The poppy thread

[Beef Oven!]

I don't buy fireworks, either - does that make me a Guy Faux Leftie?

You steal them? What the faux-wrong with you?

[jean]

The problems with commemoration in general, and poppies (made of whatever substance) in particular, seem to me twofold.

The suffering and death of individual soldiers is hard to separate from whatever political motive their suffering was put to the service of.

And then, how far those who remember the dead are making or wish to make this distinction cannot be known - not always, anyway.

This was posted on another board, and if it's correct, someone is trying to suppress something:

The Royal British Legion this year is using a song to promote Poppy day.

The song is called The Green Fields of France, written by Eric Bogle, about someone reading the tombstone of a soldier killed in WW1. But a verse is excluded:


Ah young Willie McBride, I can't help wonder why,
Do those that lie here know why did they die?
And did they believe when they answered the cause,
Did they really believe that this war would end wars?
Well the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the pain,
The killing and dying, were all done in vain.
For Willie McBride, it all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again.

[teamsaint]

here are the full lyrics of The Green Fields of France.

"The Green Fields Of France"
(originally by Eric Bogle)

Oh how do you do, young Willy McBride
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside
And rest for a while in the warm summer sun
I've been walking all day, and I'm nearly done
And I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
When you joined the great fallen in 1916
Well I hope you died quick
And I hope you died clean
Or Willy McBride, was is it slow and obscene

Did they beat the drums slowly
Did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some loyal heart is your memory enshrined
And though you died back in 1916
To that loyal heart you're forever nineteen
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Forever enshrined behind some old glass pane
In an old photograph torn, tattered, and stained
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame

Did they beat the drums slowly
Did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

The sun shining down on these green fields of France
The warm wind blows gently and the red poppies dance
The trenches have vanished long under the plow
No gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing now
But here in this graveyard that's still no mans land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man
And a whole generation were butchered and damned

Did they beat the drums slowly
Did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

And I can't help but wonder oh Willy McBride
Do all those who lie here know why they died
Did you really believe them when they told you the cause
Did you really believe that this war would end wars
Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
The killing and dying it was all done in vain
Oh Willy McBride it all happened again
And again, and again, and again, and again

Did they beat the drums slowly
Did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest



Like many people, I have heard this song performed many times,and it doesn't really connect in my mind with the poppy campaign.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr6OzLJrS2k

One of the most moving records I know.

[teamsaint]

The problems with commemoration in general, and poppies (made of whatever substance) in particular, seem to me twofold.

The suffering and death of individual soldiers is hard to separate from whatever political motive their suffering was put to the service of.

And then, how far those who remember the dead are making or wish to make this distinction cannot be known - not always, anyway.

This was posted on another board, and if it's correct, someone is trying to suppress something:

You are quite right Jean, the verse you quote is excluded, along with the previous verse. I have highlighted above the excluded sections.

Really appalling. And , unsurprising

I would love to know whAt Eric Bogle has to say about this.

As for the artistic merits of the Joss Stone version........words fail.

[jean]

I would love to know whAt Eric Bogle has to say about this...

Lots of people wanted to know that, apparently!

Here's what he had to say:

http://johnhilley.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/poppy-appeal-and-royal-british-legions.html

[Cockney Sparrow]

If I can commend June Tabor's performance - a fine singer and interpreter. I have most of her CDs and if she performs (not frequent these days) near enough attending a concert is always rewarding. The informative web page from which The Green Fields of France can be played points out it is from a live performance (I speculate from one of the festivals in Flanders (I have that CD somewhere)).

http://www.greatwar.nl/frames/default-mcbride.html

She recorded it earlier in her career, which is the performance on YTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWhOO9Q323Y

[teamsaint]

Lots of people wanted to know that, apparently!

Here's what he had to say:

http://johnhilley.blogspot.co.uk/201...h-legions.html

just to add, as above, I have struggled through the Joss Stone version,:yikes: and in fact I think there are two verses missing, as highlighted above.

THanks for the link, Jean.


As an aside, The Men They Couldn't Hang have been performing this song, with its full anti war message, as a centrpiece of their set for over 30 years. They often promote this cause, Mines Action Group.

http://www.maginternational.org/

[amateur51]

Well the things that you mention are marginal issues compared to the whole thing.

I think that people who make the argument that you make are just being narcissistic and attention seeking.

And lt's face it, BO should know.

[Mary Chambers]

I don't know that song in either version. I tend to avoid such things. What has been done to it sounds shocking, but I am not surprised.

I always like to quote Robert Southey's poem from 1796, After Blenheim. Nothing much has changed. It describes an old man trying to explain to his young grandchildren why they have found a skull while playing outside, and finishes

"But what good came of it at last?"
Quoth little Peterkin.
"Why, that I cannot tell" said he,
"But 'twas a famous victory".

[amateur51]

This remarkable ending to a wonderful film says it all for me ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RJCSMG1yTE

[Beef Oven!]

Hurrah!


The ceramic poppies at the Tower of London will now be lit until midnight so more can people can view them.


http://i.imgur.com/GlC2gok.jpg

[amateur51]

Hurrah!


The ceramic poppies at the Tower of London will now be lit until midnight so more can people can view them.

Whatever happened to austerity?


Perhaps after his grand day out in Finland, George feels that he can flash the cash a bit? :erm:

Bread and circuses anyone? :whistle:

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Whatever happened to austerity?

I suspect that someone other than the poppy fund is making a bob or two out of all this.

[amateur51]

I suspect that someone other than the poppy fund is making a bob or two out of all this.

I can't see Queenie putting all the extra shillings in meter to keep this charade going out of one's own handbag.

[Flosshilde]

You are quite right Jean, the verse you quote is excluded, along with the previous verse. I have highlighted above the excluded sections.

Really appalling. And , unsurprising

I would love to know whAt Eric Bogle has to say about this.

As for the artistic merits of the Joss Stone version........words fail.

And the RBL response is here - http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/abou...n-poppy-single

Weasely is the word that springs to mind.