A recent reference to Fleetwood Mac's Dragonfly set me thinking on The Byrds' and Bells of Rhymney, the connection being that both tracks are based on poems by Welshmen, indeed men from Monmouthshire, my home county. The former is by W H Davies and the latter by Idris Davies (1905-1953). Idris from Rhymney wrote in Welsh and (mostly) English.
The lyrics to The Bells of Rhymney are from the poetic work Gwalia Deserta, first published in 1938. It was inspired by a local coal mining disaster and the failure of the 1926 General Strike. The stanzas are based on the pattern found in the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons. In addition to Rhymney, the poem refers to the bells of a number of other places in South Wales - Merthyr, Rhondda, Blaina, Newport, Cardiff and the Wye Valley (also Caerphilly, Neath, Brecon, Swansea in the original).
Two decades after Gwalia Deserta was published, Pete Seeger used a part of the work as lyrics for his song after discovering them in a book by Dylan Thomas. The song was first released as part of a suite that included "Sinking of the Ruben James" and "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly", on the 1958 live album, Pete Seeger and Sonny Terry. Another live version was included on Seeger's 1967 compilation album, Pete Seeger's Greatest Hits.
The best known version is the one by The Byrds, recorded on April 14, 1965, and released on the band's debut album, Mr. Tambourine Man. At the time of recording, the song was a relative newcomer to the Byrds' repertoire, having first been performed during their March 1965, pre-fame residency at Ciro's nightclub on Sunset Strip, Los Angeles. Lead guitarist Roger McGuinn (then known as Jim) brought the song to the band after becoming familiar with it as an arranger on Judy Collins' album, Judy Collins 3, which included a cover version of the song. The Byrds were anxious to correctly pronounce the Welsh place-names in the lyrics on their recording, but, like Seeger, they actually mispronounce Rhymney as "Rimney" (it should be pronounced as "Hrumney" although the former rhymes better with "give me").
A number of The Byrds' early musical trademarks are on the recording - the complex harmonies, McGuinn's jangly twelve-string Rickenbacker, etc. Scott Schinder (sic) has noted how the band's rendition of the song "managed to craft the dour subject matter into a radio-friendly pop song without sacrificing the song's haunting message." The Byrds' recording influenced The Beatles, particularly George Harrison, who constructed his song "If I Needed Someone" around the same guitar riff that The Byrds had used in the song.
The lyrics
"Is there hope for the future?" Say the brown bells of Merthyr
"Who made the mine owner?" Say the black bells of Rhondda
"And who killed the miner?" Say the grim bells of Blaina
"Throw the vandals in court" Say the bells of Newport
"All will be well if, if, if, if, if-" Say the green bells of Cardiff
"Why so worried, sisters, why?" Say the silver bells of Wye
"And what will you give me?" Say the sad bells of Rhymney
The first stanza is repeated.
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