Lyr Req: Willie Leonard (John Conolly)

Subject: Lyr Req: Willie Leonard
From: Darlodave
Date: 24 Sep 09 - 05:22 AM

Lyrics for the above song by John Conolly, can anyone provide please.
Thanks

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Willie Leonard
From: GUEST,Donal
Date: 24 Sep 09 - 05:38 AM

Do you mean 'The Lakes of Coolfin' which is also known as Wilie Leonard/ Willie Lennox etc? I give the first verse of one version below, but there are bound to be others on the Forum and DT.

Early one morning young William arose.
It's off to his comrade's bedchamber he goes,
Saying, "Comrade, royal comrade, rise and let no one know
For this is a fine morning and bathing we'll go."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Willie Leonard
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 24 Sep 09 - 05:59 AM

Not in the DT or the Forum....

You will find it here: http://unitedireland.tripod.com/id418.html

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Willie Leonard
From: Matthew Edwards
Date: 24 Sep 09 - 08:03 AM

The 'Willie Leonard'/'Lakes of Coolfin' song must hold some sort of record for having a huge number of different titles; have a look in the Roud Index under Round Number 189.

However Darlodave is asking for a different song with the same name written by John Conolly about a Grimsby deckie. The song originally appeared in the 1985 play 'The Northern Trawl' and is included in John Conolly's CD The Northern Trawl. From reading a previous request by Darlodave, I think that he has already got the CD but is having difficulty making out some of the words, which is why he is asking for help.

It could be worth making a direct approach to John Conolly himself?

Matthew Edwards

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Willie Leonard
From: Dave Sutherland
Date: 24 Sep 09 - 12:28 PM

Just too late but if anyone wants the words of The Lakes of Coolfin they are in the DT as The Lakes of Col Flynn.
I also know it as The Lakes of Shylyn (Shilin)where the poor lad is called Willie Henry.

Subject: Lyr Add: WILLIE LEONARD (John Conolly)
From: Sooz
Date: 24 Sep 09 - 01:02 PM

Lovely song –


WILLIE LEONARD
John Conolly

Its December nineteen-thirty-three
And Willie Leonard's off to sea.
He's bound for Arctic waters where the deep-sea trawlers roam,
Where a deckie's wage is counted in
The sweat that's frozen to his skin.
The best part's when you're sailing up the river bound for home.

Oh, he loved the harbour lights did Willie Leonard,
And the raggle-taggle chorus of the evening seagull's call,
And the rumble of the steam-winch rang like music in his ears,
And the ships tied up along the harbour wall.

Now it's boom-time in the fishing trade.
Big ships are built and fortunes made.
Bosses build fine houses on the outskirts of the town,
But the deckie gets ten bob a day.
In two short nights it's boozed away,
So sign on, lads. the choice is yours. it's starve or freeze or drown.

Oh, the harbour lights are calling, Willie Leonard.
Another trip is over and you're still alive and well,
And the dockside pub's an island in the dark December night,
And a haven from the frozen seas of hell.

Now the politicians shift and shout.
The owners pull their money out
As Iceland wins the fight to keep our vessels from her shore,
And with rusty tubs and rotten gear,
The fishing fleet of yesteryear,
For blokes like Willie Leonard there's no future any more.

Do you miss the lights of harbour, Willie Leonard?
Do you miss the sudden freedom of the fivers in your hand?
Do you wonder who's to blame for all the dreams that never came
As you try to scratch a living from the land?

Its December nineteen-eighty-five
And Willie Leonard keeps alive
On social service handouts and a Sally Army bed.
No pension no redundancy,
He's just an old man of the sea.
For all the trawler owners care, he might as well be dead.

Oh, he never told a soul where he was going,
But the foreman on the dockside saw the old man shuffle by
As he walked among his memories in the place where they were made,
Like a wounded creature crawls away to die.

Did you see the lights of harbour, Willie Leonard?
Did you feel the striving engines churn the river into foam?
Did familiar voices echo from the empty water side
Rolling home, Willie Leonard, rolling home?

Now it's January ninety-two.
The old year fades into the new.
The wind of change cuts colder than the icy Greenland gale.
Old skills are scorned and cast aside
Like jets among the ebbing tide.
The shadow of the thirties makes the northern lights grow pale.

Oh, he loved the harbour lights did Willie Leonard,
And the raggle-taggle chorus of the evening seagull's call,
And the rumble of the steam winch rang like music in his ears
As the ships tied up along the harbour wall.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Willie Leonard
From: Darlodave
Date: 24 Sep 09 - 08:06 PM

Thank You Sooz, yes it is a grand song, hope I can get my vocal chords around it.