Shared by Detraymond via Wikpedia Creative Commons Licence
I have been aiming to write about how World War 2 has been covered in contemporary song lyrics. There is of course a debate whether or not song lyrics can be defined as 'poetry' and I am not going to attempt to resolve this.
Anyhow. one track I have recently discovered is 'Capel-Le- Ferne' by Sussex singer songwriter, Greg Harper from an album titled 'Well Spun Lies' , and is about a former Battle of Britain pilot reminiscing.Greg has kindly agreed to allow me to reproduce the lyrics in full.
CAPEL-LE-FERNE
I remember that summer a long time ago
The waiting and the weather wondering if they’d show
Flying high over white cliffs over fields and sand
Looking down and protecting this green pleasant land
Now they ask was it exciting well you must’ve been so proud
A swooping and a soaring way up in the clouds
Mister how many did you get how many did you kill
But me I think of lost friends I’m thinking of them still
But if you ask me I’ll tell you
It felt just like dancing
Dancing on air
A dance for survival
A dance of despair
A life on the edge
Living life to the full
For death or glory
Oh glory so cruel
So I stand on the white cliffs at Capel-le-Ferne
There’s a band and a fly past how the years have flown
As I stand in the crowd there I feel so alone
Well the few they get fewer and soon we’ll be gone
But if you ask me I’ll tell you
It felt just like dancing
Dancing on air
A dance for survival
A dance of despair
A life on the edge
Living life to the full
For death or glory
Oh glory so cruel
Works well both as a poem and a song. I asked Greg via email for further background to the song:
"At the beginning of July 2010 I visited the Battle Of Britain memorial site at Capel-le-Ferne, Kent. It was just a couple of days before the annual ceremony, which is held to mark and remember the start of the battle. As I stood there on the cliff edge looking towards France, I tried to imagine what the remaining members of the Few might be thinking each time they attended the event over the years. What thoughts did they have as the dignitaries spoke, as the band played and the flypast went over their heads? My song Capel-le-Ferne is what I imagine they might have been thinking, on that day, and maybe every other day for the preceding 70 years. Now in March 2020, 10 more years on, only two of them remain "
To hear the track on line go to Greg Harper Music Audio webpage and look for the 'Well Spun Lies' album. 'Well Spun Lies' also features another superb track relating to World War 2, 'November Sky,' about the bombing of Coventry on 14th November 1940.
Links
Greg Harper's website
Youtube video of the track 'Capel-Le-Feme'
Other blogs by Michael Bully
Bleak Chesney Wold Charles Dickens/ 'dark' Victoriana launched February 2023
13th century history
A Burnt Ship ( Poetry and other writing relating to 17th century warfare)
13th century history
A Burnt Ship ( Poetry and other writing relating to 17th century warfare)
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