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Sweet Thames, Flow Softly

from Freeborn Man by Ewan MacColl & Peggy Seeger

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about

Ewan wrote: This is one of several songs which I wrote for a BBC radio production based on Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare’s play, reset as a drama of contemporary London, became a fascinating exercise in improvised dialogue with songs serving as connecting links between the scenes. The Critics Group worked out just the right kind of improvisation and the quotation from Edmund Spenser’s Prothalamion had just the right kind of resonance for this tragedy of ill starred lovers:
Against their bridal day which is not long,
Sweet Thames, run softly, till I end my song.

The song refers to the pleasure boats that ply the Thames from Greenwich up to Hampton Court. Pay no attention to the fact that some of the places are geographically out of order. This is poetic license.

alternative title: “Flow, Sweet River, Flow”
words and music: Ewan MacColl

lyrics

I met my girl at Woolwich Pier,
Beneath a big crane standing,
And 0, the love I felt for her
It passed all understanding.
Took her sailing on the river,
Flow, sweet river, flow,
London town was mine to give her,
Sweet Thames, flow softly.
Made the Thames into a crown,
Flow, sweet river, flow,
Made a brooch of Silvertown,
Sweet Thames, flow softly.

At London Yard, I held her hand,
At Blackwall Point I faced her;
At the Isle of Dogs I kissed her mouth
And tenderly embraced her.
Heard the bells of Greenwich ringing,
Flow, sweet river, flow.
All the time my heart was singing,
Sweet Thames, flow softly.
Limehouse Reach I gave her there,
Flow, sweet river, flow,
As a ribbon for her hair,
Sweet Thames, flow softly.

From Shadwell dock to Nine Elms Reach
We cheek-to-cheek were dancing;
Her necklace made of London Bridge
Her beauty was enhancing.
Kissed her once again at Wapping,
Flow, sweet river, flow,
After that there was no stopping,
Sweet Thames, flow softly.
Richmond Park, it was her ring,
Flow, sweet river, flow,
I’d have given her anything,
Sweet Thames, flow softly.

From Rotherhithe to Putney Bridge,
My love I was declaring;
And she, from Kew to Isleworth,
Her love for me was swearing.
Love had set my heart a-burning,
Flow, sweet river, flow,
Never saw the tide was turning,
Sweet Thames, flow softly.
Gave her Hampton Court to twist,
Flow, sweet river, flow,
Into a bracelet for her wrist,
Sweet Thames, flow softly.

But now, alas, the tide has changed,
My love she has gone from me;
And winter’s frost has touched my heart
And put a blight upon me.
Creeping fog is on the river,
Flow, sweet river, flow,
Sun and moon and stars gone with her,
Sweet Thames, flow softly.
Swift the Thames runs to the sea,
Flow, sweet river, flow,
Bearing ships and part of me,
Sweet Thames, flow softly.

credits

from Freeborn Man, released September 20, 1983
Ewan MacColl - vocals
Peggy Seeger - guitar
Calum MacColl - zither, backing vocals
Neill MacColl - backing vocals
Kirsty MacColl - backing vocals
Hamish MacColl - backing vocals

Produced by Neill MacColl
Engineered by Nick Godwin
Recorded at Pathway Studios, London

license

all rights reserved

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Ewan MacColl London, UK

This site is maintained by the MacColl family, aiming to make Ewan's catalogue available to download.
Ewan MacColl is known to most as a songwriter and singer, but he was also of significant influence in the worlds of theatre and radio broadcasting. His art reached huge numbers through the folk clubs, greater numbers through his recordings and untold millions through the radio. ... more

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