Tune Req: The Men Behind The Bar

Subject: RE: Tune Req: The Men Behind The Bar
From: Jack Campin
Date: 06 May 11 - 02:37 PM

I woukld be VERY leery of singing that in a pub in the British Isles without being sure of the audience. You don't know who would assume you were singing "The Men Behind the Wire" straight and take offence, or who'd take offence at it being parodied.

Subject: RE: Tune Req: The Men Behind The Bar
From: GUEST,JeffK
Date: 06 May 11 - 01:59 PM

I just heard back from the owner. He says that it wasn't written for any particular tune, but they used to sing it to "The Men Behind the Wire", which I presume is this:
http://unitedireland.tripod.com/id110.html
(Also, I make the author's name to be Heaney, not Heanney.)
--Jeff

Subject: RE: Tune Req: The Men Behind The Bar
From: GUEST,JeffK
Date: 04 May 11 - 09:24 PM

Hi, David!
Am at Doyle's right now with the same question
Just spoke to the owner who says yes there's a well known tune that he doesn't remember but will send me the name of
Still, it might be that one of the above suggestions works better
--Jeff

Subject: RE: Tune Req: The Men Behind The Bar
From: GUEST,DK
Date: 18 May 05 - 02:22 PM

Next time I'm in Doyle's I'll bring a magnifying glass and see if I have the author's name right. In the meantime, thank you all very much for the suggestions (keep 'em coming!). I'll follow all those threads and see where they lead.

Of course I may just have to keep visiting Doyle's and offering to buy a round for the first person who can sing me the song. Ahh, research!

Subject: RE: Tune Req: The Men Behind The Bar
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 17 May 05 - 10:28 PM

Try this for the Calumet website: http://slc2.uproc.lib.mi.us/CFDOCS/digit/DrillDown.Cfm?ID=321
Scroll down to- Williams Album O: p. 97.

Subject: RE: Tune Req: The Men Behind The Bar
From: GUEST
Date: 17 May 05 - 10:18 PM

Donnegan's (sp?) "My Old Man's a Dustman".

Subject: RE: Tune Req: The Men Behind The Bar
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 17 May 05 - 10:18 PM

Is the author's name spelled correctly?
Did find this:
"Men Behind the Bar," from the Binghampton, NY "The Legionaire," in honor of the bartenders at the American Legion Club. Clipping in scrapbook, 1939, Calumet Public School and Library, Calumet, Michigan.
Anyone know a library or Legion hall where the Legion magazine, "The Legionaire," is archived? Information about the clipping can be had from an email address, but the clipping may not have information about the author, etc. Record

The poem once was printed on kitchen linen (vintage).

Subject: RE: Tune Req: The Men Behind The Bar
From: Stewart
Date: 17 May 05 - 08:40 PM

How about the tune, "Little Stack of Wheat"? Here's the Midi
It's a hornpipe with a nice bouncy feel that seems to match the character of the lyrics.

Cheers, S. in Seattle

Subject: RE: Tune Req: The Men Behind The Bar
From: Peace
Date: 17 May 05 - 07:41 PM

It shares the same scansion as "The Lakes of Ponchetrain".

I can't find anything with google.

Subject: RE: Tune Req: The Men Behind The Bar
From: open mike
Date: 17 May 05 - 07:18 PM

i have heard of a fiddle tune called the maid behind the bar..
here is a web page that gives some info on that tune
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/64

Subject: Tune Req: The Men Behind The Bar
From: GUEST,DK
Date: 17 May 05 - 09:39 AM

Doyle's (in Jamaica Plain, MA) has this song printed on the back of their old menus, but no one there (so far) can tell me anything about it or give me a tune. Here's the start of it, below (there are another 4 verses or so). Maybe one of you can give me a tune of some background; if not I'll have to keep asking old timers at the bar...


The Men Behind The Bar (by M.C. Heanney - spelling?)

I have been in many countries in cities and in towns
I have been up late and early and have seen some ups and downs
I've been amongst the good and bad and was often in despair
And danced and sang old Irish songs to drive away dull care
I've been with men from every clime and men of every trade
And men that weild the anchor the shovel and the spade
I've been with men that carried the hod and soldiers from the war
But the best and kindest men I met were the men behind the bar.

chorus: The men behind the bar boys are men and no mistake
    They are always kind and generous and would sooner give than take
    They have cured the worst diseases and never left a scar
    And when you drink you must always think of the men behind the bar

I crossed the briny ocean in a foreign land to roam
I was always fond of rambling and would not stay at home
I landed here in Boston when the streets were clad with snow
I had no friends to meet me I knew not where to go
I strolled into a barroom to escape the blinding storm
to rest a while from care and strife and partake of something warm
they trusted me like one they knew though a stranger from afar
Ah I'll ne'er forget the kindness of the men behind the bar.