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24 Jun 98 - 05:30 AM (#31265) Subject: My husband's in Salonika From: Liz Jenkinson Does anyone know the rest of this song? My husband's in Salonika I wonder if he's dead I wonder if he knows He's got a kid with a curly head So write away, so write away So write away Salonika, write away me soldier boy |
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24 Jun 98 - 04:48 PM (#31304) Subject: Lyr Add: SALONIKA^^ From: McGrath SALONIKA
My husband's in Salonika I wonder if he's dead
Now when the War is over what will the slackers do?
Now when the War is over what will the soldiers do?
They taxed the pound of butter, they taxed our half-penny bun (pronounced; haypenny)
They taxed the Coliseum, they taxed St. Mary's Hall
Now when the War is over what will the slackers do?
For they takes us out to Blarney and lays us on the grass
So right away, so right away
There's lino in the parlour and in the kitchen too
Now never marry a soldier, a sailor or a marine
So right away, so right away
During the Great War (WW1), the Munster Fusiliers fought a long and bloody battle against Turkish forces in Salonika, Greece. The wives of these fuisliers got "seperation" money from the British Army in addition to the soldiers pay. Men in Cork who "avoided" the war for political or other reasons became known as "slackers". This song is a "slagging match" or a ball hopping contest between a "slackers" wife and a "sepera", the wife of a Munster Fusilier.
Words, music and extra notes can be found in "Jimmy Crowley's Irish Song Book", published by The Mercier Press in 1986; ISBN 0 85342 773 9 Regards |
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25 Jun 98 - 03:05 AM (#31361) Subject: RE: My husband's in Salonika From: Liz jenkinson I'm most grateful. Thank you |
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04 Jul 01 - 05:42 AM (#498106) Subject: Salonika From: GUEST,Petter Fuhre I'd like to get the lyrics on Salonika, as performed by e.g. Dublin City Ramblers. Thanks |
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05 Sep 05 - 08:19 AM (#1556472) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Salonika From: Mick Pearce (MCP) The source there is Jimmy Crowley's song book and I should have added that the song appears more or less identically in Tomas O Canainn's Down Erin's Lovely Lee - Songs of Cork, perhaps not surprisingly as Jimmy Crowley was one of his sources for it. Mick |
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05 Sep 05 - 08:59 AM (#1556489) Subject: RE: My husband's in Salonika From: Dave Hanson Should read ' A lovely glass back chiffonier, we got from Dicky Drew ' eric |
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01 Feb 06 - 03:20 AM (#1658777) Subject: Lyr Req: Salonica From: Davetnova I was given a cassette compilation recently with no info about its contents. One of the songs which I've taken I liking to is a live recording, very poor quality, of a song I think is called Salonica. The chorus I hear as - Right away, right away, right away Salonica, right a way my soldier boys. Probably wrong, it is a very poor recording. Does anyone know anything about this song, words, singer, writer, anything? I've tried googling but can't find a thing. Thanks in advance. |
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01 Feb 06 - 03:37 AM (#1658780) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Salonica From: Paul Burke Salonika It was in a lyrics add request a few years ago, but never made it to the DT. And the search is buggered at the moment, it just comes up with irrelevancies. I recall the song being very popular in West Cork back in the 70s. I assume it refers to the WWI Salonika campaign to assist Serbia. Casualties from battle were light (for WWI), but many died of disease, including most famously, the poet Rupert Brooke. The song was apparently performed by the Dubliners, though I don't remember it- they were thought a little below the salt back then in our circles. No doubt they claim they wrote it too. |
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01 Feb 06 - 04:03 AM (#1658793) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Salonica From: Dave Hanson It's on the Dubliners 25 Year Celebration album. eric |
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01 Feb 06 - 04:15 AM (#1658804) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Salonica From: John MacKenzie Hamish Imlach also did this song on a CD called Sonny's Dream, issued by. Lismor Recordings, 27-29 Carnoustie Place Glasgow G5 8HP Giok |
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01 Feb 06 - 04:55 AM (#1658820) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Salonica From: The Admiral I think you'll find that it was a Cork street song and was first recorded on an LP of the same by Jimmy Crowley of the same city... I have the LP at home but if you want to know more I can post it later. |
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01 Feb 06 - 05:13 AM (#1658828) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Salonica From: ard mhacha Jimmy Crowley`s versin is the best I hve heard, I know it`s a Cork City song but I have heard it performed in and around Armagh fifty years ago. My father who was in the Connaught Rangers during WW1 sang a verse or two of this song |
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01 Feb 06 - 06:00 AM (#1658855) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Salonica From: GUEST,DB 'Salonica' or 'Salonika' is, of course, Greece's second city, and capital of the province of Macedonia, 'Thessaloniki'. Apparently, it was named after the daughter of one of Alexander's generals and means 'Conquest of Thessaly' (I bet she would have preferred 'Jane' or 'Susan'!). During the 1st World War an allied expeditionary force was sent to Salonica but, as a previous poster has pointed out, didn't get to do a lot of fighting, mainly because the Greek government of the day couldn't decide how much involvement it wanted in the war (they were bound by treaty to let the force land). If you want to know more about one of the world's most amazing and tragic cities try reading Mark Mazower's recent book 'Salonica: City of Ghosts', HarperCollins, 2004. This contains a fairly extensive account of the Salonica campaign. I think I've heard a Clancy Brothers recording of the song 'Salonica' but I am having trouble tracking it down. |
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01 Feb 06 - 06:42 AM (#1658871) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Salonica From: John MacKenzie Ask George Papavgeris aka Mudcatter El Greko, he was born there after all! Giok |
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01 Feb 06 - 03:35 PM (#1659390) Subject: Lyr Add: SALONIKA (from The Dubliners) From: Marion in Cornwall Here are the lyrics taken from the Dubliners songbook: SALONIKA Trad. Oh me husband's in Salonika and I wonder if he's dead And I wonder if he knows he has a kid with a foxy head, So right away, so right away, so right away, so right away So right away Salonika, right away me soldier boy. When the war is over what will the slackers do? They'll be all around the soldiers for the loan of a bob or two So right away, so right away, so right away, so right away So right away Salonika, right away me soldier boy. And when the war is over what will the soldiers do? They'll be walking around with a leg and a half and the slackers they'll have two So right away, so right away, so right away, so right away So right away Salonika, right away me soldier boy. And they taxed the pound of butter and they taxed the ha'penny bun And still with all their taxin' they can't bate the bloody Huns So right away, so right away, so right away, so right away So right away Salonika, right away me soldier boy. They taxed the Colosseum and they taxed St. Mary's Hall Why don't they tax the Bobbies with their backs again' the wall So right away, so right away, so right away, so right away So right away Salonika, right away me soldier boy. When the war is over what will the slackers do? For every kid in America, in Cork there will be two So right away, so right away, so right away, so right away So right away Salonika, right away me soldier boy. They takes us out to Blarney and they lays us on the grass They puts us in the family way and they leaves us on our arse So right away, so right away, so right away, so right away So right away Salonika,right away me soldier boy. There's lino in the parlour and in the kitchen too And a lovely glass back chiffonier we got from Dickie Drew So right away, so right away, so right away, so right away So right away Salonika, right away me soldier boy. |
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01 Feb 06 - 04:22 PM (#1659434) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Salonica From: muppitz That song always brings back funny memories. Any catters who have done the Tap & Spile at Whitby for New Year's eve will know about the song game, you are given the lyrics to one song and the tune to another, you have to try and fit the words to a completely different song. New Year 2003/2004 the team I was with were given the words to Salonika and had to try and fit them to the tune of Summer Holiday. Barmy stuff! muppitz x |
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02 Feb 06 - 03:21 AM (#1659900) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Salonica From: Paul Burke Have you tried House of the Rising Sun to Teddy Bears' Picnic? |
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02 Feb 06 - 05:53 PM (#1660466) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Salonica From: muppitz Never heard that one but also at my visit to the Tap, someone had to do Spancil Hill to the tune of Rawhide. Equally funny! muppitz x |
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18 Nov 08 - 03:13 PM (#2496989) Subject: RE: ADD: My husband's in Salonika^^ From: Joe Offer So, am I the only one who doesn't understand what's "a kid with a foxy head"? -Joe- |
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18 Nov 08 - 04:15 PM (#2497065) Subject: RE: ADD: My husband's in Salonika^^ From: Charmion Red hair? |
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18 Nov 08 - 04:49 PM (#2497102) Subject: RE: ADD: My husband's in Salonika^^ From: Declan Red hair would be correct. And I suspect the husband's hair is not red! |
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18 Nov 08 - 04:57 PM (#2497110) Subject: RE: ADD: My husband's in Salonika^^ From: Lighter Kind of like the outcome in the far older American "Joe Bowers." |
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25 Nov 08 - 08:37 AM (#2501104) Subject: RE: ADD: My husband's in Salonika^^ From: GUEST,Suffolk Miracle Loudest, roughest and very best recording ever of Salonika is by the late and large Gordon Hall on As I Went Down To Horsham and also on one of VT's tapes. |
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25 Nov 08 - 11:25 AM (#2501253) Subject: RE: ADD: My husband's in Salonika^^ From: goatfell And also Foster and Allen and Hamish Imlach does the the song as, well not Hamish Imlach cause he's dead but when he was alive |
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25 Nov 08 - 11:28 AM (#2501258) Subject: RE: ADD: My husband's in Salonika^^ From: Musket Nostalgia being what it is... I think John Coy used to sing it around the clubs many years ago? |
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25 Nov 08 - 05:23 PM (#2501557) Subject: RE: ADD: My husband's in Salonika^^ From: The Vulgar Boatman The furniture dealer was indeed known as "Dicky Glue" - presumably from his habit of mending and selling secondhand furniture. KYBTTS |
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25 Nov 08 - 05:56 PM (#2501594) Subject: RE: ADD: My husband's in Salonika^^ From: MartinRyan And a glass back chiffonee-er that we got from Dickie Glue" is the usual version. He was a pawnbroker and moneylender . (c.f. "Songs of Cork" by Tomás Ó Canainn) Regards |
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26 Nov 08 - 02:07 PM (#2502246) Subject: RE: ADD: My husband's in Salonika^^ From: GUEST,leeneia 'Red hair would be correct. And I suspect the husband's hair is not red!' So what? People with red-headed forebears can have a red-headed child even though their own hair is some other color. It's just a question of which genes come together upon oonception. |
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26 Nov 08 - 02:44 PM (#2502279) Subject: RE: ADD: My husband's in Salonika^^ From: MartinRyan Try explaining that to a man with a wooden leg and a rifle! Regards |
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26 Nov 08 - 05:25 PM (#2502399) Subject: RE: ADD: My husband's in Salonika^^ From: Barry Finn Just a saying, Dicky was also know for his having a hard time collecting on what was owed him Barry |
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16 Apr 10 - 12:51 PM (#2888042) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Husband's in Salonika^^ From: GUEST,LuthLew Saw Jimmy Crowley sing this in April, 2010. He said he'd recently learned that it's "Write away..write away Salonika...". Salonika in this line being the nickname of a Corkman who wrote letters for women who were illiterate. More historical and collecting notes here: |
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16 Apr 10 - 04:48 PM (#2888176) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Husband's in Salonika^^ From: Joe Offer I heard Jimmy sing it here in California, just last night. I asked him to sing it because I associated the song so much with Good Old Barry Finn, who died last October. But last night, he referred to Salonika's geographic location in Greece....I was the only folkie in the audience, so the joke wouldn't have been understood. -Joe- |
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16 Apr 10 - 05:13 PM (#2888190) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Husband's in Salonika^^ From: GUEST,Matt_R "I recall the song being very popular in West Cork back in the 70s. I assume it refers to the WWI Salonika campaign to assist Serbia. Casualties from battle were light (for WWI), but many died of disease, including most famously, the poet Rupert Brooke." Rupert Brooke died during the preparation period for the Dardanelles campaign in April 1915. The Salonika landings didn't take place until October of that year. |
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17 Apr 10 - 05:45 AM (#2888450) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Husband's in Salonika^^ From: Ross Campbell Jimmy Crowley's Cork accent might seem impenetrable to many, but "tuning in" rewards the listener with a fund of songs, many of which he rediscovered and brought back to life in his '70s recordings. As can be seen from the above thread, they have been adopted and spread by many better-known singers and groups. Hearing Barry Finn sing "Salonika" at Scarborough Seafest last year was a surprise and pleasure. Some of Frank O'Connor's short stories are set in Cork in the WWI era, and give more background to the various factions described in the song. Ross |
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17 Jul 11 - 11:35 AM (#3189450) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Husband's in Salonika^^ From: GUEST,Ena Ronayne Just found this thread and I am so pleased that my granny (Helena Ronayne) had such an affect on this most amazing song. Who would think to remember a few words and pass them on (to Jimmy Crowley in this case) would have such an affect! Thanks for the memories... |
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20 Mar 13 - 05:35 AM (#3492494) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Husband's in Salonika^^ From: GUEST,JTT Old thread, but an explanation may be helpful to those who come searching and revive the dead. This is a back-and-forth song, with republican women mocking 'separation women' (women married to soldiers in the British Army, who were commonly thought of as having joined for the 'separation money', a pension paid to their families). 'Slackers' was the mocking nickname given by unionists to men who would not join up. So verse 1: the kid with the foxy head - the republican woman is mocking the idea that the husband is away, and a child of suspicious provenance has been born to his wife. A fine insult, as it manages to insult both the gulled soldier and the wife of dubious morals. Verse 2: when the war is over, what will the slackers do? The separation woman is mocking the republicans with the fact that they'll still be poor after the war, and will be sucking up to the soldiers for a loan of their pension. Verse 3: when the war is over, what will the soldiers do? The republican woman comes back with the riposte that he may have money but will be crippled by war injuries. Verse 4: they've taxed the pound of butter and they've taxed the ha'penny bun, and still with all their taxing they can't beat the bloody hun. Yes, Frau Merkel. Verse 5: ...why don't they tax the bobbies. The eternal plaint of the PAYE worker against the privilege of public servants. Verse 6: when the war is over, what will the slackers do, for every kid in America, in Cork there will be two. Ah, those fertile slackers at it again, more foxy heads. Or maybe this time it's the soldiers being fertile, not sure. Verse 7: They takes us out to Blarney. Yes, that's what soldiers do. Verse 8: Lino in the parlour. How sweet it is to have a soldier's pension and be able to buy linoleum. Classic mockery of the petty bourgeois ambitions of Sgt Bucket's wife. Dickie Drew being the pawnshop owner. Verse 9: Sinn Fein boy in his yellow, white and green. Triumph for the republican side. Yoohoo! |
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20 Mar 13 - 07:04 AM (#3492525) Subject: RE: Lyr Req: My Husband's in Salonika^^ From: Bonnie Shaljean > They've taxed the pound of butter and they've taxed the ha'penny bun, and still with all their taxing they can't beat the bloody hun. Yes, Frau Merkel. Brilliant!!! |
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15 Sep 14 - 07:38 AM (#3660353) Subject: RE: ADD/Origins: My Husband's in Salonika^^ From: The Sandman somebody should put a bun in frau merkels oven. |
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21 Nov 22 - 07:09 PM (#4158317) Subject: RE: ADD/Origins: My Husband's in Salonika^^ From: Joe Offer Interesting page on "Salonika": https://thelongestsong.fandom.com/wiki/Salonika |
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22 Nov 22 - 03:35 AM (#4158334) Subject: RE: ADD/Origins: My Husband's in Salonika^^ From: DaveRo Now never marry a soldier, a sailor or a marineSee this thread about the Parnellite tricolour: In 1883 a Parnellite tricolour of yellow, white and green, arranged horizontally, is recorded.This phrase "is recorded", which appears in every online reference to the Parnellite tricolour, suggests it was uncommon - was it? Or is it used here because 'green white and orange' doesn't rhyme ur scan and 'orange white and green' is not in the usual order. |
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22 Nov 22 - 09:53 AM (#4158372) Subject: RE: ADD/Origins: My Husband's in Salonika^^ From: GUEST,jim bainbridge Jimmy Crowley told me he got it from a member of his old band 'Stokers Lodge' who had it from his family. |