The Pogues - Thousands are sailing

[muppet]

I took a serious shine to this song recently and downloaded the chords and words to add to the (never to be sung sober) repertoire. Pogues-Thousands are sailing

Anyway the lyrics got me interested in the subject and I picked up Robert Whyte's 1847 Famine Ship Diary and fcuk me it makes terrible reading. But any Irish person with an interest in their past should read something about those ships. Whyte (some claim the book is fictional but it hardly matters as the truth about the subject matter is not is question) was a protestant man of means who had his own cabin and dined with the captain of the ship but his account of what the 'peasants' went through is harrowing in the extreme.

The book quotes the likes of Dickens who warned about the awful conditions in British ships in 1842 5 years before the worst of the coffin ships disaster and also mentions that in the same year the potato crop was so good that 'beggars refused them' and much of that year's crop was used as manure.  It also highlights that one of the main reasons the famine was so devastating was that the British goverment insisted on payment of land taxes by landlords most of whom passed this cost on to the penniless peasants. (There are people still advocating a property tax in this country, Ireland of all f**king places!)

I don't mean to upset the season of goodwill here but looking at what people are arguing about on other threads a reality check mightn't do any harm.

[Baile an tuaigh]

Shane Mac Gowan wrote this song. He never prided himself as a singer but more of a writer. I think he is a genius at both. Probably got Irelands story told better than most books with his songs and lyrics. There is an old saying that Irelands history is one every English person should know a bout and every Irish person should forget. You should check out irishholocaust.org

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Shane Mac Gowan wrote this song...

I beg to differ  , Philip Chevron wrote it methinks.

[Shamrock Shore]

Young Chevron is recovering (hopefully) from throat cancer - he is a regular poster on another forum I post on (not Pogues related) and the man is a genuis with words and a decent gentleman.

I hope he has a full recovery in 2008.

[Hurler on the Bitch]

To put the song in it's context - i.e. 1988 - Ireland was really losing the plot economically and was haemorraging its greatest asset (its people) big time. I always recall one year that RTE showed a clip of the airports on New Years Day when all the emigrants went back to London, New York etc... really disturbing stuff. When 75 punts per shirt Charlie Haughey was telling us to tighten our belts it really was because there was no money, no jobs and what seemed like no future - except for him and his likes.. I remember places like Kilburn, the Bronx etc were the places to make real money.... 

[Baile an tuaigh]

Shane Mac Gowan wrote this song...

I beg to differ  , Philip Chevron wrote it methinks.

Yes aye have to put my hands up and admit I was wrong. Philip Chevron and not Shane Mac Gowan wrote "thousands are sailing" sorry.

 

[ONeill]

Great Song. Never heard it before.

[balladmaker]

Indeed, great song, very emotive lyrics.  MacGowan's vocals suit the song very well.

[muppet]

Indeed, great song, very emotive lyrics.  MacGowan's vocals suit the song very well.

Agreed MacGowan doesn't always suit some of his songs but his voice is perfect for this song.

Happy 50th Shane.

[anglocelt39]

Was one of the 1980's emigration statistics and this became a bit of an anthem. Absolutely superb in the way it effortlessly linked the waves of emigration from black '47 to the late 50's to the mid-80's. Remember playing it at a St Pats day do in my house and passing the lyric sheet around among a bunch of 80's and 60's departures, the effect was, let's say, noticeable.

While never trying to compare the later emigration waves with the tragedy of the famine, something they share in common is an offical policy, it seems, of  now trying to banish these events from the national consciousness.

[muppet]

Shane Mac Gowan wrote this song. He never prided himself as a singer but more of a writer. I think he is a genius at both. Probably got Irelands story told better than most books with his songs and lyrics. There is an old saying that Irelands history is one every English person should know a bout and every Irish person should forget. You should check out irishholocaust.org

Thanks for the link. Very interesting stuff but would read better if they left the emotion out of the delivery. The info either stands up on its own or its not worth the effort but their is no need to persuade anyone.

Interestingly the first ship mentioned sailing out of Cork in 1847 was the Ajax which is the name of the boat in Whyte's journey.

[Gold]

anyone know what the craic was with the Pogues being constantly pelted with bottles on stage in belfast's kings hall last saturday 22nd??

does this usually happen?

i saw some of the band looking at each other like they were a bit frightened--even Shane looked worried at one stage

[ONeill]

I believe Adams and Maskey were there. Might be a link.

[Over the Bar]

When 75 punts per shirt Charlie Haughey was telling us to tighten our belts it really was because there was no money

Was he not paying £1500 for each Charvel shirt?

[saffron sam2]

Excellent song. I remember trying to argue its merits in the past on a thread about "The Streets Of New York". There were very few who, like myself, thought "Thousands are Saling" was superior.

Which was odd, I felt.