Blood Red Roses
A stirring number for the Twickenham crowd to encourage the England pack to batter the opposition:
Admittedly, it would sound more intimidating sung by someone with a more powerful voice than Sting’s, but it sends a shiver down my spine each time I hear it, nonetheless. (Film trivia: this is one of the shanties sung by the crew of the Pequod in Moby Dick as the ship leaves port on its fateful journey.)
The song is from the awesome Rogue’s Gallery, a collection of music to which I owe a long overdue tip o’ the hat. If you have any seafaring blood in your veins, you’ll love a good number of the tracks on this album (there’re 43 of them). They’re mostly sea shanties and folk songs, many of which have been given contemporary or else novel treatments. Here are some choice cuts courtesy of YouTube:
Cape Cod Girls - Baby Gramps
Fathom the Bowl - John C. Reilly
Bulley in the Alley - Three Pruned Men
A Drop of Nelson’s Blood - Jarvis Cocker
My Son John - John C Reilly
Hog Eye Man - Martin Carthy & Family
Good Ship Venus - Loudon Wainwright III (filthy and hilarious)
Sally Brown -Teddy Thompson
Tags: music