In writing the lyrics to “Lord of the Dance” in 1963,
Sydney Carter was inspired partly by Jesus, but also partly by a statue of the Hindu God Shiva as Nataraja (Shiva’s dancing pose) which sat on his desk, and was partly intending simply to give tribute to Shaker music. He later stated, “I did not think the churches would like it at all. I thought many people would find it pretty far flown, probably heretical and anyway dubiously Christian. But in fact people did sing it and, unknown to me, it touched a chord … Anyway, it’s the sort of Christianity I believe in.”
“Drunken Sailor” is a sea shanty, also known as “What Shall We Do with a/the Drunken Sailor?”
The shanty was sung to accompany certain work tasks aboard sailing ships, especially those that required a bright walking pace. It is believed to originate in the early 19th century or before, during a period when ships’ crews, especially those of military vessels, were large enough to permit hauling a rope whilst simply marching along the deck. With the advent of merchant packet and clipper ships and their smaller crews, which required different working methods, use of the shanty appears to have declined or shifted to other, minor tasks.
“Drunken Sailor” was revived as a popular song among non-sailors in the 20th century, and grew to become one of the best-known songs of the shanty repertoire among mainstream audiences. It has been performed and recorded by many musical artists and appeared in many popular media.
Although the song’s lyrics vary, they usually contain some variant of the question, “What shall we do with a drunken sailor, early in the morning?”
In some styles of performance, each successive verse suggests a method of sobering or punishing the drunken sailor. In other styles, further questions are asked and answered about different people.
The next song often comes right after the tunes we played for you last week,
because there is no need for us to change instruments and it’s a very upbeat song.
The song “Johnnie Cope”. Is one of the first songs we did with the bagpipes. It’s about John Cope. Sir John Cope. Who lost the battle with the Jacobites in 1745.
And after that we play two jigs: “The Geese in the Bog”. And after that: “Turf Lodge”
Rapalje is performing “Caledonia” at The Balver Höhle
The Balve Cave is the biggest cultural cave in Europe. It is located in Balve, Germany. And every year the Festspiele Balver Höhle organization is presenting the Balver Höhle Irish folk & Celtic Music Festival.
Rapalje is performing “Raggle Taggle Gypsy” at The Balver Höhle
The Balve Cave is the biggest cultural cave in Europe. It is located in Balve, Germany. And every year the Festspiele Balver Höhle organization is presenting the Balver Höhle Irish folk & Celtic Music Festival.