Subject: Lyr Add; King Cotton From: Barry Finn Date: 24 Aug 98 - 11:03 AM Gary & Vera Aspey must've recorded this 20 or so yrs ago, there's one word in the first verse I'm not sure of, if anyone would correct it I'd be greatfull. King Cotton (no credit as to Trad or copyright)
See how the lint flies over the morning
See how the houses cling to the hillside
See how the hunger eats at the faces
Sleep is washed from the broken faces
Work all day to the looms' hard rhythm
This is the land where children labor If anyone could give more info or backround on this I'd be oh so happy. I'm sorry I don't know how to put down the music. Thanks, Barry |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add; King Cotton From: hrodelbert Date: 24 Aug 98 - 11:35 PM I haven't heard this in twenty years either but 'slate roof' makes sense. In that part of the world the majority of houses have slate rooves. Ta! hrodelbert |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add; King Cotton From: AndyG Date: 25 Aug 98 - 08:33 AM See how the lint flies over the morning See how the smoke in the valley clings See how the (slateure? maybe slate roof reference) shines in the drizzle This is the valley where cotton is king
Yep, 20 years is about right !
lint = lin't = linnet ?
I may be completely wrong about this so don't quote me :)
I "think I remember" that Mike Harding wrote this ? He certainly wrote and performed similar material in the early part of his career (singing in Mather College Folk Club etc.).
AndyG
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Subject: RE: Lyr Add; King Cotton From: GUEST,A lurker Date: 15 Sep 02 - 11:09 AM Written by Mike Harding |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add; King Cotton From: DMcG Date: 15 Sep 02 - 11:18 AM I have a recording of an LP entitled "King Cotton and songs of the working classes during the period 1750 to 1850". That 'and' is more sneaky than I thought - or someone is telling fibs! |
Subject: Lyr/Tune Add: KING COTTON (Mike Harding) From: Malcolm Douglas Date: 15 Sep 02 - 12:18 PM A little before my time, this old thread. However, since it has returned from the dead, I may as well add the lyric as Mike Harding wrote it:
KING COTTON |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: King Cotton From: GUEST Date: 03 Feb 07 - 02:11 PM Hi there. I dont know this version of the song, I know it as sung by Mike Harding. I do know though that the lyrics are almost identical and that the song refers to the Rosendale Valley North of Manchester in England's North West. I was a major source of half the world's cloth at one point in history, and yet poverty was rife amongst the majority of people there. When modern goverments seek to take away hard fought for rights we now take for granted, we should all remember these days of only 150 years ago, five or six generations, when even our children were abused as part of the capitalist dream of riches. Blessings - Ged of England. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: King Cotton From: oggie Date: 03 Feb 07 - 03:32 PM I always felt that Mike was a better songwriter than he is given credit for being, Bomber's Moon for example is IMHO brilliant Oggie |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: King Cotton From: ard mhacha Date: 04 Feb 07 - 03:38 PM I have King Cotton as a rousing march played by one of those great colliery bands from northern England. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: King Cotton From: alanabit Date: 04 Feb 07 - 03:58 PM Mike Harding comes in for a fair bit of stick at times. However, I know he was a first rate entertainer and a fine songwriter. It is good to be reminded about that. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: King Cotton From: Dave Hanson Date: 05 Feb 07 - 10:25 AM Mike is without doubt a fine songwriter, good musician and good live entertainer, but as a broadcaster he is total crap. eric |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: King Cotton From: Scrump Date: 05 Feb 07 - 10:48 AM I was a major source of half the world's cloth at one point in history Well done, GUEST :-) As for Mike Harding, I agree he is (or at least, was - I don't know what he's like these days) indeed a good folk performer, before the comedy overtook the folk aspects of his act. He was good at comedy too, and it must have been very lucrative for him, so you can't blame him for neglecting the folk for a while. A totally different song with the same title, but an equally good one, IMO, was written by Colin Radcliffe and John Meeks. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: King Cotton From: Mark Dowding Date: 05 Feb 07 - 12:59 PM The last verse of this song goes: See now the clouds flying over the moorland See how the graves to the valley sides cling Look at the mills now they're idle and empty This is the valley where cotton WAS king Many of the mills now have been demolished, some have been refurbished into heritage centres that tell us how things used to be or arty crafty centres that sell candles that nobody lights and teacloths that get hung on walls and never dry a pot. A great song - I've been doing it for years and it's still part of the repertoire. Cheers Mark |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: King Cotton From: GUEST,JohnnyC Date: 23 Jan 11 - 12:27 PM I first heard this song done by Mike at the Alhambra at Bradford in the 70s Although I grew up on the east side of the hills, my family history as far back as can be traced was working class Manchester so I've always felt a connection to the work of Mr Harding and especially this song. As others have said here, Mike was a great entertainer and a songwriter worthy of far more recognition that he ever achieved. King Cotton is an immensely powerful song and I'm grateful to have recently discovered it on youtube. His chosen career as a broadcaster was him simply selling out in my book but nothing will ever match the huge cock up he made when he criticised the quarrying industry in the dales and said they should be forced to close. For a nouveau-rich townie to turn up and criticise people for making a living out of the only commodity they had to sell was too hypocritical for me and I've tried my best to avoid him ever since. King Cotton though. Brilliant, utterly brilliant. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: King Cotton (Mike Harding) From: GUEST,Simon Date: 30 May 11 - 07:46 AM I heard this song as a kid on a bootleg tape my parents had and grew up with it. I now live in the Rossendale valley, and on the One Man Show recording, he introduces it from when he worked as a boiler scaler in the valley. Thanks to Mark Dowding for including the last verse - I was going to do the same but hadn't read to the bottom of the thread. Now see the clouds flying over the moorland See how the graves to the valley sides cling Look at the mills, they're idle and empty This is the valley where cotton was king As sung, it starts on B flat minor, but it's easier to capo up a fret, and play an Am or just start with an Am; other chords are then Em, D and G as you go along. The intro and outro are very similar to Stairway to Heaven as well if you want to learn that bit. Great discussion - hail to Mike for what he has given us. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: King Cotton (Mike Harding) From: Musket Date: 31 May 11 - 04:36 AM I suppose in the world of "celebrities" it is considered normal to slag people off. However, I do sometimes shake my head at some of the vitriol aimed at Mike Harding as a broadcaster. The BBC commission the show to their requirements, and Mike fulfils this. If there is an issue with the program (and in my opinion it is one of the best programs BBC radio put out in any genre) then perhaps complaints should be aimed at those who shape broadcasting rather than aiming it at a gifted person who hasn't a bad thing to say about anybody and tries to entertain at both ends of The UK spectrum of folk, both nostalgia for those stuck in the early '70s and the rest of us who are introduced to some brilliant new and existing talent out there. There, said it now. That'll be three pints please Mr Harding. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: King Cotton (Mike Harding) From: Peter the Squeezer Date: 31 May 11 - 06:03 AM No relation to the march by the same name, written by one John Philip Sousa. |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: King Cotton (Mike Harding) From: Les in Chorlton Date: 31 May 11 - 06:15 AM I guess Mike should be flattered to get what might be descibed as "The McColl Treatment". Good singer, good songwriter, very, very funny, supporter of many good causes, fronts a brilliant radio show, nice bloke to chat to. Right let's get stuck him to him - after all we have had loads of training giving it to poor dead Jimmy! L in C# |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: King Cotton (Mike Harding) From: GUEST,gbuckbeng Date: 23 Nov 14 - 07:29 AM Good to see a thread of anything has evolved over so many years with few but quality contributors! Was looking for lyrics to this to save my typing and found this thread. Have been a follower/fan of Mike for many years and would echo the quality of this song written by him. In an intro to a performance on one of his albums he introduces it as a reflection from his first job in boilers when he saw the industry in the Rossendale Valley to a later visit when he returned to see the decline in industry here (I live right in the middle of the valley), I totally agree with the sentiment, although, not completely the subject since most of the "Valley" industry was centered around shoes and, particularly in Waterfoot, around slippers, however the cotton heritage is huge here and down through Rochdale, over Rooley Moor, towards Manchester, the Ship Canal and it's making Manchester a port for American cotton. On a brighter note, I have just booked tickets to go to see Mike and Bernard Wrigley together in Settle at the start of December when I will introduce his "Live" presence to my two grown sons. In a world of musical "Reunion" driven by the lack of the great musical quality of the 70's in many genre and a general desire to hear songs and music that is original rather than "karaoke re-hashed" versions of old, quality, music , Mike has taken to touring again after the BBC's dubious dismissal and so the tone of "was" that pervades this thread can now be changed to a tone of Mike "still being" a great act to watch, and I look forward to many years more. http://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/mike-harding Garry |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: King Cotton (Mike Harding) From: GUEST,Neil G Date: 22 Jul 17 - 11:18 AM I'm looking for the words of another 'King Cotton' song but not the one by Mike or 5PP. I have the first verse, the chorus and the last verse which goes: There was warp and weft and weaving When the looms were on the go In the cotton towns of Lancashire One hundred years ago There was work when the looms were busy But none when the idled all day So the weavers learned to sing this song Whenever they were at play CH When trade is low the loom moves slow There is not much cloth to be made King Cotton is sad for the working lad For he'll starve at the weaving trade When the shuttle goes 'click' the loom moves quick There is plenty of cloth to be made King Cotton is glad for the working lad For there's brass in the weaving trade Now the loom are smashed and broken No shuttles can be found The King is dead but still his ghost Haunts every cotton town His mill are quiet and empty Stark windows face the sky But the old ones still can sing the song Of weaving days gone by. What I need are the second and third verses - anyone able to help??? |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: King Cotton (Mike Harding) From: GUEST,Mark Dowding at work Date: 31 Jul 17 - 08:22 AM Neil G - It's a song by Alan Bell which I've got written down somewhere at home. I'll dig it out later on and post it here for you. Cheers Mark |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: King Cotton (Mike Harding) From: GUEST,Neil G Date: 08 Aug 17 - 01:56 PM Cheers Mark. Never thought of it being Alan Bell but knowing his 'Windmills' song it does resemble the sentiment in that. Neil G |
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: King Cotton (Mike Harding) From: GUEST Date: 12 Jul 23 - 05:54 AM There was a knocker up in the mornin, Knockin on the window pane And the clattering of clogs by 6am would start the 12hr day To earn a break in wakes week they'd work a 12hr day And the weavers learned to sing this song whenever they were st play Chorus That's all I remember just now. Hope this helps |
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