Posted by John Boy |
- Re: Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne
Posted by mikey burns
on 11/2/2009, 10:57 am, in reply to "Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne"I didn't know that and I thank you for sharing with us. Don't know that I'll add them to my version of the song. I rather like Nick's version! aloha, mikey
--Previous Message--
: Some may not be aware that Nick purposely left out two stanzas (would-be 2nd and 3rd)
: in his version of Mountains of Mourne :
: __________
:
: I’ve seen England’s king from the top of a bus
: And I’ve never known him, but he means to know us.
: And tho’ by the Saxon we once were oppressed,
: Still I cheered, God forgive me, I cheered with the rest.
: And now that he’s visited Erin’s green shore
: We’ll be much better friends than we’ve been heretofore
: When we’ve got all we want, we’re as quiet as can be
: Where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.
:
: You remember young Peter O’Laughlin, of course?
: Well, now he is here at the head of the force.
: I met him today while crossing the Strand,
: And he stopped the whole street with one wave of his hand!
: And as we stood talking of days that are gone,
: The whole population of London looked on!
: But for all his great powers, he’s wishful like me
: To be back where the dark Mourne sweeps down to the sea.
: __________
:
: On the other hand, maybe everybody knows this! (As a relative newbie around here, I
: certainly don't want to appear to be preaching to the choir. I like that Nick did it
: that way -- leaving out the ugly, forever, Ireland vs. Britain stuff and sticking
: with just a sweet, innocent, incredibly naive Irish lad observing the big city for
: the first time. I love this song. Each year I either sing it or poem it in class,
: keeping my fingers crossed that none of my 9th-graders (I'm a substitute teacher) go
: home and say, "Mom, Dad! Mr. Breen sang a song about topless women in class
: today!!" (Parents call Principal, who then hangs me in Effigy -- a small suburb
: outside of Austin.) ;-)
:
:
:
- Re: Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne
Posted by Mike Askins
on 11/2/2009, 11:33 am, in reply to "Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne"
I always read the "around here with the rest of the force" verse as being a military reference. My Trio mentor Jim Moran 'splained to me that the reference is to a rural Irish lad that had found one of his friends working as a cop in London. He's amazed by the fact that his traffic cop friend needs only raise his hand to stop the whole street. I suppose that sort of power was unknown at home in Ireland. Maybe Jim will give me his take on the other verse.
:
:
- Re: Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne
Posted by Tom in Zurich
on 11/2/2009, 11:10 pm, in reply to "Re: Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne"Even in the verses remaining, the sort of "Irish are dumb yokels" comes through:
He actually believes there is gold under the street; he is amazed and horrified by woman wearing low dresses; and the ladies are "sullied" by their makeup.
What I've always thought--as someone of Irish descent--is that the English miss the essence--the beauty of the singer's love for Ireland and the Mountains of Mourne and his girl overcomes any "dumb yokel" aspect.
Nevertheless, this is a stereotypical English view of the Irish, at least until very recently--for example, see Fawlty Towers episode with the drunk, irresponsible, and incompetent builder, O'Reilly.
Tom in Zurich
--Previous Message--
:
: I always read the "around here with the rest of the force" verse as being
: a military reference. My Trio mentor Jim Moran 'splained to me that the reference is
: to a rural Irish lad that had found one of his friends working as a cop in London.
: He's amazed by the fact that his traffic cop friend needs only raise his hand to
: stop the whole street. I suppose that sort of power was unknown at home in Ireland.
: Maybe Jim will give me his take on the other verse.
:
:
:
:
- Re: Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne + Videos of Other Verses
Posted by Jim Moran
on 11/2/2009, 11:20 pm, in reply to "Re: Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne"
--Previous Message--
:
: I always read the "around here with the rest of the force" verse as being
: a military reference. My Trio mentor Jim Moran 'splained to me that the reference is
: to a rural Irish lad that had found one of his friends working as a cop in London.
: He's amazed by the fact that his traffic cop friend needs only raise his hand to
: stop the whole street. I suppose that sort of power was unknown at home in Ireland.
: Maybe Jim will give me his take on the other verse.
Right you are, Mike. I posted a Weekend Videos/CompVid 101 on the song long ago, one of the first that I did more than a year ago:
Weekend Vid/Comp Vid On "The Mountains of Mourne"
Pete Overly has a different take, to a degree, feeling that the song is a testament to pure innocence and love. I emphasized the gentle satire in the song about the poor rural boy who believes that there might be gold in the street, who is shocked by Victorian women's low-cut dresses and make-up, and who misses his simple country beloved.
I love Nick's version, but my favorite is Don McClean's with the traffic cop verse but not the love England bit:
When I sing it, I always include that verse.
Here's a group from the early 80's called Wall Street Crash, and they include the verse about Anglo-Irish friendship but not two others:
I know that lyricist Percy French was strongly in favor of Irish independence, but as we've seen recently, there are plenty of people who feel that way who don't favor violence.
The chief issue in French's time was called "Home Rule" - an arrangement like Canada and Australia had until the 1960a whereby the country elects its own government but pledges at least nominal allegiance to the English crown. The Irish leader of that movement, you may recall, was Charles Parnell. French may have been expressing a sentiment in favor of Home Rule.
The verse sticks out as not consistent with the tone of the others, pasted on, it seems. It's not impossible that French is being satirical - "when we've got all we want" may be either Home Rule or full independence. I prefer to think this.
Anyway - here's the abovementioned Pete Overly at FC in 2007 doing a great version of the song with Nick and John:
- Peter's Version
Posted by Bert Williams
on 11/8/2009, 12:15 am, in reply to "Re: Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne + Videos of Other Verses"I was there ... it left me speechless. It was the singularly best performance of anyone at any Trio Camp I ever witnessed. It still gives me chills watching Nick watching Peter. Thanks for the blessing to all of us, Peter. -B
--Previous Message--
:
:
: --Previous Message--
:
: I always read the "around here with the rest of the force" verse as being
: a military reference. My Trio mentor Jim Moran 'splained to me that the reference is
: to a rural Irish lad that had found one of his friends working as a cop in London.
: He's amazed by the fact that his traffic cop friend needs only raise his hand to
: stop the whole street. I suppose that sort of power was unknown at home in Ireland.
: Maybe Jim will give me his take on the other verse.
:
: Right you are, Mike. I posted a Weekend Videos/CompVid 101 on the song long ago, one
: of the first that I did more than a year ago:
:
: Weekend Vid/Comp Vid On "The Mountains of Mourne"
:
: Pete Overly has a different take, to a degree, feeling that the song is a testament
: to pure innocence and love. I emphasized the gentle satire in the song about the
: poor rural boy who believes that there might be gold in the street, who is shocked
: by Victorian women's low-cut dresses and make-up, and who misses his simple country
: beloved.
:
: I love Nick's version, but my favorite is Don McClean's with the traffic cop verse
: but not the love England bit:
:
:
:
: When I sing it, I always include that verse.
:
: Here's a group from the early 80's called Wall Street Crash, and they include the
: verse about Anglo-Irish friendship but not two others:
:
:
:
: I know that lyricist Percy French was strongly in favor of Irish independence, but
: as we've seen recently, there are plenty of people who feel that way who don't favor
: violence.
:
: The chief issue in French's time was called "Home Rule" - an arrangement
: like Canada and Australia had until the 1960a whereby the country elects its own
: government but pledges at least nominal allegiance to the English crown. The Irish
: leader of that movement, you may recall, was Charles Parnell. French may have been
: expressing a sentiment in favor of Home Rule.
:
: The verse sticks out as not consistent with the tone of the others, pasted on, it
: seems. It's not impossible that French is being satirical - "when we've got all
: we want" may be either Home Rule or full independence. I prefer to think this.
:
: Anyway - here's the abovementioned Pete Overly at FC in 2007 doing a great version
: of the song with Nick and John:
:
:
:
:
- Re: Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne
Posted by poverly
on 11/2/2009, 11:06 pm, in reply to "Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne"for nick, it was a song of innocence, pure and simple. hence the choice of verses and tenderness in which he sang it. the (apparently-to-the-protagonist) topless verse is just part of the journey through the song, so one shouldn't worry about young ears. nick and i had a 45-minute conversation, primarily about this song, back in 2002, as it has always been my favorite nick solo. it was the first conversation we ever had. maybe my favorite trio song, but that's a much harder call. we miss you nick! - Re: Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne
Posted by Jim Moran
on 11/2/2009, 11:22 pm, in reply to "Re: Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne"
--Previous Message--
: for nick, it was a song of innocence, pure and simple. hence the choice of verses and
: tenderness in which he sang it. the (apparently-to-the-protagonist) topless verse
: is just part of the journey through the song, so one shouldn't worry about young
: ears. nick and i had a 45-minute conversation, primarily about this song, back in
: 2002, as it has always been my favorite nick solo. it was the first conversation we
: ever had. maybe my favorite trio song, but that's a much harder call. we miss you
: nick!
:
It seems like Tom, Pete, and I were writing responses at the same time. Great POV in all of them - and Peter, we all still love your rendition! - Re: Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne
Posted by poverly
on 11/3/2009, 1:05 pm, in reply to "Re: Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne"thanks, jim. - Re: Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne
Posted by Tom in zurich
on 11/6/2009, 11:17 am, in reply to "Re: Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne""Amen!" to that.
--Previous Message--
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: for nick, it was a song of innocence, pure and simple. hence the choice of verses
: and
: tenderness in which he sang it. the (apparently-to-the-protagonist) topless verse
: is just part of the journey through the song, so one shouldn't worry about young
: ears. nick and i had a 45-minute conversation, primarily about this song, back in
: 2002, as it has always been my favorite nick solo. it was the first conversation we
: ever had. maybe my favorite trio song, but that's a much harder call. we miss you
: nick!
:
:
: It seems like Tom, Pete, and I were writing responses at the same time. Great POV in
: all of them - and Peter, we all still love your rendition!
:
- Re: Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne
Posted by mr nobody
on 11/9/2009, 1:57 pm, in reply to "Re: Nick's abridged version: Mtns. of Mourne"I concur...mb
--Previous Message--
: "Amen!" to that.
:
: --Previous Message--
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: for nick, it was a song of innocence, pure and simple. hence the choice of verses
: and
: tenderness in which he sang it. the (apparently-to-the-protagonist) topless verse
: is just part of the journey through the song, so one shouldn't worry about young
: ears. nick and i had a 45-minute conversation, primarily about this song, back in
: 2002, as it has always been my favorite nick solo. it was the first conversation we
: ever had. maybe my favorite trio song, but that's a much harder call. we miss you
: nick!
:
:
: It seems like Tom, Pete, and I were writing responses at the same time. Great POV in
: all of them - and Peter, we all still love your rendition!
:
:
:
