Lyr Req: The Dark Island (Alan Bell)

Subject: ISLAND MY HOME
From: GUEST,VIN
Date: 17 Apr 02 - 07:45 AM

Ello, anyone know the title and or lyrics to a song the choruw of which is something like..'fare thee well, fare thee well, my island my home.........now i must roam, to find a new land and to learn a new way, but i hope to return to my island one day'

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ISLAND MY HOME
From: masato sakurai
Date: 17 Apr 02 - 11:51 AM

nutty posted the beginning & chorus in THIS THREAD (The Dark Island).

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ISLAND MY HOME
From: IanC
Date: 17 Apr 02 - 12:12 PM

Well spotted Masato. This is the version of "The Dark Island" by Alan Bell of "The Taverners" and recorded on one of their earlier albims (was it "The Taverners"?)

The tune is trad. as far as I know and quite a few people have had a crack at writing a song to it, mostly without much success. Alan Bell's version was one of the better ones.

Cheers!
Ian

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ISLAND MY HOME
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Apr 02 - 12:43 PM

Also discussed, some lyrics: Dark I
and Dark I
The song Dark Island has been removed from the DT because of copyright reasons (George Seto clickie in thread 31293, indicated above by Masato).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: ISLAND MY HOME
From: nutty
Date: 17 Apr 02 - 02:29 PM

Ian ...... the common assumption was that the tune was traditional but unfortunately it was under copyright ..... which is why you don't see or hear Alan Bell's version anymore (It was even removed from his songbook when it was reprinted some years ago)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Dark Island (Alan Bell)
From: GUEST,Guest 2015
Date: 17 Jun 15 - 10:15 AM

Am listening to a version of this on Spotify.
The link is :-

Alan Bell : The Definitive Collection.

There's also some versions on You Tube.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Dark Island (Alan Bell)
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 17 Jun 15 - 10:27 AM

I remember Alan Bell telling me, some 30 odd years ago, that, when he wrote it, he had assumed that the tune was traditional. When he discovered that it wasn't he immediately dropped it.

It also works the other way round. He once wrote a song swore blind that the tune had been copied by some big name American songwriter - think Mr Carthy/Scarborough Fair and you won't be far out.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Dark Island (Alan Bell)
From: GUEST,JHW
Date: 17 Jun 15 - 03:00 PM

Google just found me The Dark Island Waltz with comment below the melody settings.
e.g.
"There is further controversy about this song. Alan Bell wrote words to what he believed was a traditional tune. Also, Stewart Ross of Inverness, Scotland wrote a very well known version of the song in 1963, after being assured that the tune was traditional. There were at least 4 English lyrics that were written in the 60's to versions of the tune. The Ross words were written to a very different version of the tune and are not a straight fit to the accordian tune.
Note: (From Stewart Ross' son) "There were no other words to the tune before my father's were written. David Silver wrote a set of lyrics in response to my father's appearing first - and has been paid and very usually credited for both lyrical versions. The tune had been played on the Scottish music circuit before being formally copyrighted and had earlier titles including Dr. MacKay's Farewell to Creagorry and Dr. McInnes's farewell to South Uist."
# Posted by radriano and taken from the page The Dark Island Waltz

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Dark Island (Alan Bell)
From: doc.tom
Date: 18 Jun 15 - 04:45 AM

I know the thread is actually about Alan Bell's words to the tune, but we seem to have slipped into discussing the tune - so. I was under the impression that the tune had been written (I know not by whom) as the signature tune for the children's TV mystery series of the same name. Anyone else remember it?
TomB

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: The Dark Island (Alan Bell)
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Jun 15 - 05:20 AM

http://www.springthyme.co.uk/1022/index.htm