Lyr Add: Been on the Road So Long (Alex Campbell)

Subject: Lyr Add: BEEN ON THE ROAD SO LONG (Alex Campbell)
From: Lanfranc
Date: 12 Feb 03 - 04:22 AM

I cited this song in a recent thread on the current situation, then realised it was a long time since I had sung it, or heard anyone else do so. Wanting to refresh my memory of a song which was possibly Alex Campbell's best-known self-penned song, I did a search on Mudcat - no results, then on Google - lot's of mentions, but no lyrics. So I dug out my 1967 copy of "Faith, Folk and Clarity" (Galliard Press 7/6d) and found them. Here they are, with my own update of the third verse shown at the end. I know Alex wouldn't have minded.

Alan

BEEN ON THE ROAD (SO LONG)
(Alex Campbell)
(c)1965 Coda Music, London (Essex Music)

I've been on the road
So long
Been tired and cold
So long
I've been to the south
Where the winds they are warm
Travelling the road of no return
So long.

I've seen what was war
So long
The ruins and the scars
So long
The mansions of mud
The wounds and the blood
Seen the dying of all that was good
So long

The world's in a shroud
So long
A mushrooming cloud
So long
It's the lies and the greed
Of the leaders of men
Those cheats who would take us to war again
So long

Yet hope lives in me
So long
In the love that I see
So long
The courage and strength
Of a young man's smile
The faith that lives in a little child
So long

(Revised third verse (Alan Francis))

Now the world lives in fear
So long
As the war-clouds draw near
So long
Fed by lies and the greed
Of the leaders of men
Those fools who would take us to war again
So long

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: 'Been on the road so long' Alex Campbell
From: alanabit
Date: 12 Feb 03 - 07:12 AM

Isn't there a Bert Jansch song, with the same first two lines, which was recorded by Donovan?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: 'Been on the road so long' Alex Campbell
From: Wolfgang
Date: 12 Feb 03 - 10:13 AM

Thanks, Alan, for posting this song. Until now, I only knew the German version.

Bin auf meinem Weg (Schon so lang)

This site not only has the German words but also plays the tune for those who'd like to hear it.

Wolfgang

---

Schon so lang

(Musik: A. Campbell, dt. Text: Hanners Wader)

1. Bin auf meinem Weg   schon so lang,
   zerschlagen und träg   schon so lang,
   bin müde und leer,   will nach Süden ans Meer,
   bin auf meinem Weg ohne Wiederkehr schon so lang.
2. Seh die Kriege, die Not schon so lang,
   Ruinen und Tod schon so lang.
   Seh die Tränen, die Wut, seh die Wunden, das Blut.
   Erwürgt und verfault, was stark war und gut, schon so lang.
3. Seh die Welt oft im Traum schon so lang,
   als Pilzwolkenbaum schon so lang,
   euch, ihr Herren der Welt, eure Lügen, den Mord
   an Millionen, die glauben an euer Wort schon so lang.
4. Nicht nur Greuel gescheh'n schon so lang,
   hab' die Liebe geseh'n schon so lang,
   seh die Hoffnung, den Mut, seh den Glauben, die Glut,
   und was sich in Gesichtern von Kindern tut schon so lang.
5. Bin auf meinem Weg, schon so lang,
   zerschlagen und träg schon so lang'
   bin müde und leer, will nach Süden ans Meer,
   bin auf meinem Weg ohne Wiederkehr schon zu lang.
   

---

Lyrics copy-pasted from the link cited above.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: 'Been on the road so long' Alex Campbell
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 12 Feb 03 - 10:24 AM

Good new third verse Alan. I'm sure Alex would have liked it too. And when he sang it he'd have given you the credit for writing it.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: 'Been on the road so long' Alex Campbell
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 12 Feb 03 - 03:18 PM

I'm still singing it, I was going to sing it last time I was at Glasgow club, but Patsy, Alex's widow turned up, and I chickened out.
Giok

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: 'Been on the road so long' Alex Campbell
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 12 Feb 03 - 06:16 PM

If you like, when the repeat of "so long" comes round where it goes "so-o-o long", in the last couple of verses you can change it to "Tony and George".

I do this since I sing the refrain when my trouble and strife leads this one.

Subject: Lyr Req: So Long
From: tog
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 05:21 PM

Anyone know the lyrics for this song performed I think by Alex Campbell. I first heard it at the old Manchester Sports Guild. One verse goes,

I've been on the road, so long.
I'm tired and cold, so long.
I've been to the south where the winds they are one.
I've traveled the road of no return, so long.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Long
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 06:59 PM

See the "Life on the road songs" thread. Your first lien is actually the song title, and using it for a 'Lyrics and Knowledge Search' (see box top right of this page) will bring up some more.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Long
From: Charley Noble
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 07:04 PM

True, but searching for "So Long" should also bring up some unrelated songs such as C. Fox Smith's "So Long" and probably Woody Guthrie's "So Long It's Been Good to Know You."

Charley Noble

Subject: Lyr Add: BEEN ON THE ROAD SO LONG (Alex Campbell)
From: Leadfingers
Date: 27 Jan 05 - 08:12 PM

Full lyrics posted by Mc Grath of Harlow !! Enter I've Been on the Road So Long in search !

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Thread #20555   Message #378570
Posted By: McGrath of Harlow
20-Jan-01 - 04:12 PM
Thread Name: Who sang - I belong tae Glasgow?
Subject: Lyr Add: BEEN ON THE ROAD SO LONG (Alex Campbell)

It's more of a pamphlet than a book – only 52 A5 pages. Including 48 songs and some great stories. Full title is From Glesga Toon – The Songs and Stories of Alex Campbell; published at the end of 1964 by Folk Scene publications, Ashputtel, The Street, Woodham Walter, Essex, England; printed by The Owl Printing Company, Tollesbury, Essex. It's a transcription of tapes he had made, and the man who transcribed them, was called John Clark. Illustrations by Stuart Wallace and the cover by Ken Lawton. And I think Folk Scene may possibly have had something to do with the English Folk and Dance Society under Peter Kennedy, who had a magazine with that name around that time.

And good luck in trying to track down a copy, Dita. Maybe it would be possible to get together a new edition – there are some good songs in there, and I don't think people realise how much impact the man had on so many performers.

For example, I hadn't realised until just now that Sandy Denny's first recorded performance was on a record called Alex Campbell and friends.

And here is a song by Alex which he put on that record, and Sandy Denny later recorded it herself. Not in the DT so far as I could see, but worth remembering:

I've been on the road ,, so long
Been tired and broke, so long
I've been to the south where the winds they were born
Travelling the road of no return, so long

I've seen what was war, so long
The ruins and the scars, so long
The mansions of mud, the wounds and the blood
Seen the dying of all that was good, so long.

Seen the world in the shadow, so long
Is its mushrooming cloud, so long
And the lies and the greed of the leaders of men
Those cheats who will take us to war again, so long.

Yet hope is in me, so long
For it's love that I see, so long
The courage and strength of the young men's smile
The faith that's in a little child, so long

I've travelled the road, so long
Have been tired and broke, so long
I've been to the south where the winds they were born
Travelling the road of no return, so long.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: So Long (Alex Campbell)
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 28 Jan 05 - 11:17 AM

I saw him sing this live in the late seventies. In the third verse he sang "Those tits who would take us to war again".

Never did mince his words, did he?

Pete