Tune/Chords Req: Thames Lighterman

Subject: Thames Lighterman
From: BrimstoneWA
Date: 25 Sep 01 - 10:23 AM

Can anyone help with the melody and chords for this song, written by Alistair Clayre??????

Thanks

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Thames Lighterman
From: GUEST,999
Date: 31 Dec 09 - 01:12 AM

I suspect the author is Alasdair Clayre -- note spelling.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Thames Lighterman
From: Anglo
Date: 31 Dec 09 - 07:11 PM

Well, it's not in his 100 Folk Songs & New Songs. Can't help, sorry. Good luck - let us know if you find it.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Thames Lighterman (Alasdair Clayre
From: Dennis the Elder
Date: 26 Mar 11 - 02:23 PM

I know this song exists. This thread is a very old one and is still awaiting an answer. is there anyone who can help with these lyrics. I am trying to tie this song up to one I heard about 30 years ago in Yorkshire.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Thames Lighterman (Alasdair Clayre
From: Dennis the Elder
Date: 27 Mar 11 - 07:31 AM

Thanks to Mudcatter Reinhard in another thread I now know that this is indeed the song I was wanting to name. Mudcat triumphs again, thanks

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Thames Lighterman (Alasdair Clayre
From: Old Vermin
Date: 27 Mar 11 - 09:29 AM

How about playing about and seeing what chords fit under it? Is there just the one right answer?

Subject: Lyr Add: THAMES LIGHTERMAN
From: Dennis the Elder
Date: 27 Mar 11 - 10:25 AM

I have only heard this sung unaccompanied and as I do not play any instrument, cannot help with chords.

Below are the words provided by Reinhard

THAMES LIGHTERMAN.

At Waterloo we passed the trains arriving from the west
The old stockbrokers piling out all hot and neatly dressed,
We passed their banks and offices and we saw them crowd inside,
And there we lay and watched the sky, and drifted with the tide.

And as we shot through London Bridge, with half an inch to spare
The people up ahead of us leaned across the ledge to stare
Their office doors were shutting and their cash was changing hands,
And we stripped off our shirts, to bask,like kids on Margate Sands.

One lovely summers morning, as we left Brentford Pier
The wind was blowing south south-west and the air was warm and clear,
Five swans were drifting down the tide like white clouds in the sky,
And the oil and muck were breaking white in spray where we passed by.

But I've seen the river running clear, before the diesels came
I used to pole a punt at night and play the courting game
By Brentford Reach you'd dip your mug to drink when you were dry
You could see a swans's feet trailing wide to turn and let you by.

But the men who rowed the barges once are old and going grey
The rivers turned to oil and muck, and we've watched the job decay,
And aching bones and worn-out spines are all the thanks we've got
One day they'll dam the whole Thames up and let the lighters rot.

a song by Alisdair Clayre, about the demise of the Thames bargee's and their way of life.

Subject: RE: Tune/Chords Req: Thames Lighterman
From: GUEST,#
Date: 04 Apr 21 - 10:44 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbHzUmHHLjM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbHzUmHHLjM

Thames Lighterman done by Cockersdale.

Subject: RE: Tune/Chords Req: Thames Lighterman
From: GUEST,Peter
Date: 19 Jun 21 - 04:41 AM

I only have it on vinyl and haven’t listened fora while but it starts something like:

It was a lovely summer’s morning
When we left Greenwich (?) pier
The wind was blowing south south west
The water warm and clear

Subject: RE: Tune/Chords Req: Thames Lighterman
From: GUEST,Peter
Date: 19 Jun 21 - 04:53 AM

Ok I’d not heard the Cockersdale version before. It starts off differently to the version I have on vinyl be Alasdair Clayre, and has a verse I’d not heard before (the second verse in the lyrics above).