Lyr Add: We dinnae want Polaris

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: We dinnae want Polaris
From: Jim McLean
Date: 22 Aug 02 - 04:44 AM

Thanks Mark, if I was paid for all the times my songs appeared in publications and records I'd be a millionair! You never hear about it until much later and then to chase the companies up takes a lot of time and effort. What bugs me is artists who know the background to some of my songs but still fiddle. Cheers, Jim Mclean

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: We dinnae want Polaris
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 22 Aug 02 - 02:39 AM

It seems to me I saw this song in a collection of anti-war songs...called Songs for Peace?....back in the 60s. I have a vague recollection that it was an Oak Publication, but that would be a pretty good guess anyway. I imagine you'd know, Jim--and if you don't, you should find out! (I just got a substantial sum from a textbook publisher who used the words to one of my songs a few years ago in a reading program; they hadn't been able to find me at the time, but someone else who recorded the song mentioned it to me.)

As soon as I saw the thread title, the first verse (chorus?) immediately came into my mind, but nothing else. What a perfectly Mudcat moment, not only to have all the words posted by Wolfgang, but also to have the author respond!

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: We dinnae want Polaris
From: Jim McLean
Date: 21 Aug 02 - 12:17 PM

Me too, Wolfgang! Jim

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: We dinnae want Polaris
From: Wolfgang
Date: 21 Aug 02 - 12:13 PM

Thanks for the corrections, Jim, and the explanation. By the way, I still can see in my old handwritten transcription that my very first attempt with the last line crossed out later was you'll hae tae shoot the Krauts. I'm glad I later was a bit closer than that.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: We dinnae want Polaris
From: Jim McLean
Date: 21 Aug 02 - 11:51 AM

Hi Wolfgang, I did write the song to begin with, probably 8 of the verses you included and it actually made the headlines in the Daily Worker 'We Dinnae Want Polaris'. A couple of corrections, I wrote 'The mayor o' the toon, he wants his hauf o' croon' and in the last verse, the line is: The Clyde says NAW, ye'll hae tae shoot the craw. To shoot the crow in Scottish parlance means to disappear rapidly! Cheers, Jim McLean

Subject: We dinnae want Polaris
From: Wolfgang
Date: 21 Aug 02 - 10:49 AM

I had often thought to add this Scottish protest song of the 1960s (?) but I was never confident enough of my transcription. But some recent threads (e.g., Ding Dang Dollar) brought the song back to my mind. Even better, I found a couple of verses on the web (Songs from Aldermaston) ready for copy&paste and I am confident that my remaining errors will be corrected soon by the song's author.

The first eight verses are copied and pasted from the link above. The last two verses are my transcription from a tape I think with Alastair McDonald singing. The order of verses is rather different on my tape, but in this song order of verses matters less than in most songs.

I guess with such a song lyrics variants and new verses have come faster than the author could keep count of. Tell us a bit more, Jim, if you want.

Wolfgang

WE DINNAE WANT POLARIS
(aka Monster In The Loch)
(Jim McLean, tune: Three craws)

Och, och! There's a monster in the loch,
A monster in the loch, a monster in the loch,
Och, och! There's a monster in the loch,
And we dinnae want Polaris!

The USA are giving subs away,
Giving subs away, giving subs away,
The USA are giving subs away,
But we dinnae want Polaris!

The mayor o' Dunoon has sold the toon for half-a-croon,
The toon for half-a-croon, the toon for half-a-croon,
The mayor o' Dunoon has sold the toon for half-a-croon,
But we dinnae want Polaris!

Tell the Yanks tae drap 'em doon the stanks,
Drap 'em doon the stanks, drap 'em doon the stanks,
Tell the Yanks tae drap 'em doon the stanks,
'Cos we dinnae want Polaris!

Anchors away for poppa Kenned-ay,
Poppa Kenned-ay, poppa Kenned-ay,
Anchors away for poppa Kenned-ay,
For we dinnae want Polaris!

Put the whole damn show in the River Alamo,
River Alamo, River Alamo,
Put the whole damn show in the River Alamo,
'Cos we dinnae want Polaris!

It's suicide to hae them on the Clyde,
Hae them on the Clyde, hae them on the Clyde,
Sheer suicide to hae them on the Clyde
And we dinnae want Polaris!

Off, off, get off the Holy Loch,
Off the Holy Loch, off the Holy Loch,
Off, off, get off the Holy Loch,
For we dinnae want Polaris!

The hairies o' the toon are sailing tae Dunoon
sailing tae Dunoon, sailing tae Dunoon,
The hairies o' the toon are sailing tae Dunoon
For they dinnae want Polaris.

The Clyde says 'No, you'll hae tae shoot the crow(?),
hae tae shoot the crow, hae tae shoot the crow,
The Clyde says 'No, you'll hae tae shoot the crow
For we dinnae want Polaris.