The Bricklayer's Lament - by Gerard Hoffnung

[dipsydoodle]

This a UK classic from 1958. Gerard Hoffnung addressing The Oxford Union. It's easy to find the whole narative just by searching but its far better just listened to : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZUJLO6lMhI

Hurrah for old fashioned steam radio where your imagination plays a part.

[Greyskye]

1. Musical Version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiGGQp4ocsc&feature=related

I started singing this regularly in my old Celtic Folk group after getting repeated requests for it. The rest of the band loved it, since it gave them a chance to take a break during the set. :D

My version was better than this guys though. I've got better comedic timing and a better voice. ;)

[dipsydoodle]

2. I hadn't realised it has converted as a song.

I knew Hoffnung's original almost by heart because when I was kid back in the fifties I found a typed copy in a library book. He was also famous for reading a hotel brochure in pidgoen english , which he'd obviously composed himself , with such gems as "there is a large french widow in every room " etc. On the radio he was our equivalent of Alan Sherman's Hello Mother Hello Father.

He was also a cartoonist and ran an orchestra for kids playing watering cans etc......lol.

I used your link and in some of the comments noticed that The Dubliners performed it to under a different title, The Sick Note, http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=T_Vfxuk8x_A

:hi:

[Greyskye]

3. That version is a lot closer to the one I did.

With the exception that the Dubliners singer is a tenor, and I'm a baritone. :D

I got my version from a group that played at the Texas Renaissance Faire. I've heard a bunch of versions over the years - The Corries and The Clancy Brothers are some others that I've heard doing it as well. It's usually done with a guitar backup though - I prefer it acapella, since you can play with the phrasing more, and give room for the inevitable audience laughter. :hi: Thanks for finding this one!

Hoffnung sounds like he was a great guy, glad I finally know the origins of the song!

[Turbineguy]

4. "Standing amid savage scenery...

the hotel offers stupendous revelations."