The Medusa Fora

From another discussion group:
has anyone heard The Pogue's rendition of "South Australia"? Does that instrumental they play at the end have a name?

I'm giving the song a listen right now to see if I can answer this question from my mandolin discussion group, but does anyone else know offhand?

I've never known what it is, either, but unless my ears are deceiving me, it's the same reel that appears in the middle of Great Big Sea's "The Jolly Butcher" (on their Up album). If they're not the same tune, they're awfully close!

I'd love to know what it's called, though.

I think we may have a winner -- following up on my hunch that it's the same song used as the bridge in Great Big Sea's "The Jolly Butcher," I asked about it over at the GBS message board and someone there said it's an old tune variously called "Salmon Tails Up The Water," "Salmon Tails Down The Water," or even "Salmon Tails Down The River."

Do a web search on "Salmon Tails" and you'll find lots of sites where you can listen to a sample -- sounds like the same tune to me. Plus there's this site, which sort of corroborates it:
http://www.broadside.org/music/rep/rep.html
On that page: "The second tune is a (possibly Scottish?) variation of 'Salmon Tails Down the Water,' found on a Pogues album."

Anybody else think we may have solved the mystery?

Excellent musical sleuthing! I'd be posting your research on MandolinCafe, the message board in question, this very moment but for the fact that it has been out of order for most of the day.

The Australian band Roaring Jack used the same tune (well, I am pretty sure it's the same tune!) in one of their songs, 'Ways of a Rover' (1990). I asked Alistair Hulett, the band's singer/songwriter, about this tune. This is what Alistair said:

'Apparently it's a polka from Kerry, and Kerry Polkas don't usually have
names ... The tune travelled over to the Borders, where it got adapted to the Northumbrian and Border Small pipes, and has aquired the title 'Small Tails Over The Border', presumably a reference to a raiding party of maurading salmon. Gordon (Potts) reckons you'll find it in this form in the repertoire of a piping family called The Cliffords. If all this info has merely whetted your appetite, and you need to know more about this un-named Irish polka that moonlights as a Border pipe tune, you can contact Gordon himself on gordon.potts@mcps-prs-alliance.co.uk.

'Thanks to Keith Easdale of the thoroughly excellent Glasgow band Calasaig, who many of you might be interested to know opened for Shane and The Popes at last year's Celtic Connection, for pointing me in the right direction in this little search. Keith also played Lowland Pipes on my album In Sleepy Scotland. Check out their website on http://www.rowanarts.co.uk/Calasaig'.

Hope this isn't sounding too much like an ad, but you might like to check out Alistair's website (http://www.folkicons.co.uk/alistair.htm). He's a fantastic songwriter and interpreter of traditional Scots tunes.

Andy
The Roaring Jack Archives
http://www.angelfire.com/folk/roaringjack

I'm pretty sure the melody in question is Red Haired Mary. I know Dervish recorded the song somwhere.

You can listen to (and download) a full-lenght mp3 of Salmon Tails Up the Water at the following website. It is the tune in question, but perhaps other songs (including Red Haired Mary) use it as well.

http://www.kenkolodner.com/greenfire.html

? what was it?

Deep Purple - "Smoke On The Water"

the lyrics are very familiar to me
lots of them i recognize are traditional
but did the pogues add anything all their own?

Benno wrote:the lyrics are very familiar to me
lots of them i recognize are traditional
but did the pogues add anything all their own?

yes the "fuck" at the end

seamus_mcshanty1 wrote:

Benno wrote:the lyrics are very familiar to me
lots of them i recognize are traditional
but did the pogues add anything all their own?

yes the "fuck" at the end

I thought it was "Shit" actually.

Heather wrote:

seamus_mcshanty1 wrote:

Benno wrote:the lyrics are very familiar to me
lots of them i recognize are traditional
but did the pogues add anything all their own?

yes the "fuck" at the end

I thought it was "Shit" actually.

- means just joking ok

Been searching for this all afternoon, and I think I've cracked it... It's a Polka called "Salmon Tails Up the Water".

And yes, it is the same tune as in Jolly Butcher by GBS.