[Robert E. Jordan]

<u>Eagles Fight Song</u>
Charles J. Borrelli & Roger Cortland

"Fly Eagles fly, on the road to victory.
"Fight Eagles fight, score a touchdown 1,2,3.
"Hit 'em low, hit 'em high, and watch our Eagles fly.
"Fly Eagles fly, on the road to victory.
"E-A-G-L-E-S - Eagles!"

Bobby

[Alexander Grace]

Between the Wars
Billy Bragg

I was a miner, I was a docker,
I was a train driver between the wars.
I raised a family in time of austerity.
We swept at the foundry between the wars.

I paid the union, and as times got harder
I looked to the government to help the working man.
And they brought prosperity -- down at the armory.
We're arming for peace, my boys, between the wars.

I kept the faith, and I kept voting,
Not for the iron fist but for the helping hand --
For theirs is a land with a wall around it,
And mine is a faith in my fellow man.

Theirs is a land of hope and glory;
Mine is the green field and the factory floor.
Theirs are the skies all dark with bombers;
And mine is the peace we knew between the wars.

Call up the craftsmen, bring me the draftsmen,
Build me a path from cradle to grave,
And I'll give my consent to any government
That does not deny a man a living wage.

Go find the young men, never to fight again,
Call up the banners from the days gone by.
Sweet moderation, heart of this nation,
Desert us not, we are between the wars.


[This message has been edited by Alexander Grace (edited January 28, 2005).]

[Peter Waring]

Bobby,

By the way. You posted, way way back three Tom Moore
songs. Have you ever come across this poem by
James Simmons?

For Thomas Moore


When the young have grown tired
and the old are abused,
when beauty's degraded,
and brilliance not used,
when courage is clumsy
and strength misapplied
we wish that our seed
in the dark womb had died

But when youth finds its singers
and old men find peace
and beauty finds servants
and genius release,
when courage has wisdom
and strength mends our wrongs
we will sing unembarrassed
your marvellous songs.


Best wishes

Peter

[A. E. Stallings]

I think Shakespeare's songs certainly belong here:

Fear no more the heat o' th' sun,
Nor the furious winter's rages,
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, an ta'en thy wages.
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.

Fear no more the frown o' th' great,
Thou art past the tyrant's stroke;
Care no more to clothe and eat,
To thee the reed is as the oak.
The sceptre, learning, physic, must
All follow this and come to dust.

Fear no more the lightning-flash.
Nor th' all-dreaded thunder-stone.
Fear not slander, censure rash.
Thou hast finish'd joy and moan.
All lovers young, all lovers must
Consign to thee and come to dust.

No exorciser harm thee.
Nor no witchcraft charm thee.
Ghost unlaid forbear thee.
Nothing ill come near thee.
Quiet consumption have,
And renowned by thy grave.

[Janet Kenny]

Alicia,
Absolutely.

" Take O take those lips away"

"Full fathom five"

"Where the bee sucks"

"Come unto these yellow sands"

"Hark hark the lark"

"Willow, willow, willow"

"It was a lover and his lass"

"I know a bank"

"You spotted snakes with double tongues"
etc. etc. etc.

And the composers rose to the occasion--nearly always, because how could they fail to be inspired. I'll come back with the words when time permits. There are heaps more.
There are some wonderful operatic settings of translations of Shakespeare--notable Mercutio's Queen Mab speech by Gounod, and Verdi's setting of Boito's translation of Dedemona's "Willow song" in Otello.
Janet


[This message has been edited by Janet Kenny (edited January 30, 2005).]

[Janet Kenny]

Apart from a constipated tenor who trudges through the light-footed "It was a lover and his lass" this is lovely. Robert Johnston was in Shakespeare's conpany, "The King's Men" and wrote the "Tempest" songs for Shakepeare's original productions.
http://ise.uvic.ca/Library/SLTnofram...akespeare.html

[Chris Childers]

Hey, Clay & Dave Mason like Leonard Cohen too! Democracy is a great song, really most everything on The Future is great, & he has great bits in Ten New Songs as well, e.g.,

But O my love, be not afraid;
We are so lightly here.
It is in love that we are made;
In love, we disappear.
Though all the maps of blood and flesh
Are posted on the door,
There's no one who has told us yet
What Boogey Street is for.

My favorite Cohen album though is the rather little known & under appreciated Recent Songs, from '79, I think. It's his last low-key, acoustic effort before his voice bottomed out & he went synth. (I think.) I love this song, which I posted on here before, & which I think is influenced by Christian caballah. Hell, I could have posted it in the mystical poetry thread too.

The Window

Why do you stand by the window,
abandoned to beauty and pride,
The thorn of the night in your bosom,
the spear of the age in your side?
Lost in the rages of fragrance,
lost in the rags of remorse,
lost in the waves of a sickness
that loosens the high silver nerves?

O chosen love
O frozen love
O tangle of matter and ghost
O darling of angels, demons and saints
and the whole broken-hearted host
Gentle this soul

And come forth from the cloud of unknowing
and kiss the cheek of the moon
the new Jerusalem glowing
why tarry all night in the ruin?
And speak no word of discomfort
And leave no observer to mourn
But climb on your tears & be silent
Like a rose on its ladder of thorns

O chosen love
O frozen love
O tangle of matter and ghost
O darling of angels, demons & saints
& the whole broken-hearted host
gentle this soul

Then lay your rose on the fire
the fire give up to the sun
The sun give over to splendor
In the arms of the High Holy One
For the Holy One dreams of a letter
dreams of a letter's death
O bless the continuous stutter
of the Word being made into flesh

O chosen love
O frozen love
O tangle of matter & ghost
O darling of angels, demons & saints
& the whole broken-hearted host
Gentle this soul

...

By the way Clay, along with Itunes do you have the Ipod? If so, could you answer a question for me, I'm wondering what exactly is involved in ripping cds into digital form when you buy the ipod. Does the software come with it, or do you buy that separately as an accessory? I mean, I have windows media player, which can record cds, I know, but I don't think it does it all that well, & I think the tracks degenerate rapidly. I'm just wondering if the Ipod facilitates or elevates the quality of that process.

Chris

[Janet Kenny]

Peter Porter, poet, discusses poetry and music with Andrew Ford, composer and journalist.

This is a subject dear to my heart and one which I don't feel has been understood by many poets.

Peter Porter

Janet

(A brief bio of Peter Porter)
Link wouldn't post:
Biography

Poet Peter Porter was born in Brisbane, Australia in 1929. He moved to London in 1951 and worked in bookselling and advertising before becoming a freelance writer and broadcaster in 1968, working for The Observer as poetry critic. During the 1950s he was associated with poets in 'The Group' (including Martin Bell and Philip Hobsbaum). In 2001 he was Poet in Residence at the Royal Albert Hall for the 'Proms' - a series of concerts given in London each year.

His first collection of poetry, Once Bitten, Twice Bitten, was published in 1961. The Cost of Seriousness (1978), regarded by many critics as his best work, was written after the death of his first wife in 1974. Collected Poems (1983) won the Duff Cooper Prize and The Automatic Oracle (1987) won the Whitbread Poetry Award in 1988. He was awarded the Gold Medal for Australian Literature in 1990.

Peter Porter'sBANNED POSTcollection of poems, Max is Missing, was published in 2001 and won the 2002 Forward Poetry Prize (Best Poetry Collection of the Year). In 2001, 50 years after leaving Australia, he returned to Melbourne for the premiere of The Voice of Love, a song cycle with words by Peter Porter and music by the British composer Nicholas Maw.

Peter Porter was awarded the 2002 Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry. His most recent collection is Afterburner (2004), shortlisted for the 2004 T. S. Eliot Prize.

BANNED POST

BANNED POST

[This message has been edited by Janet Kenny (edited January 30, 2005).]

[Kevin Andrew Murphy]

Alexander,

"She Moved Through the Fair" is both Irish and beautiful, but don't be so fast to sand off the serial numbers and mark it traditional. The author is Padraic Colum.

Kevin



[This message has been edited by Kevin Andrew Murphy (edited February 07, 2005).]

[Robert Meyer]

When I was a kid (in Europe in the 60s), mom & dad gave me a small book of Heine poems including my favorite, "The Two Grenadiers" (veterans of the Napoleonic wars). About 15 years ago, I heard it as a song by Robert Schumann. There's a musical phrase near the end (when one of the characters in the poem is dying) where Schumann uses a bit of "La Marseillaise" that I think is powerful.

Robert Meyer