I Am Stretched on Your Grave
| "I Am Stretched on Your Grave" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| Written | 1979 |
"I Am Stretched on Your Grave" is a translation of an anonymous 17th-century Irish poem titled "Táim sínte ar do thuama".[1] It was translated into English several times, most notably by Frank O'Connor.[2] It was put to music by musician Philip King in 1979.[3]
It is set to the tune of "Taim Sinte ar do Thuamba", Hymn #47 in Danta De: Idir Sean agus Nuad (the Trinity Sunday hymn "Dia an t-Athair do shealbhaig flaitheas naomhtha"). The hymnal says the tune is from Munster.[4][5]
While the translation and tune had both existed prior to its first recording as a whole, and in various versions of melody and lyric (and all or most likely possessing a strong similarity), the popular and current versions are influenced or rely heavily on the adapted version by King, which was recorded on the group Scullion's first album from 1979 on the Mulligan Records label (called Scullion), and titled "I Am Stretched on Your Grave."
Album recordings
| Artist | Album | Notes | Release Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scullion | Scullion (self-titled) | 1979 | |
| Sinéad O'Connor | I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got | Credited King | 1990 |
| The Voice Squad | Holly Wood (TARA 4013),[6] | 1992 | |
| Dead Can Dance | Toward the Within | 1993 | |
| The Lennon Family | Dúchas Ceoil (CEFCD 167) | 1995 | |
| Kate Rusby | Hourglass | Credited King/O'Connor but altered it melodically | 1997 |
| Eden | Fire and Rain | 1997 | |
| Peter Mulvey (with backing vocals by Juliet Turner) | Glencree[7] | Live album | 1999 |
| Blood Axis and In Gowan Ring | Witch-Hunt: The Rites of Samhain | Live collaborative album | 1999 |
| The Bringers | It's About Time | 2000 | |
| Iarla Ó Lionáird | I Could Read the Sky,[8] | Film soundtrack | 2000 |
| Peta Webb (of the band "Oak") and Ken Hall | As Close As Can Be (Fellside Records) | Credited P.King/F.O'Connor/Trad | 2002 |
| Drunk and Disorderly | Second Edition | 2006 | |
| Charlotte Martin | Reproductions | 2007 | |
| Abney Park | Lost Horizons | 2008 | |
| City of the Asleep | Transcendissonance | 2011 | |
| Runa | Stretched on Your Grave | 2011 | |
| Johnny Hollow | A Collection of Creatures | 2014 | |
| Craic in the Stone | Say Yes to Craic | 2014 | |
| Eithne Ní Uallacháin | Bilingua (Gael Linn CEFCD206) | New melody | 2015 |
References
- ↑ "Walsh's Irish Popular Songs", 1847, as "A Taim Sinte air do Thuamba"
- ↑ O'Connor, Frank (trans). "I am Stretched on Your Grave". Lucy, Seán, (ed). Love Poems of the Irish, Cork: Mercier, 1967
- ↑ Sleeve notes to 1979 Album Scullion
- ↑ An Lóchrann March, 1918, 2, noted by Fionán Mac Coilm from "Tadhg MacCarthy of Emlagh", Prior, Co. Kerry
- ↑ "Danta De: Idir Sean agus Nuad", 1928; tune of hymn #47 credited as "Taim Sinte ar do Thuamba", from Munster
- ↑ Sleeve notes to the album Holly Wood, 1992, TARA 4013
- ↑
- ↑ Real World Records