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02 Apr 99 - 06:39 PM (#67682) Subject: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Derek Can anyone tell me where I can find the lyrics to this song? Derek |
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07 Apr 99 - 03:29 PM (#68870) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Wolfgang I'd love to find the lyrics to this song too. Wolfgang |
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08 Apr 99 - 01:43 PM (#69189) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: skw@worldmuswic.de I've copied the song onto a tape and am trying to work out the lyrics, but it's a very clipped delivery and very hard to understand. Have patience, all MCMBE fans! - Susanne |
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09 Jun 99 - 07:19 PM (#85320) Subject: Lyr Add: COMPANY POLICY^^ From: Susanne (skw) Eventually:
I saw her by the showroom window
They called him Jack, they called him John
Mama told me, Don't you wed a soldier
But it was not death that bold in the alley
Oh sweet and soothing showers
For it was all a case of saving face
In that dream I stand and laugh
I put a few question marks. If you got any improvements on those I'd be very grateful. - Susanne |
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10 Jun 99 - 07:35 AM (#85480) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Wolfgang thanks a lot, Susanne, I'll listen once more, but I doubt I'll be able to improve on your work. Wolfgang |
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10 Jun 99 - 01:44 PM (#85570) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Richard Bridge I'll try to remember to ask him on Monday. He's playing our club, Hazlitt Folk at the Style and Winch, Union Street, Maidstone, Kent. England. She who must be obeyed says we should not toad-eat him, but I don't think checking lyrics counts. |
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10 Jun 99 - 10:32 PM (#85732) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Garry Gillard I've put Susanne's transcription on my Watersons/Carthy site at hum2mac1.murdoch.edu.au/watersons/ and will watch this thread for any further suggestions ... Thanks, Susanne and Wolfgang! Garry |
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11 Jun 99 - 03:18 AM (#85809) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Wolfgang as I thought I can't help with any of Susanne's ?? (I hope, Richard, you come through to him with your question). But I might (?) have a correction for one line. Verse 2 (or chorus), line 3 could be: "they caught him cold in the heat of a battle". Wolfgang |
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17 Jun 99 - 02:34 PM (#87442) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Richard Bridge Dang. Sorry, I forgot what with compere-ing and it being a busy evening. I'm hoping he'll be back in touch about something else and I'll try to remember to ask him then. I think it would look a bit pushy to call him. |
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17 Jun 99 - 02:49 PM (#87445) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Wally Macnow - Camsco Music It's on Martin's "The Collection" CD if you're looking for a recording of it. |
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17 Jun 99 - 06:27 PM (#87511) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Susanne (skw) Wally - actually, no, we were looking forward to a few corrections from the man himself, as the words are hard to make out on the album. Can you help, perhaps? - Thanks, Susanne |
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17 Jun 99 - 07:18 PM (#87519) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Wally Macnow I'll see what I can do about getting the lyrics. |
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22 Jun 99 - 02:03 PM (#88717) Subject: Lyr Add: COMPANY POLICY^^ From: Wally Macnow With somewhat better parsing and a correction to the last line in the first verse. COMPANY POLICY I saw her by the showroom window Standing alone on a market day As I passed her by I heard her sigh As the military parade came on TV There were twenty screens in the showroom window Victors marching large and small As they wheeled on by I heard her sigh O and O for my darling boy They called him Jack they called him John He was there sat tight off shore They caught him cold in the heat of a battle For a South Atlantic company store Mama told me don't you wed a soldier Don't ever marry your heart's delight He will be gone when the morning comes And you will be left for to mourn in the light Every night I dreamed that I saw him Dreamed I never would see him more In my dream his body come floating Away where the ocean rise and fall But it was not death that bawled in the alley Came skittering up to my love's door It was not death that cried and howled In the teeth of a South Atlantic roar But the bomb bounding down in the alley The bomb wrapped in a silver shell The bomb that plucked the face from my love Spread it wide on the face of the swell O sweet and soothing showers Breathe upon his burning head Ease among his waking dreams Whose tears drench my silent bed For it was all a case of saving face When they sent my love to the war For eighteen hundred landless tenants Of a South Atlantic company store Eighteen hundred landless tenants Eighteen hundred landless poor Eighteen hundred waking dreams Of Empire long gone before In my dream I stand at Bluff I've an emmpty shell up to my ear The only sound, the sound of cash Being wrung from the snows of Antarctica Ring-a-ring-a city roses Victors march, markets bloom The flame that melted my love's cheek Come a-dancing the Iron Lady too |
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22 Jun 99 - 02:05 PM (#88720) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Richard Bridge I guess that saves me looking like an autograph hunter, yes? |
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22 Jun 99 - 02:20 PM (#88731) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Wally Macnow Hey, you're a grown up. You can look like anything you want to. |
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22 Jun 99 - 06:28 PM (#88846) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Susanne (skw) Great, Wally! One thought: Could it be that the last line is meant to mean 'Come a-dancing WITH the Iron Lady too'. 'Cause we all know who she was (is), and I could understand any girl in that situation wishing her to burn in hell. If you doubt it - could you enlarge on the dance? I was living in Britain at the time of the Falklands War but I don't remember any such reference. - Thanks, Susanne |
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22 Jun 99 - 10:16 PM (#88899) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Wally Macnow Martin's notes said it was an imaginary dance. I know little else about the song. Come to think of it, I haven't heard the CD and I haven't heard him sing it. Wally |
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23 Jun 99 - 09:16 AM (#88990) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: a thank you from me too Wolfgang |
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28 Feb 00 - 12:39 PM (#186236) Subject: Martin Carthy's 'Company Policy' From: Calach Hi there. This is a really poignant and political song regarding the falklands conflict and I really can't make out the lyrics from my old recording. I'd be glad of anyone who has the lyrics already, or who knows any site where they can be found. Thanking you in advance; Calach. |
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28 Feb 00 - 03:56 PM (#186342) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Martin Carthy's 'Company Policy' From: Ed Pellow Try this thread Ed |
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28 Feb 00 - 04:13 PM (#186359) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Martin Carthy's 'Company Policy' From: Calach Ed You are the man! Thank you VERY much. YOU'VE MADE AN OLD FOLKIE HAPPY.....IT GOES STRAIGHT INTO MY SONGBOOK. Calach |
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22 Jun 02 - 06:01 PM (#734875) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: GUEST,herrhare@hotmail.com hey, the years roll by, but still people stumble on these sites. I guess the question may have been resolved years ago, but as a brit there is no doubt about the final line and its reference - an invitation to the flame to "come dance on the Iron Lady too" this is an anti-war song. The bitterness over the reasons for fighting is plain, starting with "for it was all a case of saving face" (neat play on face) and the ultimate responsibility of the not universally admired ex prime minister any explanation involving mythical dances is purely tongue in cheek. this is sheer brilliance and rates alongside any anti-war song of the sixties or seventies and a tribute to the carthy genius. |
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22 Jun 02 - 08:32 PM (#734960) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Malcolm Douglas Exactly as you say. |
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23 Jun 02 - 06:45 PM (#735378) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Susanne (skw) These are the times when I know why I love the Mudcat! Guest, what you say makes perfect sense! |
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24 Jun 02 - 06:10 PM (#736045) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: GUEST,Glade Thanks for posting the lyric! I love this song. I heard the last lyric as "come dancing the Iron Lady to" - 'to' rather than 'too' - as in 'let the bomb's flame come dancing to melt Thatcher's face,' essesntially the same as herrhare's "invitation." BTW, that IS a good wordplay on face! Let the bastards who benefit from war be the ones who fight and there'd be a lot more serious negotiations, says I - and maybe even a real chance for peace and justice. |
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25 Jun 02 - 12:41 AM (#736269) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Garry Gillard Thanks all. I've made the change. Garry |
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16 Jan 03 - 10:07 AM (#868281) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: banjomad (inactive) I have this song by Martin and in verse eight he sings Oh sweet and soothing showers, Breathe upon these burning heads, Mourners all do you pass by, For the living don't need your tears......yet |
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17 Jan 03 - 07:09 PM (#869157) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Susanne (skw) Banjomad, I don't think he does in the recording I have. Can't check just now, but it's too far out for a mistake. I bet he changed the lyrics at some point to something that seemed more appropriate at the time. |
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17 Jan 03 - 09:44 PM (#869221) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: banjomad (inactive) Susanne{skw} you could be right, Martin has been known to change the lyrics of his own songs. Dave |
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18 Jan 03 - 06:41 PM (#869624) Subject: RE: Martin Carthy - Company Policy From: Susanne (skw) Okay, my database has kindly granted me access again, so: My version of CP comes from 'Right of Passage' (1988). Which album does yours come from, banjomad? |
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05 May 03 - 01:59 PM (#946336) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Martin Carthy - 'Company Policy' From: GUEST Alt recording of CP. I also have a version of that lyric too. mine came from an Andy Kershaw program some 14 years ago, i believe was released a few years later on the Kershaw Sessians cd. Well worth a hunt down. |
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22 May 04 - 03:21 PM (#1191621) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Martin Carthy - 'Company Policy' From: GUEST In fact, I think 'Come a-dancing the Iron Lady to" is a slightly unusual word-order inversion that turns up now and then in folk songs. I think 'come' is a past tense here (have heard this several times in Carthy folk songs, can't think of examples offhand). The sense is 'came dancing to the Iron Lady' as in 'dancing to her tune'; he's saying 'lay the blame at Thatcher's door', *she* set the whole thing in motion. This follows the sense of the verse slightly better IMO: it's a final summation and condemnation of the City and Thatcher. May be wrong, as have no connection with either Carthy or the contents of Carthy's head, but this makes sense to me. |
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06 Jun 04 - 08:26 AM (#1201261) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Martin Carthy - 'Company Policy' From: GUEST,Marina Good job on the lyrics, people. I just have one thing I thought was different ... I thought it was "ladless" rather than "landless", in the sense that they've lost their sons in the war. Would that make sense? |
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06 Jun 04 - 08:00 PM (#1201568) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Martin Carthy - 'Company Policy' From: Susanne (skw) Thanks, Marina, but I'd say no. The point is, I think, that the Falklanders were landless, that the far-off islands the British soldiers fought for did not belong to them but to a faceless company back home. |
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01 Oct 04 - 10:24 AM (#1286037) Subject: Lyr Add: COMPANY POLICY (Martin Carthy) From: GUEST,www.geocities.com/carthy_online Suzanne was almost right - just a few minor adjustments here. The main one comes in the first line of the penultimate verse: "In my dream I stand at Bluff". Those of us old enough to remember the Falklands conflict will probably still recall those constant references to Bluff Cove made during the nightly news reports. The only bit I'm not 100% sure of is the last line of the last verse (Ring-a... etc) but two studio recordings and a couple of live recordings seem to confirm what's written here. (ps. The version on Carthy's 'Kershaw Sessions' cd is an early version with somewhat different lyrics) I saw her by the showroom window Standing alone on a market day As I passed her by I heard her sighs The military parade came on TV There were twenty screens in the showroom window Victors marching large and small As they wheeled 'em by I heard her sigh Oh, and oh for my darling boy They called him Jack, they called him John He was there sat tight offshore They caught him cold in the heat of the battle For the South Atlantic company store Mama told me, Don't you wed a soldier Don't ever marry your heart's delight He will be gone when the fighting's done And you will be left for to mourn in the night Every night I dreamed that I saw him Dreamed I never would see him more In my dream his body come floating Away where the ocean rise and fall But it was not death that bold in the alley Came skittering up to my love's door It was not death that cried and howled In the teeth of the South Atlantic roar But a bomb pounding down on the alley The bomb wrapped in a silver shell The bomb that plucked the face from my love Spread it wide on the face of the swell Oh sweet and soothing showers Breathe upon his burning head He's among his waking dreams Whose tears nightly drench my bed For it was all a case of saving face When they sent my love to the war For eighteen hundred landless tenants Of the South Atlantic company store Eighteen hundred landless tenants Eighteen hundred landless poor Eighteen hundred waking dreams Of Empire long gone before In my dream I stand at Bluff I've an empty shell up to my ear The only sound the sound of cash Being wrung from the snows of Antarctica Ring-a, ring-a city roses Victors marching, markets bloom The flame that melted my love's cheek Come a-dancing the Iron Lady too |
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02 Oct 04 - 10:03 AM (#1286826) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Martin Carthy - 'Company Policy' From: English Jon Presumably this song is about Simon Weston? Jon |
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03 Oct 04 - 06:01 AM (#1287284) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Martin Carthy - 'Company Policy' From: Dave Hanson I have two versions of Martin singing this song, on the LP ' Rights of Passage ' he sings the words given above but on the Carthy Chronicles version he sings, Mourners all do you pass by, For the living don't need your tears ........yet eric |
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03 Oct 04 - 07:19 AM (#1287315) Subject: Lyr Add: COMPANY POLICY (Martin Carthy) From: rumanci RIGHT OF PASSAGE VERSION I saw her by the showroom window, Standing alone on a market quay. As I passed her by I heard her sigh As the military parade came on TV. There were twenty screens in the showroom window, Victors marching large and small. As they wheeled on by I heard her sigh, Oh, and oh for my darling boy. They called him Jack, they called him John, He was there sat tight off shore. They caught him cold in the heat of a battle For a South Atlantic company store. Mama told me, don't you wed a soldier Don't ever marry your heart's delight He will be gone when the fighting's done And you will be left for to mourn in the light. Every night I dreamed that I saw him, Dreamed I never would see him more. In my dream his body came floating Away where the ocean rise and fall. But it was not death that bawled in the alley Came skittering up to my love's door. It was not death that cried and howled In the teeth of a South Atlantic roar. But the bomb bounding down on the alley, The bomb wrapped in a silver shell, The bomb that plucked the face from my love, Spread it wide on the face of the swell. Oh sweet and soothing showers, Breathe upon his burning head, Ease among his waking dreams Whose tears nightly drench my bed. For it was all a case of saving face When they sent my love to the war For eighteen hundred landless tenants Of a South Atlantic company store. Eighteen hundred landless tenants, Eighteen hundred landless poor, Eighteen hundred waking dreams Of Empire long gone before. In my dream I stand at Bluff, I've an empty shell up to my ear, The only sound the sound of cash Being wrung from the snows of Antarctica. Ring-a-ring-a city roses, Victors march, and markets bloom. The flame that melted my love's cheek Come a-dancing the Iron Lady too. The KERSHAW SESSIONS Version only varies from this by the odd word, some repetition, and a change in the order of some lines. |