Thousands Are Sailing

[philipchevron]

It's always been my sense that the dancing was in the metaphorical footsteps of Mr. Behan. As we've already set the scene in Times Square, a nod to George M., and I feelof course we are in the Theater District (imagine the soused playwright walking the streets as the hack-tors tear his words to shreds during the 8-10PM hours -- he cannot bear to watch, is to full to drink more, and so must walk), the entire scene makes absolute, perfect, symmetrical, brilliant, sad sense and needs no explaining from Mr. C nor anyone.

My interpretation is just my own. I don't claim it's more valid than any other. Call me a frustrated hoofer. James says it was he who danced up and down the street, so what do I know?

[TheIrishRover]

I always pictured Behan more or less skipping and somewhat dancing down a sidewalk late at night while full of the good stuff.

[philipchevron]

I always pictured Behan more or less skipping and somewhat dancing down a sidewalk late at night while full of the good stuff.

Yes, he was known to have very dainty feet, but don't get me started on this - I'm not due to have this discussion again with Shane for a few months yet. Shane finds it impossible to imagine Behan "dancing up and down the street" but is unable to explain why, if he's capable of a bit of lepping [former talcum king of the Northern Soul dancefloor is Mac, something I've witnessed personally many times] Behan would not also be. As Flann O'Brien [or possibly Myles na Gopaleen] said - "great at the leppin', the Irishman, it's one thing that will always stand to him, the leppin'. Wherever he goes in the world, he's renowned for it." Or words to that effect. And I don't think he had Michael Flatfeet in mind either. Then again, who knows?

The last time Shane and I had this debate, I silenced it with "Shane, Behan was Gay. Of course he could dance up and down the fucken street", a theory with which Shane found himself unable to disagree without abandoning a whole raft of dearly-held preconceptions.

[Eric V]

THAT was a good one. Thanks!

[IrishRover]

Philip, can Thoiusands be played woith oinly the plaoin choirds?
meanoin' woithoiut em' choirds Bm, Fm that seem to requoire loike 6 foingers..
anyway, can soimethoing loike thois beloiw be coinsoidered as genuoine chroids foir the song,
tois' froim that ultoimate guoitar place, but choirds seem to be froim oindoivoidual users..
oit goies well woith starts, A, D.. but these Bm, Fm.. not sure oif oi can learn em' sooin;




Intro F#m E Bm A

Verse:
A
The island it is silent now
D
But the ghosts still haunt the waves
A F#m
And the torch lights up a famished man
Bm E
Who fortune could not save

E A
Did you work upon the railroad
D
Did you rid the streets of crime
A F#m
Were your dollars from the white house
E A
Were they from the five and dime
F#m
Did the old songs taunt or cheer you
D A
And did they still make you cry
F#m
Did you count the months and years
Bm E
Or did your teardrops quickly dry
A
Ah, No, says he 'twas not to be
D
On a coffin ship I came here
A F#m
And I never even got so far
E A
That they could change my mind

Chorus:
F#m
Thousands are still sailing
E Bm
Across the Western Ocean
F#m
To a land of opportunity
E Bm
That some of them will never see
F#m
Fortune prevailing
E Bm
Across the Western Ocean
F#m
Their bellies full

And their spirits free
E Bm
They'll break the chains of poverty
D F#m E B D F#m E B
And they'll dance

F#m Bm F#m D A E A E A


Verse 2
In Manhattan's desert twilight
In the death of afternoon
We stepped hand in hand on Broadway
Like the first man on the moon
And "The Blackbird" broke the silence
As you whistled it so sweet
And in Brendan Behan's footsteps
I danced up and down the street

Then we said goodnight to Broadway
Giving it our best regards
Tipped our hats to Mister Cohan
Dear old Times Square's favourite bard
Then we raised a glass to J.F.K.
And a dozen more besides
When I got back to my empty room
I suppose I must have cried

Chorus 2
Thousands are sailing
Again across the ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Postcards we're mailing
Of sky-blue skies and oceans
From rooms the daylight never sees
Where lights don't glow on Christmas trees
But we dance to the music And we dance

Chorus 3
Thousands are sailing
Across the Western Ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Where e'er we go, we celebrate
The land that makes us refugees
From fear of Priests with empty plates
From guilt and weeping effigies
And we dance


D F#m E B /*repeat to fade*/

[philipchevron]

I'm not entirely sure what you've tried to change, Oirish. How can you manage a F#m but not some of the others?

Anyway, adapt it anyway it feels comfortable for you. Christy Moore was never able to manage the Gm chord in the chorus of "Faithful Departed", so he has been happily and successfully singing it with a G major there for 28 years now. I've noticed too that most recorded cover versions of "Thousands Are Sailing" crumble to shit on the chorus, either melodically or harmonically: why this should be will no doubt stay as much a mystery to me as my original intentions have presumably continued to baffle people all this time.

[IrishRover]

I'm not entirely sure what you've tried to change, Oirish. How can you manage a F#m but not some of the others?

haven't troied to change anythoing yet, the choirds are froim oine websoite,
soimeoine has goiven hes oiwn version of the choirds foir Thoiusands,
oi shoiuld have put oit under "quoite";

oi haven't yet learned to play F#m noir Bm so oi was thoinkoin' of replacoin'
em' woith soimethoing else? that was the question;

[fluke]

Hey Irish, when I was not able to play the F#m en Bm, I used to play only note 1 and 5 in a chord. That means for F#m 240000 and for Bm 024000. This made it possible to play the songs with the chords I didn't know. You need, offcourse to learn barre.. Good luck

[Billie]

I'm not entirely sure what you've tried to change, Oirish. How can you manage a F#m but not some of the others?

Anyway, adapt it anyway it feels comfortable for you. Christy Moore was never able to manage the Gm chord in the chorus of "Faithful Departed", so he has been happily and successfully singing it with a G major there for 28 years now. I've noticed too that most recorded cover versions of "Thousands Are Sailing" crumble to shit on the chorus, either melodically or harmonically: why this should be will no doubt stay as much a mystery to me as my original intentions have presumably continued to baffle people all this time.

Yeah, the chorus was what forced me and my band to never play Thousands live. It was somehow indecent...our chorus, I mean.

[Billie]

Hey Irish, when I was not able to play the F#m en Bm, I used to play only note 1 and 5 in a chord. That means for F#m 240000 and for Bm 024000. This made it possible to play the songs with the chords I didn't know. You need, offcourse to learn barre.. Good luck

another way, which is less spoily of the chord, is to play the first three or four strings... xxx222 or xx 4222 for F#m and xxx432 or xx4432 for Bm

still works good when I play on an ukulele, or when I have some quick difficult chord change or simply when I feel to play the chord somehow different and play around it a bit

[philipchevron]

I'm not entirely sure what you've tried to change, Oirish. How can you manage a F#m but not some of the others?

Anyway, adapt it anyway it feels comfortable for you. Christy Moore was never able to manage the Gm chord in the chorus of "Faithful Departed", so he has been happily and successfully singing it with a G major there for 28 years now. I've noticed too that most recorded cover versions of "Thousands Are Sailing" crumble to shit on the chorus, either melodically or harmonically: why this should be will no doubt stay as much a mystery to me as my original intentions have presumably continued to baffle people all this time.

Yeah, the chorus was what forced me and my band to never play Thousands live. It was somehow indecent...our chorus, I mean.

Don't sweat it. Confronted with Cole Porter's rich harmonic structure on "Just One Of Those Things", I knew instantly that the Pogues were not going to be interested in slavishly following King Cole's intentions; [nor, for that matter, did I feel we should, as we had already turned "Miss Otis Regrets" back into the folk murder ballad it seemed to hanker to be]. But I also knew, on the level of personal satisfaction, that I would not myself be able to live with a version that sounded musically illiterate. And that is why, for the first and only time on record, the Chevron fingers wind their way semi-fluently around a cittern, in a counterpoint melody line which "lands" correctly and apparently without artifice, at most of the important places in the song's intended harmonic narrative. By the time I have reinforced this line with a Russian folk music vocal choir effect (Volga boatmen, anyone?) it begins to sound as though this is what Mr Porter had in mind all along. There's a bit of an in-joke going on in there also, as Porter was a W.A.S.P in a field dominated by Jewish-Russian emigrés [the maestro's sexuality lent him an honorary pass anyway, which is a small but not insignificant point in a field where only infamy - the busting of the Babe's 700, the common-garden assassin, ].

So, while it would probably be more courteous to wait until I am dead before fubarring my songs, I am always happy and excited to hear a cover version which finds new ways of tackling the deliberate harmonic ambiguities in "Thousands Are Sailing" and, for that matter, "The First Day Of Forever".

[gam]

I don't know if philip Chevron uses a capo for this song but it make it easier if you put one on the 2nd fret,
so F#m = Em
E = D
Bm = Am
A = G
D = C
and so on and so on.

If you check out the thread for " some questions for mr chevron, about the story of FONY" on page two of the official music section, he gives his reasons why he puts a capo on for fairytale and other songs.

[IrishRover]

oik, thoise are soime ointeresteng recoimmendations, oi'll see hoiw oit goies
many thanks !

[Billie]

So, while it would probably be more courteous to wait until I am dead before fubarring my songs, I am always happy and excited to hear a cover version which finds new ways of tackling the deliberate harmonic ambiguities in "Thousands Are Sailing" and, for that matter, "The First Day Of Forever".

oh, we didn't intend to play it exactly as it was. but we never found a satisfying solution for it, maybe we will in the future (if our drummer ever comes back from Japan!)

Gam's got the optimate solution, I guess, for the chords matter!

[Nordlicht83]

Hello everybody!

I would like to ask if anyone knows who's meant by "Mister Cohen" in 'Thousands are sailing'?!

Looking forward to your answers & thanks for your help in advance!