Story of 2 New Songs and 1 Classic
From John Spillane, Passage West, County Cork, Spring 2009 …
PASSAGE WEST:
I have been living in the town of Passage West, County Cork for about 11 years now and about a year or so ago, an approach was made to me by a member of the local community who walked up to me in the street, pressed a book into my hand, and said, “John, would you ever write a song for Passage?”
Well, I was delighted with this approach, and gave him the standard reply: “You’ve come to the right place, Walty boy.” “Congratulations!. Welcome to the Hit Factory!”
And then I sat down and wrote this song, a new ballad called “Passage West”! Hope you like it.
PASSAGE WEST
(Words & Music by John Spillane)
I met my love in Passage west
The sun was sinking down to rest
The river to the stars confessed
‘Twas the dark haired woman I loved best
We wandered down by the Chapel Square
And there was magic in the air
And Mother Nature gently pressed
The burning river to her breast
I offered her a golden ring
My hand, my heart and everything
I offered her a sweet love nest
By the flowing banks of Passage West
Oh, love, will you go, will you go, will you go?
Or, love, will you stay, will you stay, will you stay?
Oh, love, will you go, will you go, will you go?
Or, love, will you stay, will you stay, will you stay?
We watched the ferry come and go
We watched the river ebb and flow
The tide breathe in, the tide breathe out
We watched the Passage flowers grow
The ghostly forms of the hungry years
In sad procession did appear
With hope and sorrow made their way
For their passage west to Amerikay
Chorus
The famine queen stood tall and proud
On either bank the people bowed
From Passage West came a Fenian yell
Rule Brittania, rule in hell!
The grass grows green on the other side
And mighty ships sail out the tide
To far flung harbours across the sea
Far away from Passage, my love and me
Chorus
LOVERS LEAP:
Sometimes I play gigs in a place called the Lodge Bar outside Mallow in North Cork. Down behind the Lodge flows the river Blackwater, and there is a beautiful place on the river there, a great cliff, all covered with trees, and a small cave down at the bottom of it, and the river Blackwater flowing quietly by. And the beach and the trees and the horses in the field.
Anyway, I was playing there last winter and was talking to one of the locals, and I said, “Only that t’is dark now, Robbie, I would have gone for a walk down by that beautiful place by the river.”
He replied, “Lovers Leap!”
I said, “What?”
He said, “Lovers Leap! About a hundred years ago in the town of Mallow, a boy and a girl fell in love, but they were Catholic and Protestant, and were not allowed to get married. So, they took themselves down to that place by the river there, and drowned themselves in the river Blackwater. And ever since, the place has been known locally as Lovers Leap.”
I said, “Oh my God, what a story! I’m gonna’ write a song about it!”
And then I sat down and wrote this song. It’s not exactly a laugh-a-minute of a song, like, of course, being all about suicide drowning in the river Blackwater, in North Cork. But I hope you like it.
LOVERS LEAP
(Words & Music by John Spillane)
About a mile from Mallow Town
There is a place called Lover’s Leap
A beauty spot of great renown
A jagged rock that rises steep
A lonely cliff above the deep Blackwater
The gentry planted all these trees
The oak, the beech and the lonely pine
And courting couples often please
To wander there and take their time
And breathe the beauty by the shining river
About a hundred years ago
Or so the local people tell
Under a weight of great sorrow
A handsome courting couple fell
To their doom inside the great Blackwater
Lover’s Leap
Forever in endless peace
Together in blissful peace
A Catholic and Protestant
Had fallen for each other’s charms
Their families would not consent
They fled and sought each other’s arms
They sought each other’s arms and fled
And dived into their marriage bed
Inside the cold Blackwater
They reached the rocky height that night
One last kiss one last embrace
They cried and held each other tight
Then stepping into endless space
They wandered out into the air
And left this earth for ever more
And reached the sad Blackwater
Their bodies wrapped in endless night
Their souls sailed on into the bright
Encircling stars and the caring moon
The sun shone down upon their love
From heaven’s branches high above the great Blackwater
Chorus
The priest he offered up the host
The river offered up the moon
And Jesus wept to see his name
Divided in a crazy game
And Mary sent an angel down
Who wandered on through Mallow Town
And reached the sad Blackwater
Chorus
THE DANCE OF THE CHERRY TREES:
This is a song I wrote about the cherry blossom trees, who do the business on the streets of Cork in the springtime of the year.
I was being interviewed about it on the local radio by DJ Neil Prendeville, and he said to me, he said, ‘That’s a beautiful song you wrote about the cherry trees, John! You even have the trees talking, like! But come here! What were you on when you wrote it?”
Quick as a whip I replied, “I was on the bus to Passage West, Neil!”
I gave myself ten out of ten for that!
Fair play to me! Fair play to us all!
THE DANCE OF THE CHERRY TREES
(Words & Music by John Spillane)
Let me tell ya ‘bout the cherry trees
Every April in our town
They put on the most outrageous clothes
And they sing and they dance around.
Hardly anybody sings or dances
Hardly anybody dances or sings
In this town that I call my own
You have to hand it to the cherry trees
And they seem to be saying, to me anyway
“You know we’ve traveled all around the sun
You know it’s taken us one whole year
Well done, everyone, well done.”
On behalf of me and the Cherry trees,
WELL DONE! - Well done, everyone!
Cherry blossom in the air
Cherry blossom on the street
Cherry blossom in your hair
And a blossom at your feet
Chorus
You know me, sometimes I think I’m getting old
Not as young as I used to be
So it means even more to me
To see the dance of the cherry trees
And they seem to be saying, is it only to me?
Chorus