The Parting Glass: An Annotated Pogues Lyrics Page - Pogue Mahone
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How Come (Ronnie Lane/Kevin Westlake) The song, by the late Ronnie Lane and Kevin Westlake, was originally released on Lane's first post-Faces album, "Anymore for Anymore" (1974) with his new band "Slim Chance."

When the Ship Comes In (Bob Dylan) This song appeared initially on Dylan's groundbreaking 1964 release, The Times They are A-Changin' (click the link to hear an audio sample of Dylan's version).

Anniversary (Jem Finer) Here's some thoughts from Jem about this tune: "Written in a snowbound Boston on my wedding anniversary. Looking out into the slushy gloom I imagined a rather different scenario."

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Amadie (Andrew Rankin) For this one I paired my translation with the original French.

Original Lyric My Translation Voici une histoire D'un homme cajun Amadie Adouin Était son nom Avec sa guitare Et avec sa voix Amadie Adouin Était le roi..." Here's a story Of a cajun man Amadie Adouin Was his name With his guitar And his voice Amadie Adouin Was the king

With the release of "Pogue Mahone," the band consciously (according to an interview I've read with Darryl Hunt) tried to move beyond its roots in Irish music. The was obviously made easier by the fact that none of the members of the band at this time were Irish. While the trip across global musical styles was interesting, this song points to some of the problems with dabbling in other cultures. At the time of this release, band members (notably the Darryl Hunt interview; click the link above) alleged that the song is based on the true story of the great black Cajun accordionist (not guitarist) Amédéé Ardoin (1896-1941; I've never seen his name spelled as it is in the Pogues lyric). I emphasize race here since it figures prominently in the song and since Cajun music, at least in some quarters, is usually viewed as "white" music. For instance, the liner notes to Buckwheat Zydeco's "Menagerie" cd (1993, Mango records) explains the difference between zydeco and Cajun music this way: "Longtime fans know that zydeco is the exuberant, accordion-powered, dance music of southwestern Lousiana's black French-speaking Creoles. Don't confuse zydeco with Cajun music. Zydeco, with roots in the blues and R&B, is more heavily rhythmic than Cajun music... Cajun music is made by the white descendants of the French exiles expelled from Nova Scotia (Acadia) in the late 18th century. Simply put, zydeco is black music, Cajun is white." (The link above is unrelated to this quote, but does provide a nice overview of the history of cajun music. On the downside, it's loaded with all sorts of those annoying pop-up windows for advertisements. If someone knows of a better link for a history of the music, please email me. Thanks!).

Amédéé, a black Creole, was nonetheless one of the first artists to record Cajun music, and he provided the foundation for its subsequent development. From 1929 to 1934 he had several recording sessions, with the "Amedee Two-Step" being perhaps the best known. He was elected to the Cajun Music Hall of Fame in 1997. Stories of an incident like the one related in this song have circulated, but American justice being what it was in the south back in those days, no "official" reports are on hand to confirm them.

Original Lyric My Translation La sueur brulait Dans ses yeux Les blancs ont crié N'arréte pas Quand Amadie pouvait plus jouer Il demande a Cèline Son mouchoir The sweat burned In his eyes The whites cried Don't stop When Amadie could play no more He asked Cèline For her handkerchief

"Whites" here no doubt refers to the white people in the audience. Thanks to Matt for the French grammar lesson in this verse! Original Lyric My Translation Les bois d'Acadie Ils sont morts au fond de la tere Amadie s'en dort Mais si vous voulez Écouter sa voix Demande aux Ricains De la chercher d'en bas Acadia's woods are dead At the bottom of the earth Amadie's asleep But if you want To listen to his voice Ask the Yanks To search below

As noted above, the Cajuns of Louisiana are the decendants from French settlers forced by the British to leave Nova Scotia or "Acadia" (not "Arcadia," that's in Greece), and "Cajun" derives from that root word. This verse ends with a jarring bit of cultural dissonance. While Europeans use "Yank" as a shorthand for all Americans, here in the states, nobody south of the Mason-Dixon line, especially in a state that was part of the confederacy, would be called a Yank (nor would allow themselves to be so identified). So in this instance, "Yank" is not really an accurate shorthand for "white."

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Bright Lights (Jem Finer) Here's some comments from Jem about this tune: "Darryl Hunt wrote a song called Big City ... so I thought I'd write one called Bright Lights. Banal inspiration or what ... though come to think ot it titles have quite often been the seeds of my songs." Jay McKierney's Bright Lights, Big City (Vintage, ISBN: 0394726413] came out in 1984 and was subsequently adapted into a movie of the same title, starring Michael J. Fox and released in 1988. Both tell the story of a New York city yuppie who succumbs to the temptations of the netherworld of drugs and debauchery.

Oretown (Jem Finer) Here's some comments from Jem about this tune: "Dystopia. A song for all the towns sold down the river by greed and stupidity."

Pont Mirabeau (Jem Finer) Pont Mirabeau is a bridge in Paris ("pont" is the French word for "bridge") built between 1894 and 1897. This song continues Jem's interest in these structures (also see his "Misty Morning, Albert Bridge"). The lyrics for this one are based on the poem of the same name by French poet, essayist, and art critic Guillaume Appolinaire (1880-1918) that was published in his collection entitled "Alcools" (1913; english translation in 1964). Appolinaire was a central figure in the early twentieth century Parisian avant-garde. Although he served in the French army during the First World War, his life was cut short not by the war but by the great influenza outbreak of 1918.Jem used his father's translation for the lyric: "Among the things my father left me was a translation of Appolinaire's poem, Pont Mirabeau and a note saying that he'd love to hear it set to music. I adapted his translation to make it work as a lyric and wrote the tune in the romantic surroundings of a cheap Redcar hotel." Click here to open a window with the poem in its original.

Four O'Clock in the Morning (Andrew Ranken) I think this tune is something of a companion piece to Ranken's "My Baby's Gone" on "Waiting for Herb." As I noted there, Ranken's wife died during childbirth. Brutal song in that context.

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