The Boys of the 10th
July 30, 2008 9:35 PM
A new song. An Irish-ballad inspired soldier's tale.
For some reason, for the past week or so, I have been thinking that after I have written and recorded, say, 10 or so of these country and blues inspired new songs, maybe I would try my hand at doing a handful of melodies that borrow from Irish folk traditions. After all, ballads from the British Isles are one of the main influences in early country, and, as far as I can tell, I'm an Irish-American.
Well, I'm not very good at holding off on trying something once I've got it into my head, and, last night, when I was writing "A Widow's Prayer," I also wound up noodling with this melody. Today, over the course of the day, I found myself hanging lyrics onto it.
It's a war song, and, in fact, references and older war song called "No More Soldiering For Me." I didn't set out to write a political song, but simply to try to tell a wartime story -- specifically, a tale of the death of a number of Irish soldiers in North Africa during World War II. Despite the fact that I reference real places, this story is fiction. Really, what got me to writing it was a sense I have had for a long time that there are few deaths lonelier than going someplace strange, very far from your home, when you are very young, and being killed by someone you have never met and perhaps never even see.
"THE BOYS OF THE 10TH" LYRICS:
He was a good soldier once
He could speak of Tripoli
He marched across the Sahara
And to the Barbari
The bells they all were ringing
When he returned to Offaly
The boys of the Tenth started singing
"No More Soldiering for Me"
He lost his eye in Tunisia
He carries shrapnel from Mizdah
There were fourteen boys from Moneygall
And six died on the road to Nismah
The bells they all were ringing
When he returned to Offaly
The boys of the Tenth started singing
"No More Soldiering for Me"
Billy fell in Quaryat
And Pat he fell in Birzar
They lost three more in the next two days
Only three went home to Tullamore
The bells they all were ringing
When he returned to Offaly
The boys of the Tenth started singing
"No More Soldiering for Me"
For some reason, for the past week or so, I have been thinking that after I have written and recorded, say, 10 or so of these country and blues inspired new songs, maybe I would try my hand at doing a handful of melodies that borrow from Irish folk traditions. After all, ballads from the British Isles are one of the main influences in early country, and, as far as I can tell, I'm an Irish-American.
Well, I'm not very good at holding off on trying something once I've got it into my head, and, last night, when I was writing "A Widow's Prayer," I also wound up noodling with this melody. Today, over the course of the day, I found myself hanging lyrics onto it.
It's a war song, and, in fact, references and older war song called "No More Soldiering For Me." I didn't set out to write a political song, but simply to try to tell a wartime story -- specifically, a tale of the death of a number of Irish soldiers in North Africa during World War II. Despite the fact that I reference real places, this story is fiction. Really, what got me to writing it was a sense I have had for a long time that there are few deaths lonelier than going someplace strange, very far from your home, when you are very young, and being killed by someone you have never met and perhaps never even see.
"THE BOYS OF THE 10TH" LYRICS:
He was a good soldier once
He could speak of Tripoli
He marched across the Sahara
And to the Barbari
The bells they all were ringing
When he returned to Offaly
The boys of the Tenth started singing
"No More Soldiering for Me"
He lost his eye in Tunisia
He carries shrapnel from Mizdah
There were fourteen boys from Moneygall
And six died on the road to Nismah
The bells they all were ringing
When he returned to Offaly
The boys of the Tenth started singing
"No More Soldiering for Me"
Billy fell in Quaryat
And Pat he fell in Birzar
They lost three more in the next two days
Only three went home to Tullamore
The bells they all were ringing
When he returned to Offaly
The boys of the Tenth started singing
"No More Soldiering for Me"
posted by Astro Zombie (2 comments total)
Yeah. I really need to penny whistle this baby.
Irish might not be precisely the right word. The inspiration is more properly American popular music of the mid-20th century that displays an Irish influence.
But the boys of the 10th in the song are Irish.
posted by Astro Zombie at 2:46 PM on July 31, 2008
Irish might not be precisely the right word. The inspiration is more properly American popular music of the mid-20th century that displays an Irish influence.
But the boys of the 10th in the song are Irish.
posted by Astro Zombie at 2:46 PM on July 31, 2008
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posted by danb at 2:29 PM on July 31, 2008