Origins: Survivor Leave (Ken Stephens)

Subject: ADD: Survivor Leave (Ken Stephens)
From: Bugsy
Date: 31 Oct 22 - 01:13 AM

I came across this powerful song in another thread and wondered if anyone knew the background to this song. Not the meaning of "Survivor Leave", but the narrative of the song. Is it based on a particular tragedy, or a generalization.

SURVIVOR LEAVE
(Ken Stephens)(Ken Stevens)

I never really reckoned the ship would die in seconds -
No time to think or fight or even grieve -
And for some the smoke and fire became a funeral pyre,
And I'm lucky to be on survivor leave.

CHORUS:
Survivor leave, survivor leave,
And I'm lucky to be on survivor leave.

It isn't so surprising when you scan the bare horizon
And death's arrived before you've time to breathe.
Ship's discipline can't waver when there's no way left to save her,
And I'm lucky to be on survivor leave.

Now, me mates that caught the blow never had a chance to know,
And the aftermath just makes my stomach heave.
We could only call the roll, and attempt some fire control,
And I'm lucky to be on survivor leave.

Now, those moments of pure strife, they're going to last me all my life,
Though the family's glad I've got this special leave.
There's nothing more I'm dreading, now I've come from Armageddon,
And I'm lucky to be on survivor leave.

Oh, there's got to be a reason to heal all the hurts and lesions,
On the killing ground, it's too bad to believe.
What's the use of disagreeing, when you're fighting and not seeing,
And the whole world can't be on survivor leave?

(Final chorus, sung twice:)

Survivor leave, survivor leave,
And the whole world can't be on survivor leave.

Cheers

Bugsy

---

Boarding Party Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x_K8sgDcpQ

Subject: RE: Origins: Survivor leave -Ken Steven
From: DaveRo
Date: 31 Oct 22 - 03:54 AM

I googled 'survivor leave' and came across this from Hansard - the record of the House of Commons, 1939:

TORPEDOED SHIPS (SURVIVORS' LEAVE).
HC Deb 25 October 1939 vol 352 cc1399-400

    70. Lieut.-Commander Tufnell

    asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether he will consider the granting of leave to survivors of any warship which may happen to be torpedoed during the present war?

    Mr. Churchill

    It is the intention of the Admiralty that the survivors of any of His Majesty's ships which may be sunk during the war, should be granted a period of leave before they are drafted to other duty. Leave was so given to the survivors of His Majesty's Ship "Courageous" and His Majesty's Ship "Royal Oak" and this practice will be continued, provided the manning situation permits.

Subject: RE: Origins: Survivor leave -Ken Steven
From: cnd
Date: 31 Oct 22 - 08:09 AM

Here is a link to a short bio of Ken Stevens.

Here is the notes on the song from Fair Winds and a Following Sea by The Boarding Party (Folk-Legacy FLG00109)

In August of 1982 we spent a few weeks touring England and Wales, performing in folk clubs and festivals. It was raining when we drove into Portsmouth for a concert that night, and took a ride down by the harbor where the ships of the Royal Navy had returned only a few days earlier from participating in the Falkland Islands crisis. The battered vessels appeared to show signs of damage considerably more extensive than had been reported by newspapers in the United States.

When we arrived at the club, we found it was packed with people (including a team of Morris dancers who were attempting to drink all of the beer in the south of England), among them many fine singers who joined in every chorus. One singer in the audience was Ken Stevens, who had just finished writing this song and sang it before our third set. It was so new - an hour? - that he read it from a sheet of paper. As he sang, the club fell silent, with the images of those ships in the harbor surely in everyone's mind.

Survivor Leave has been a tradition in the Royal Navy since at least World War I, and granted 21 days extra leave to any sailor who survived the sinking of his ship. At the outset of the Falklands incident, however, with Britain's seamen actually on their way to the South Atlantic, the regulation was changed, reducing the amount of leave from three weeks to three days. (Ken says he once sang the song at an old sailors' home, and one of the residents asked whether it was written about the Battle of Jutland in 1916.)

(link)

Subject: RE: Origins: Survivor leave -Ken Steven
From: Charley Noble
Date: 06 Nov 22 - 08:37 PM

cnd,

You certainly have that right. The song was inspired by the Falklands War but resonates with the sea battles in all previous wars. Great song!

Charlie Ipcar

Subject: RE: Origins: Survivor leave -Ken Steven
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 08 Nov 22 - 10:48 AM

It might help if Ken Stephens' name was spelt correctly in the title of this thread - could a Mudelf please oblige.... ?

Kitty

Subject: RE: Origins: Survivor leave -Ken Steven
From: Bugsy
Date: 14 Nov 22 - 11:11 PM

Herga Kitty, that's the spelling I was given with the lyrics. I've been trying to google him without much success, only finding the lyrics again.
is he from UK, Canada or USA?

CHeers

Bugsy

Subject: RE: Origins: Survivor leave -Ken Steven
From: The Sandman
Date: 15 Nov 22 - 05:13 AM

He was from the UK, he played concertina [anglo]
I knew him and his wife Lee, I Thin he was from either Portsmouth or Southampton. He was a friendly pleasant man and a good performer. I have a recollection of playing music and he joined in with a harmonica

Subject: RE: Origins: Survivor Leave (Ken Stevens/Stephens)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Nov 22 - 05:32 AM

Folk-Legacy has the name as Ken Stevens in the album notes.
The Miskinfok Website refers to the songwriter as both Ken Stephens and Ken Stevens. So, I'll include both in the thread title.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Origins: Survivor Leave (Ken Stevens/Stephens)
From: The Sandman
Date: 15 Nov 22 - 05:43 AM

He and Lee ran a folk club, which I played at. In correspondence betwen us , I am fairly sure he signed Ken Stephens. He was playing at Harwich Shanty Festival in 2021.

Subject: RE: Origins: Survivor Leave (Ken Stevens/Stephens)
From: Herga Kitty
Date: 16 Nov 22 - 06:48 PM

Definitely Stephens, and I've seen him recently. He lives in Southampton and has written a number of songs including Herzogin Cecile and Rattling Winches as well as Survivor Leave.

Kitty

Subject: RE: Origins: Survivor Leave(Ken Stephens-alt: Stevens)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Nov 22 - 06:54 PM

Thanks, Kitty. Stephens it is. But since Folk-Legacy and Smithsonian Folkways identify him as "Stevens," I'm going to leave the alternate spelling of "Ken Stevens" for the benefit of those who search for the name under that spelling - this incorrect spelling skipped past even the very watchful eyes of the legendary Sandy Paton, who published the recording.

Subject: RE: Origins: Survivor Leave (Ken Stevens/Stephens)
From: Bugsy
Date: 16 Nov 22 - 06:57 PM

Thanks everyone for the background on Ken Stephens

Cheers

Bugsy