Back Home in Derry

Going Forward

Listening to Gordon Lightfoot's Edmund Fitzgerald and the melody is the same as BHID, but BHID has a 'chorus'.

Anyone know if the Edmund Fitzgerald is to a 'traditional' melody?

buffalo909

From what I know Back Home in Derry's melody is taken from the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Christy Moore heard somebody sing it and took it from there.

Going Forward

After digging around I found more discussion on it here:

http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=55827 -gets a bit heated in places.........

and here:

http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=14740

and here, where it is claimed Christy Moore doubts the origins of the actual melody:

http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=19632&highlight=derry

Its a great melody whoever wrote it, but "The Wreck.." doesnt actually have a "chorus" as such, that only appears in the "Back home in Derry" version, which fits it perfectly.................

I think its fair to say that Bobby Sands generally gets the inadvertent credit for writing both the melody and words of Back home.... when he just supplied the lyrics.

GRMA

Bobby Sands sung the song in the h blocks, I presume he used the melody Christy Moore did?

Ipso

The lyrics aren't very authentic; the chorus should be "I wish I was back home in Derry, hey".