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Day Trip To Bangor

  • (Debbie Cook)

    Chorus:
    Didn't we have a lovely time
    The day we went to Bangor
    A beautiful day, we had lunch on the way
    And all for under a pound, you know
    That on the way back I cuddled with Jack
    And we opened a bottle of cider
    Singing a few of our favourite songs
    As the wheels went around

    Do you recall the thrill of it all
    As we walked along the seafront
    Then on the sand we heard a brass band
    That made a tiddly tum ta ra ra
    Elsie and me had one cup of tea
    Then we took a paddling boat out
    Thrashing away as we sailed round the bay
    As the wheels went around

    Wasn't it nice eating chocolate ice
    As we strolled around the fun fair
    Then we ate eels on the big ferris wheel
    As we sailed above the ground but then
    We had to be quick 'cause Elsie felt sick
    And we had to find somewhere to take her
    I said to her lad, what made her feel bad
    Was the wheel going around

    Can't you still hear the noise on the pier
    As we took a breath of sea air
    Having a go at every side show
    We passed along the way, we had
    Our fortunes told, when it turned a bit cold
    And a go on the tombola
    It was such a surprise 'cause I won a prize
    When the wheel went around

    Elsie and me, we finished our tea
    And we said good bye to the seaside
    Jumped on the bus, Flo said to us
    Oh isn't it a shame to go
    Wouldn't it be grand to have cash on demand
    And to live like this for always
    Oh it makes me feel ill when I think of the mill
    And the wheels going around

    As sung by Fiddler's Dram

Susannes Folksong-Notizen

  • [2000:] I'd heard that the song was really about Rhyl, which does have funfairs, beaches etc, but that Bangor sounded better! (Allison McGurk, uk.music.folk, 7 Jan)

  • [2000:] There isn't a seafront [...]. The nearest brass band is Porthaethwy (Menai Bridge) [...]. a) there are no paddler boats and b) you certainly wouldn't want to take one out on the Menai Straits at the time this was written - it was "lumpy" [...]. There isn't [a fun fair -] well, a little one in autumn with about four rides. [...] Eels? Not in Bangor [...]. There IS a pier, and a very good one too. Completely renovated to an excellent standard in early 80's, thanks almost totally to the efforts of the town clerk, Mr Gibbs(?). Worth a visit. (Steve Ashton, uk.music.folk, 7 Jan)

  • [2000:] An ex-pat Ulsterman wonders, mightn't it really refer to Bangor, the seaside resort in County Down? (Alan Crozier, uk.music.folk, 8 Jan)

  • [2000:] I grew up there, and always enjoy pointing out to the English that the Bangor in County Down is bigger than the Welsh one, which is usually the only one they know. BUT ... there isn't a pier in the seaside-resort sense, or a ferris wheel or side shows (not normally anyway), or eels, or paddle boats in the bay (bit choppy, it opens out into Belfast Lough). In fact the bay has now been filled in to make a marina but that wasn't the case when this song came out. No. I never thought of the song as referring to Bangor, Co Down. I reckon she was probably thinking of Rhyl, but it didn't fit the song (or Pwllheli which would be even worse). (Marjorie Clarke, uk.music.folk, 10 Jan)

  • [2000:] You are right it was Rhyl which does not fit the tune so it got moved along the coast a bit. […] How do I know this? Folk knowledge: "everybody" knew this at one time but most of us forgot! (Roger Gawley, uk.music.folk, 10 Jan)

Quelle: England

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16.02.2000, aktualisiert am 15.04.2003