Anybody know Billy Johnston...

Subject: Anybody know Billy Johnston...
From: allanwill
Date: 16 Jul 20 - 11:32 PM

... well, not him personally, rather the song of his life story.

I taped it off the radio back in the 80's (queue up all pedantics and nitpickers!) but have never known what it is actually called or who sang it.

It is a fascinating story - this is my attempt at the lyrics:

Old Billy Johnston he worked as a forester
on the estates along Tens(?)muir.
Down by his back door and the river Eden,
heading on his way to the Tay-side shore.

Billy, in the evening, would stand with his wee son,
watching where the North Sea stretched away.
Pointing out the houses clustered in the wee town
high upon the cliffs of St Andrews Bay.

Chorus
Far away from his own River Eden
where the wild geese cry as the sun goes down.
Grey cliffs blush in the light of the evening,
far away from St Andrews town.

Young Billy Johnston, he went for a sodger (soldier);
Four long years, took no great harm.
Went far away to the mountains of Korea-
they call it the land of the morning calm.

Men fought on hillsides they only knew by numbers,
died crossing rivers that had no name.
Billy had a good war, never was in danger.
Served his time and he came back hame (home).

Chorus
Far away from his own River Eden
where the wild geese cry as the sun goes down.
Grey cliffs blush in the light of the evening,
far away from St Andrews town.

But, Billy back home, soon found that the foresting
did'nae (didn't) give the living that he thought it would be.
Like all the others, he went to the fishing.
Worked ten years on the northern sea.

Billy went to Iceland, there he caught the big fish.
Brought them home, went back again.
Then came the Cod War and crews were disbanded.
Billy Johnston landed on the shore again.

Chorus
Far away from his own River Eden
where the wild geese cry as the sun goes down.
Grey cliffs blush in the light of the evening,
far away from St Andrews town.

Then Billy Johnston , he tried his hand at farming,
riding the tractors and turning the ground.
But he knew he'd never be a lands man,
His heart was tuned to the seas wild sound.

Came an opportunity, he went down to England,
tried his fortune one more time.
He became a steel man, working in the ship yard,
building rigs on the River Tyne.

Chorus
Far away from his own River Eden
where the wild geese cry as the sun goes down.
Grey cliffs blush in the light of the evening,
far away from St Andrews town.

Still he heard the voice of the wild wave calling him
to come back where the winds blow free.
So he joined an oil rig called Alexander Kielland -
stood far out in the Norwegian Sea.

One dark night when Billy's shift was ended,
men were resting free from care.
A great leg broke and the Kielland was abandoned;
Billy Johnston fell through the empty air.

Chorus
Far away from his own River Eden
where the wild geese cry as the sun goes down.
Grey cliffs blush in the light of the evening,
far away from St Andrews town.

Billy Johnston's gone from St Andrews town.

I've searched the DT - there is a song about a Billy Johnson but not this Billy - and Googled various parts of the lyrics with no result.

Anybody know anything

Allan

Subject: RE: Anybody know Billy Johnston...
From: cnd
Date: 17 Jul 20 - 05:11 PM

So, this song is clearly aobut the "Alexander Kielland" tragedy. The Kielland was a "floatel" (floating hotel) used by oil workers off the coast of Norway. 123 men died when a storm struck the flotel, causing one of the legs to break off and the remainder of the vessel to capsize.

I was able to find a list of the deceased from the accident (click), but Billy Johnston (or any variation thereof) is not a name in the list.

British deaths included:
- Alan Beggs (27)
- George Terence Collins (37)
- Brian Owen Dowson (36)
- David Lawrence Elliot (35)
- Michael Fleming (37)
- Brian Graham (31)
- John Michael Harris (29)
- Edward Laxon (52)
- John James McGrady (43)
- Richard J. D. Milne (40)
- Robert A. D. Morrison (25)
- John Christopher Murray (33)
- Patrick Joseph Pender (42)
- John Richard Phillips (30)
- Barry Bruce Pickup (36)
- James Edward Poulter (39)
- Thomas Prior (36)
- George Christopher Purcell (31)
- John Thomas Richardson (40)
- John Joseph Tegowski (29)
- Paul Ian Thomas (30)

None of those names sound much like Billy Johnston/Johnson to me. Additionally, very few of the deceased would have been old enough to have fought in Korea, as told in the song. Fighting in Korea means they would have been ~20 in 1950-1954. That age means anyone who would have perished in the disaster would have been about 50 at the time of the accident. Only one name on that list is 50.

That leaves me to think that Billy Johnston is a fictional name made to fit with the tragedy of the song at the time.

I am, of course, always willing to help with lyric transcription, etc, but I was unable to find any songs matching any names I thought of online.

Subject: RE: Anybody know Billy Johnston...
From: allanwill
Date: 17 Jul 20 - 09:41 PM

Some good research there cnd.

I'm not surprised, nor fussed, that Billy is a fictional character and I'm sure some of the actual victims had some interesting life stories to tell.

I get the feeling the author wrote the song not long after the AK disaster and perhaps he imparted a few of his own life experiences into it.

Allan

Subject: RE: Anybody know Billy Johnston...
From: cnd
Date: 19 Jul 20 - 11:56 AM

Alan, thanks for sharing the song with me. I had only one addendum to your lyrics:

on the estates along Tentsmuir

I'm not surprised either. I would assume the writer likely made the song soon after the disaster, before an official list of names was released.

The Kielland incident dates the song to post-March 1980. Assuming, since the Mr. Johnston in question is, in fact, fictitious, it would follow that the artist based it off someone they knew, or themselves. From this, the geography in the song strongly suggests the singer is from Northern Scotland.

You may also have some luck reaching out to the following website: https://disastersongs.ca/alexander-l-kielland-1980-song/.
At the very least, they're requested songs about the incident on mudcat here before back in 2014

Subject: RE: Anybody know Billy Johnston...
From: allanwill
Date: 25 Jul 20 - 09:48 PM

Thanks, cnd.

I've let the people at that website know about this thread.

Allan