29 Aug 15 - 10:50 AM

A bitter wind blew hard upon Cape Cornwall,
Blinding was the driving wind and rain,
When on the storm there came the sound of voices,
The Geevor Lads were singing once again.

Ch.
I asked them, who?
I asked them, how?
They answered you,
They answered now.

How is it lads that I can here you singing,
When most of you died many years ago,
Well they can break the stack, the beam, the body,
But they can't break our spirit you should know.
We're singing now for those who yet may follow,
Before our voices are to weak to hear,
That they may raise the song again tomorrow,
And sing it on through each succeeding year.
Ch.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 29 Aug 15 - 10:58 AM

Beaten to it!.
Well done.

"Down the coast from Geevor to Botallack "

Botallack a village near the Geevor with engine house dramatically perched near the cliff edge.

"Wheal Jane and Crofty" the last mines to close, near Redruth.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 29 Aug 15 - 10:58 AM

Hannalore, ignore the words above they are completely wrong. Your interpretation is almost correct

I'm watching the 20/20 cricket so I may not complete this today.

VERSE 1.Geevor to Botallack

Wheel Jane and Crofty are two other tin mines

VERSE 2. The weaving loom the mill wheel and the tin stamp call across the years.

Cheers

Raggytash

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 29 Aug 15 - 11:00 AM

Mill wheel and tin stamp.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Aug 15 - 11:03 AM

thankyou ever so much. It was driving me mad that I couldn't crack it haha!

Hannalore :)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: GUEST,Jon Heslop
Date: 29 Aug 15 - 11:21 AM

The song is called "Geevor Lads", written by Mike O'Connor and featured in the Cornwall Songwriters show "The Cry of Tin"
Just for information.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: Anne Lister
Date: 29 Aug 15 - 03:55 PM

And your quickest and most accurate solution could have been to google Mike and email him directly, of course - one of the most approachable people in the world!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 30 Aug 15 - 05:03 AM

Is it suprising how songs can be distorted when people are so lazy when it comes to learning the correct words.
The correct words come first the bastardised ones in brackets.

A cruel wind blew o'er the Cape Of Cornwall (A bitter wind blew hard upon Cape Cornwall

The mist was carried on the driving rain (blinding was the wind and rain)

But on the storm I heard the sound of voices (when on the storm there came the sound of voices)

The Geevor lads were singing once again (the Geevor lads were singing once again)

Only one line in the first four is correct. The very poor translation goes downhill from there.

Sheer bloody laziness to my mind. As Anne above suggested an email to Mike (which is what I did to find the words) would have elicited the answer.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 30 Aug 15 - 07:49 AM

I did not claim to be word perfect.
"I can give you it as I remember it."
I was just being as helpful as I could be, without a copy available to me.

I should have acknowledged Mike.
I also have committed his "Shining Down On Sennen" to memory, probably imperfectly also.

The Cry Of Tin was a wonderful production.
One song I have yet to learn tells the sad, true story of the mother taking food the the shaft where her son was lost, and calling to him every day.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 30 Aug 15 - 07:55 AM

You'll be telling everything it's the folk process in action next.

Inept in the extreme.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 30 Aug 15 - 08:05 AM

I sing from memory.
My memory is imperfect.
Sorry.
I looked in vain for the lyrics before I offered my poor rendition.

The set of lyrics provided here had some uncertainties that I was happy to clarify.
I think there are still a couple of minor errors, but please do not attack Hannalore over it.
They too were being as helpful as they could be.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 30 Aug 15 - 08:14 AM

I'm not attacking Hannalore over anything.

He merely asked for clarification on the lyrics and was given a grossly incorrect facsimile by you.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 30 Aug 15 - 04:16 PM

Hannalore was also working from memory.
We both remembered imperfectly.
So shoot us both.
What is your contribution to the discussion?
Why not tell us some more about beers you have known?

I am reasonably confident that an original line was, "Echoed through the years all beating time," and not as rendered.
Who would notice?

An important correction is Cape Cornwall, not the cape of Cornwall.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: Anne Lister
Date: 30 Aug 15 - 04:42 PM

Working from memory is fair enough if the song is obscure, or the writer is long gone. Contacting the writer is a far better solution, if it's possible. A second's work on Google would discover that. I speak with some experience of discovering that one of my songs has been recorded with mangled lyrics because the singers didn't think to check them with me before recording them. They were convinced they remembered them well.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: Raggytash
Date: 30 Aug 15 - 04:46 PM

I have no reason to have a pop at Hannalore, he/she was seeking information so kindly refrain from trying to stir up s***.between the two of us. I am sure Hannalore does not wish to become involved in a long running disagreement.


I'd have to dig out the email that Mike sent me but I'm also pretty damned sure the lyrics are called across the years. As I am pretty sure the words are Cape of Cornwall but that in itself does not alter the song to any great degree unlike some of the nonsense posted earlier.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: Raggytash
Date: 30 Aug 15 - 04:50 PM

Apologies to you to Anne. Unfortunately I've had dealing with the idiot kaoh before. His version of truth and yours and mine are often at variance.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 31 Aug 15 - 04:28 AM

I would love to hear this song. Is it on YouTube by any chance ?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 31 Aug 15 - 04:52 AM

Anne, I responded to a request for help.
I acknowledged that it was just from memory, but I gave what help I could.
I was able to clarify the uncertainties that Hannalore sought to clear up.
Hannalore was kind enough to thank me for that, but Rag attacked me.

Here is another small but significant correction.
"From every engine house and chimney stack,"
It is significant because the ruined engine houses are iconic structures found all over Cornwall, (except the top LH corner) and tell of a once dominant industry now gone.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 31 Aug 15 - 04:57 AM

HiLo, you can hear it here.
https://soundcloud.com/richardtrethewey/geevor-lads

It appears that I was wrong about Cape Cornwall.
Sorry.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 31 Aug 15 - 04:58 AM

Once again attempting to justify his ineptitude, probably with a cut and paste from a website he has found. His normal approach.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: Keith A of Hertford
Date: 31 Aug 15 - 05:06 AM

I acknowledge my ineptitude Rag.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 31 Aug 15 - 05:08 AM

Bloody Hell !!! Well done you, maybe there's hope for you yet.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 31 Aug 15 - 06:34 AM

Thank you Keith , I will surely give it a listen .

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: GUEST,Johannes
Date: 18 Feb 24 - 05:08 PM

Another Soundcloud file:

https://soundcloud.com/tristan-netherton-708265557/geevor-lads-written-by-mike

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Geevor Lads (were singing once again
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 25 Feb 24 - 08:29 AM

Richard Trethewey & Camborne Town Band Geevor Lads by Mike O Connor     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xriHq1qA2B4