Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry

Subject: Magdalene Laundry
From: Trevor
Date: 18 Oct 01 - 02:58 AM

A friend has asked me to try and find the lyrics to a song she heard and 'Magdalene Laundry' is the only bit she could remember. Anybody help?

Subject: Lyr Add: MAGDALENE LAUNDRIES (Joni Mitchell)
From: Metchosin
Date: 18 Oct 01 - 03:34 AM

MAGDALENE LAUNDRIES
Joni Mitchell

I was an unmarried girl
I'd just turned twenty-seven
When they sent me to the sisters
For the way men looked at me
Branded as a jezebel
I knew I was not bound for Heaven
I'd be cast in shame
Into the Magdalene laundries

Most girls come here pregnant
Some by their own fathers
Bridget got that belly
By her parish priest
We're trying to get things white as snow
All of us woe-begotten-daughters
In the streaming stains
Of the Magdalene laundries

Prostitutes and destitutes
And temptresses like me--
Fallen women--
Sentenced into dreamless drudgery ...
Why do they call this heartless place
Our Lady of Charity?
Oh charity!

These bloodless brides of Jesus
If they had just once glimpsed their groom
Then they'd know, and they'd drop the stones
Concealed behind their rosaries
They wilt the grass they walk upon
They leech the light out of a room
They'd like to drive us down the drain
At the Magdalene laundries

Peg O'Connell died today
She was a cheeky girl
A flirt
They just stuffed her in a hole!
Surely to God you'd think at least some bells should ring!
One day I'm going to die here too
And they'll plant me in the dirt
Like some lame bulb
That never blooms come any spring
Not any spring
No, not any spring
Not any spring

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Metchosin
Date: 18 Oct 01 - 03:59 AM

From Turbulent Indigo (1994)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Oct 01 - 03:14 PM

And in reference to Ireland.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Willa
Date: 18 Oct 01 - 05:50 PM

Interesting; the version I know is different, but on the same topic - sung by Grace Notes on Red Wine and Roses (Fellside FECD126) The sleeve notes say the version is the one sung by Eleanor Shanley at Ballyshannon FF in 1995.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: jaze
Date: 18 Oct 01 - 06:08 PM

Willa, can you post the words to that one?

Subject: Lyr Add: MAGDALEN LAUNDRY (Johnny Mulhern)
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 18 Oct 01 - 07:46 PM

Jaze, I'd gotten it ready for posting earlier today, so here you are.

MAGDALEN LAUNDRY
(Johnny Mulhern)

Chorus:
Oh Lord won't you let me
Don't you let me
Won't you let me
Wash away the stain
Oh Lord won't you let me
Wash away the stain

For seventeen years I've been scrubbing this washboard
Ever since the fellas started in after me
My mother poor soul didn't know what to do
The Canon said, Child there's a place for you
Now I'm serving my time at the Magdalen Laundry
I'm towing the line at the Magdalen Laundry
There's girls from the country girls from the town
Their bony white elbows going up and down
The Reverend Mother as she glides through the place
A tight little smile on the side of her face
She's running the show at the Magdalen Laundry
She's got nowhere to go but the Magdalen Laundry

I'm washing altar linen and cassocks and stoles
I'm scrubbing long johns for these holy joes
We know where they've been when they're not saving souls
What the red wine spilt what the smooth hand poured
We're scrubbing it out at the Magdalen Laundry
We're squeezing it out at the Magdalen Laundry

Sunday afternoon when the Lord's at rest
It's off to the prom watch the waves roll by
We're chewing on our toffees hear the seagully squawk
There go the maggies, the children talk
Through our faces they stare at the Magdalen Laundry
In our eyes see the glare of the Magdalen Laundry

Sung by Eleanor Shanley on her 1995 eponymous(?) solo CD (Grapevine / Warner Music GRACD206)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: GUEST,chrisj
Date: 18 Oct 01 - 09:18 PM

Mary Coghlan's version is great!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Trevor
Date: 19 Oct 01 - 04:51 AM

Thanks for your help with this. Knowing what the story is (I've unearthed a bit of background) will certainly help the rendition.

Cheers.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: LR Mole
Date: 19 Oct 01 - 08:57 AM

Wow. There's a couple of shots to the heart, those. And that word "glare" in that last line!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Willa
Date: 19 Oct 01 - 03:11 PM

Jaze. The version I know is the one Suzanne posted. The song, of course, is based on real life events. Many 'wayward girls', as they were called, became institutionalised, and some spent the rest of their lives in such places.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Oct 01 - 04:05 PM

Another aspect of this Irish scandal emerged a few years later, in the late 90s, when it was discovered that many of the babies born to the women were taken from them without them being told, and then sold into an adoption ring for Americans.

This is, without doubt, one of the most disturbing aspects of Ireland's recent "dirty past" regarding the treatment of women.

The Taliban have no corner on the market for enslaving women, and punishing them for sexual behavior deemed "unchaste" by the church fathers.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Mr Red
Date: 19 Oct 01 - 07:05 PM

Who saw the TV program?
it was braodcast here about 2 months before the Grace Notes CD came out.
Scandal & a half I'd say.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Oct 01 - 10:34 PM

Mr. Red,

What TV program? Can you give more details about it, as I'd love to see it.

I like both the Joni & the Eleanor Shanley versions, and I'd also agree with the Mary Coughlan choice too!

All powerful, powerful songs.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Mr Red
Date: 20 Oct 01 - 11:59 AM

TV prog was braodcast on Ch 4 UK if I remember right.
It was not the first showing if I remember but may have been the first in UK. I would guess it was made by an Irish crew for RTF.
I would guess Maggie Boyle et al of Grace Notes would remember better. Motivation and all that.
It was rivetting viewing.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 24 Sep 02 - 06:30 PM

And now there is the film:

[2002:] Scottish film director Peter Mullan has defended his film [The Magdalene Sisters] as based on "true events" in the face of strong criticism after winning the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice film festival. The Magdalene Sisters follows four promiscuous girls who were used as labourers by the Catholic church in Ireland in the 1960s and shows them being abused by nuns in the notorious asylums.

Mullan said the Catholic church should face up to cruelty dealt out by nuns in the asylums. [...] It has been documented that women were admitted to the Magdalene asylums after they were orphaned, had children out of wedlock, or were simply "too pretty". Mullan got the idea for the film after seeing a documentary about how the women were subjected to physical and mental abuse but still managed to offer some resistance.

The last Magdalene asylum was closed in 1996. [...]

Italian newspapers and church figures have criticised the decision to hand the award to The Magdalene Sisters. [...] Catholic priest and media commentator, Gianni Baget Bozzo, also rounded on the jury and festival organisers. "Whoever gave the prize to this film did so only because of its anti-Catholic content." (BBC Online, 9 Sep)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 25 Sep 02 - 07:25 AM

The Magdalene Laundries probably covered up most of the cases of the sexual abuse of young girls by catholic priests in Ireland. Is it merely coincidental that so many more cases have come to light since their abolition.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: widowmaker
Date: 25 Sep 02 - 11:21 AM

Thanks for both versions people!! i would love to comment on the situation of the church and women but my anger at their treatment would not allow the fingers to type without expletives. ps 6 months in a seminary was 6 months too long for me reason "Blind faith" never did it for me!!!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Coyote Breath
Date: 26 Sep 02 - 01:03 AM

That was one of my favorite cuts from the "Tears of Stone" CD.

Now here is this thread, bringing it all into focus. The last one closed in 1996! That is incredible!

Please, what is the Mary Coghlan version referred to?

I am going to search out the film, there are sources here in the USA for "obscure" films on video. I might be able to find this and will post what I learn.

CB

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: MMario
Date: 30 Sep 02 - 11:07 AM

refresh

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Alice
Date: 30 Sep 02 - 11:32 AM

Thanks, MMario, this didn't come up when I searched.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 30 Sep 02 - 11:41 AM

Truly amazing. The Joni Mitchell lyrics are HUGE. Must find that album.

Rick

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Alice
Date: 30 Sep 02 - 12:07 PM

Link to the NPR audio file thread on Magdalene Sisters.Click here This was a truly horrendous institution with slave labor and imprisonment of girls and women who committed no crime, many the victims of rape and incest. As noted in the web page linked to the thread above, girls could be locked in the asylum just for being "too pretty".

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Alice
Date: 30 Sep 02 - 12:21 PM

Interesting comment from the audio file at NPR is that the use of washing machines in homes was what brought an end to the Magdalene Asylums. Because the girls were made to work at cleaning dirty laundry six days a week, when people stopped taking their laundry to the asylums to be washed, they Asylums had nothing to force the girls to do. I wonder how many families ever knew of the cruelty they supported in sending their wash to be done there.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Alice
Date: 30 Sep 02 - 12:47 PM

You know, I've heard the Joni Mitchell song for years and yet did not know there was the actual institution of Magdalene Asylums. Strange how it all could be so well kept under wraps even with a famous song about it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: GUEST,Bill Kennedy
Date: 30 Sep 02 - 03:10 PM

a sad story, but not a great song by Joni Mitchell, tortured forgettable lyrics, awkward melody, C- to D on an A to F grading scale

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Sep 02 - 03:47 PM

I, too, would like to see the film. I tried a site on Google called empiremovies.com, which is under the heading Magdalene Sisters so would be presumed to be offering the film, but it ended up freezing my screen and I had to restart. Maybe the Sisters have put a hex on it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: maire-aine
Date: 02 Jul 03 - 04:55 PM

The movie, The Magdalene Sisters, is due out in early August 2003. I just found out about an advance screening in the Detroit MI area on July 8th. PM me for details if you'd like to go.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Giac
Date: 03 Jul 03 - 12:47 PM

Thanks for the heads-up, maire-aine.

Being more than a little familiar with cruel nuns (and some who were kind and gentle women), I'll be interested to see how this subject is treated.

Mary

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: GUEST,Joe Halloran
Date: 25 Aug 03 - 07:41 PM

Well this is an old post that I am (I think) responding to but the phrase "four promiscuous girls" I must challenge - a rape victim and a virgin flirt promiscuous?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 25 Aug 03 - 07:58 PM

Worth noting in the NPR interview was that there were Magdalene Laundries run by both the Catholics and the Protestants. (One could come away from the movie thinking that the Catholics were the only guilty ones.)

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 25 Aug 03 - 08:10 PM

Actually, it was a new interview that I heard last Friday on the WBUR (Boston) show "Here and Now," which is run on our local public radio station. The archived story is online here.

From the program notes:
Professor James Smith of Boston College joins Here & Now to discuss the movie. His book in-process, "Ireland's Architecture of Containment: Contemporary Narratives of the Nation State," contains a chapter on the Magdalene Laundries.

The movie website is here.

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: jhalloran
Date: 25 Aug 03 - 08:51 PM

I just saw the Magdalene Sisters - the opening seen has a priest singing a song - I think "Green Grow the Rushes" but maybe another - Can someone identify the song and point me to the lyrics? Thanks in advance

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: GUEST,Mickey191
Date: 25 Aug 03 - 08:56 PM

Sixty Minutes did a program on this. They went to one of the now closed buildings. With them were 2 women who had lived & worked there, one was raped & sent by her family because of the "Shame" She had a child whom she was not allowed to see. After the birth, she climbed the stairs to see her baby being hustled out, covered in blankets. It was heartbreaking to see her 20 years later, standing at that window, describing her agony to the reporter.

I've been reading movie schedules-and cannot spot it-even in ART theatres who usually play this type of release. I wonder.......

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: maire-aine
Date: 26 Aug 03 - 09:02 AM

To find the movie, try www.landmarktheatres.com - if there is a Landmark Theater in your city, they'll probably be showing right now.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: jaze
Date: 26 Aug 03 - 08:58 PM

I've thought this was one of Joni Mitchell's most powerful songs. Maybe because of the way it's sung in the first person. The version on Tears Of Stone is the most powerful, I think. You can just hear the sad resignation in the lines. I, too have experience with mean nuns. I was raised in a Catholic orphanage in Phila. Anyone who shared a similar experience could tell some stories that could make your hair curl. I know I could.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: GUEST,Hayley
Date: 26 Aug 03 - 09:24 PM

Dreadful song, if you ask me. It's on a Chieftains Lp and it makes me dive up and fast forward to the next song.

Interesting story, though, and I am keen to see the film. Peter Mullan is a talented Scottish actor & director. And a socialist too !

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: GUEST,Mickey191
Date: 27 Aug 03 - 12:06 AM

Thanks maire-aine, No Landmark theatres in upstate N.Y.
I'll just hope that our one art theatre will show it, I    guess it will end up in video stores eventually. Slainté

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Magdalene Laundry
From: Freso
Date: 13 Jun 07 - 02:42 PM

@jhalloran: The opening song is a slightly different and very shortened version of "The Well Below the Valley":

A gentleman was passing by
He stopped for a drink as he got dry

At the well below the valley-o
Green grows the lily-o
Down among the bushes-o

Me cup was full up to the rim,
if I were a [stoop?] I might fall in

At the well ...

He said "Young maid you're swearing wrong,"
for six fine children she had born

At the well ...

If you be a man of noble esteem,
You tell to me what happened to them

At the well ...

Two buried beneath the stable door

At the well ...

You'll be seven years a-ringin' the bell,
but the Lord above he save me soul
From all this hell

Green grows ...

Considering the content of the film and what happens right afterwards, it's really quite a fitting choice of song.