Thousands Are Sailing

[MacPaddy]

I see. Could keep me updated with what you decide? I'd be very thankful!

[MrsSinclair]

I hope that this song is very played on the current tour. Why no video was shot for this song?

It will most likely be played everywhere except Drammen and Moscow, where the composer will not be in attendance. The Singer has been banned from carrying placards on stage. No video was shot simply because it was not a real single. We loathed making videos for songs that were singles, so nobody was ever going to succeed in persuading us to make any more silly films than were strictly necessary.

That's great. I really love your voice!
I could listen to this

Among "official" recordings, there is the version on the live CD that comes together with the Pogues' Ultimate Collection CD. Recorded at Brixton Academy 2001.

version all day long.

[PistolPaddyGarcia]

love this song and hear it live is the absolute high point for me. why some times was omitted the last verse of the song? had it been planned? luckily so is the song played again now fully live.

[philipchevron]

love this song and hear it live is the absolute high point for me. why some times was omitted the last verse of the song? had it been planned? luckily so is the song played again now fully live.

Shane didn't like the last verse, or couldn't remember it, or both. In consequence I too dropped it for years. It went back in around 2004 or 2005, I think, and has stayed ever since. Shane felt uncomfortable with the stuff about weeping statues and venal priests, I think, as he felt they had nothing to do with the subject matter of the song. As time passed and I considered this position, I decided he was wrong: they may not have had much to do with Shane's experience of emigration, but they were absolutely central to mine.

[PistolPaddyGarcia]

Thank you for your reply. There are so many beautiful versions of this song. The acoustic version from Completely Pogued is unfortunately too short. during the transition of the song in black and white would be a good idea to have the video.

[old barney greyheron]

I absolutely love this song ...I have a made-up personal song to this tune..about growing up on the caravan site...but haven't put it on the 'poems' thread as I was afraid of upsetting Mr Chevron...I may have sung it to chinaski..dunno...it's not that good and only one verse and a chorus..and full of references only my sisters would understand...so don't know why I even mentioned it...tomorrow I probably won't remember this post...alcohol or early onset altzeimers..you decide.

[philipchevron]

I absolutely love this song ...I have a made-up personal song to this tune..about growing up on the caravan site...but haven't put it on the 'poems' thread as I was afraid of upsetting Mr Chevron...I may have sung it to chinaski..dunno...it's not that good and only one verse and a chorus..and full of references only my sisters would understand...so don't know why I even mentioned it...tomorrow I probably won't remember this post...alcohol or early onset altzeimers..you decide.

It would take a great deal more than that to upset Mr Chevron. Publish and be damned.

[in_the_morning]

It's a brilliant brilliant song, one of my all-time-favorites. When, Mr. Chevron, did you actually start singing it live and what was the reason for not letting Shane sing it anymore? I mean, don't misunderstand me! I really can't say whether I prefer Shane's or Philip's singing on it, because they are both sheer awesome and they both give the song a different feeling with their different voices. And Mr. Chevron sings a slightly different melody in some parts of the song. I do love both, but what was the reason for the change? Did Shane not perform it well enough anymore, because I suppose after 1988 he became more and more unreliable and was sometimes not able to perform properly anymore? Just curiosity...excuse me if this question has already been answered...Thanks a lot anyway!

Have a nice day everybody!

[philipchevron]

It's a brilliant brilliant song, one of my all-time-favorites. When, Mr. Chevron, did you actually start singing it live and what was the reason for not letting Shane sing it anymore? I mean, don't misunderstand me! I really can't say whether I prefer Shane's or Philip's singing on it, because they are both sheer awesome and they both give the song a different feeling with their different voices. And Mr. Chevron sings a slightly different melody in some parts of the song. I do love both, but what was the reason for the change? Did Shane not perform it well enough anymore, because I suppose after 1988 he became more and more unreliable and was sometimes not able to perform properly anymore? Just curiosity...excuse me if this question has already been answered...Thanks a lot anyway!

Have a nice day everybody!

The transition from Shane to me is lost in the mists of time but it probably had something to do with the size of his workload and his growing difficulty, at the time, in maintaining his personal standards of performance. The kindest thing seemed to be to relieve him of some of the burden. Plus, I wanted to sing it.

[in_the_morning]

It's a brilliant brilliant song, one of my all-time-favorites. When, Mr. Chevron, did you actually start singing it live and what was the reason for not letting Shane sing it anymore? I mean, don't misunderstand me! I really can't say whether I prefer Shane's or Philip's singing on it, because they are both sheer awesome and they both give the song a different feeling with their different voices. And Mr. Chevron sings a slightly different melody in some parts of the song. I do love both, but what was the reason for the change? Did Shane not perform it well enough anymore, because I suppose after 1988 he became more and more unreliable and was sometimes not able to perform properly anymore? Just curiosity...excuse me if this question has already been answered...Thanks a lot anyway!

Have a nice day everybody!

The transition from Shane to me is lost in the mists of time but it probably had something to do with the size of his workload and his growing difficulty, at the time, in maintaining his personal standards of performance. The kindest thing seemed to be to relieve him of some of the burden. Plus, I wanted to sing it.

As always, thank you very much! I'm reading the Pogues biography written by Carol Clerk at the moment (again), it's so interesting...so many great and fascinating and exciting and sad stories in it...it's a pity that Clerk is no longer with us, because she seemed to have a great talent in capturing all your brilliant stories and the history of the Pogues and making it all a book worth reading, even for people who are not into the Pogues. I'm still fascinated how honest and open you Mr. Chevron talk about very personal and intimate things, such as that you once fell in love with James Fearnley. Love you eight guys forever! Keep going strong!

[philipchevron]

It's a brilliant brilliant song, one of my all-time-favorites. When, Mr. Chevron, did you actually start singing it live and what was the reason for not letting Shane sing it anymore? I mean, don't misunderstand me! I really can't say whether I prefer Shane's or Philip's singing on it, because they are both sheer awesome and they both give the song a different feeling with their different voices. And Mr. Chevron sings a slightly different melody in some parts of the song. I do love both, but what was the reason for the change? Did Shane not perform it well enough anymore, because I suppose after 1988 he became more and more unreliable and was sometimes not able to perform properly anymore? Just curiosity...excuse me if this question has already been answered...Thanks a lot anyway!

Have a nice day everybody!

The transition from Shane to me is lost in the mists of time but it probably had something to do with the size of his workload and his growing difficulty, at the time, in maintaining his personal standards of performance. The kindest thing seemed to be to relieve him of some of the burden. Plus, I wanted to sing it.

As always, thank you very much! I'm reading the Pogues biography written by Carol Clerk at the moment (again), it's so interesting...so many great and fascinating and exciting and sad stories in it...it's a pity that Clerk is no longer with us, because she seemed to have a great talent in capturing all your brilliant stories and the history of the Pogues and making it all a book worth reading, even for people who are not into the Pogues. I'm still fascinated how honest and open you Mr. Chevron talk about very personal and intimate things, such as that you once fell in love with James Fearnley. Love you eight guys forever! Keep going strong!

As Spider remarks, what's not to love?

[in_the_morning]

It's a brilliant brilliant song, one of my all-time-favorites. When, Mr. Chevron, did you actually start singing it live and what was the reason for not letting Shane sing it anymore? I mean, don't misunderstand me! I really can't say whether I prefer Shane's or Philip's singing on it, because they are both sheer awesome and they both give the song a different feeling with their different voices. And Mr. Chevron sings a slightly different melody in some parts of the song. I do love both, but what was the reason for the change? Did Shane not perform it well enough anymore, because I suppose after 1988 he became more and more unreliable and was sometimes not able to perform properly anymore? Just curiosity...excuse me if this question has already been answered...Thanks a lot anyway!

Have a nice day everybody!

The transition from Shane to me is lost in the mists of time but it probably had something to do with the size of his workload and his growing difficulty, at the time, in maintaining his personal standards of performance. The kindest thing seemed to be to relieve him of some of the burden. Plus, I wanted to sing it.

As always, thank you very much! I'm reading the Pogues biography written by Carol Clerk at the moment (again), it's so interesting...so many great and fascinating and exciting and sad stories in it...it's a pity that Clerk is no longer with us, because she seemed to have a great talent in capturing all your brilliant stories and the history of the Pogues and making it all a book worth reading, even for people who are not into the Pogues. I'm still fascinated how honest and open you Mr. Chevron talk about very personal and intimate things, such as that you once fell in love with James Fearnley. Love you eight guys forever! Keep going strong!

As Spider remarks, what's not to love?

Cheers! Hope to see you in the Brixton Academy again this christmas!

All the best!

[dsweeney]

I played the " Grace..." album at the weekend and had a strange experience. While " Thousands.." was playing, I had visions and images of the Irish people down below deck on the ill-fated Titanic, as if they were right there with me. I was polluted with Smirnoff red at the time so... And that got me thinking, what a great idea for a song, Shane ? Phil ? Anybody ? " Their bellies full, their spirits free, they'll break the chains of povery and they'll dance to the music... " I even have a title to work with, " Irish song of the damned ".

[dsweeney]

I would genuinely like to ask Phil how he himself would describe his classic tune from the "...Grace.." album, musically speaking that is ?
He probably won't answer but I'd be interested in how others would describe it as well. That it is hugely influenced by Irish folk cannot be denied. Yes, it has a more straight rock 4/4 beat to it but still, it leans heavily towards folk and as a famine emigration song this works well I think.

[darrencp22]

My favorite Pogues song.