tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999226515644223110.post3901964322291474052..comments2023-09-27T15:53:47.194+01:00Comments on A Liverpool Folk Song a Week: 50: Blow the Man DownUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999226515644223110.post-38801186136064530752012-06-29T05:58:28.492+01:002012-06-29T05:58:28.492+01:00Hiya there,
Yep, I'd definitely agree with yo...Hiya there,<br /><br />Yep, I'd definitely agree with you that a lot of these shanties have "settled down" as Liverpool songs, whereas they almost certainly had a more general and eclectic social origin to begin with. If I was going to go for a historic attachment, I think the Black Ball line is the sensible one, as you say; for emotional and personal attachment, it's the Paradise Street link and the "blow him right back into Liverpool town" seeded in my head as a child all those years ago! But that's definitely a revival link, not a sea-going one (would really like to dig up the 'safe version' of the words I was taught as a child)robotforadayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05302954722308521390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4999226515644223110.post-56030279904077493172012-06-27T19:30:41.603+01:002012-06-27T19:30:41.603+01:00Hello there!
Good stuff. You're right, there ...Hello there!<br /><br />Good stuff. You're right, there are so many different themes that go with this one. I'm not sure if you've seen Hugill's unabridged collection, that that one has even more variations. Of course, Hugill did not hear all those variation; he discovered some in different books. There is also evidence that the shanty was sung to no particular theme at all, just a jumble of separate verses. And an interesting connection to an African-American version, "Knock a Man Down."<br /><br />When I visited Liverpool, I was very keen on seeing Paradise Street, And also Great Howard Street. Oh, and also Radcliffe Highway when I was in London! The streets vary greatly. "Paradise Street", I feel, got locked in as a sort of standard when the standard-ish "land" version was established by revival singers. So from a historical vantage, I don't think the street cinches a connection to Liverpool. But the song did seem to have become associated with the Black Ball Line, so there is definitely a strong Liverpool element to its history.<br /><br />Ranzo :{Ranzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05318383032778728159noreply@blogger.com