1649

2 weeks ago by @jackketch

1649

jackketch

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Liner Notes

#folk #englishcivilwar #lefty
I teach the English Civil War and I’ve wanted to do a song about the Levellers and the Putney Debates for a while. This was where in the late 1640s after the civil war a radical faction in the army began asking for the right to vote. The words in the chorus are more or less a direct quote of what Thomas Rainsborough said. The movement was crushed later by Cromwell who considered them too radical - some of them were shot.

This whole song came to me today as I was out running - it popped into my head about 5 minutes into a 14k 90 minute run so I had to keep singing it until I could get home to record it.

Had a go at doing it on GarageBand on my phone - it’s completely new to me so sorry if it’s rough.

Lyrics

In 1649 the people dared to dream of better times
That every man could speak his mind however he did find

They dreamed of an end to things
And lots of cruel unusual things
Like how the rich denied the poor a say in their own lives

Chorus
‘I believe..that the poorest he
Hath life to live as the greatest he
And every man should consent
To his own government’
So said old Rainsborough there
With Cromwell frowning in his chair
For that was more than he could bear in 1649

For although much blood was spilled
From Marston Moor to Naseby field
When brave me asked to have their say
They are cruelly denied

And some that still dared to plot
Were put against a wall and shot
And so ended the fleeting dream of 1649

Chorus

The levellers have long been gone
But they live on still, and in this song
For their actions do remind us
To stand up for common folk

For the rich seek to command us still
Of whom to hate, and who to kill
And so I am reminded of
Those days of 49

Chorus

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