Billy Bragg - A Pict Song

Lyrics by Rudyard Kipling, song by Billy Bragg.

[@ruthdixon7807]

billy bragg at his absolute best, as he sets kipling's verse to abrasive guitar that harks bark to his earliest work.

[@oskarzoroaster9789]

The Man who would be King was one of my favourite R.K. stories as a child, excellent movie (1975) as well

[@CydnotCharrise1]

I LOVE this song, love love love it! So glad to find it here.

[@CydnotCharrise1]

Anyone know the lyrics?

[@havegunwilltravl]

They seem pretty clear to me.

[@MrJDFrog]

@@CydnotCharrise1 www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46784/a-pict-song

[@CydnotCharrise1]

@@MrJDFrog Thanks!

[@dondrummond2598]

One of my favorites for SURE.

[@patkelly3966]

The real Don Drummond? Jamaican don drummond?

[@patkelly3966]

sorry pls excuse the lower case i just wanted to type quicker

[@hieronymus9]

I've been used to Leslie Fish's setting, but I have to say this one has more music and more power through the dialog between the voice and the guitar.

[@patkelly3966]

Kipling?

[@TheGreatGoku94]

Unfortunately.

[@drtoonie]

I am unreasonably annoyed with the tone and tempo he chose for this. The whole point of the song is about small fey-like folk who have been subjugated by Rome and (like rats and moths) secretly scurry around undermining things. Hell, the last four lines in the poem are punctuated with exclamation marks! This is a battle song for wee fey imps, it's not a ballad that you slowly croon while your electric instruments threaten to drown you out.

[@IanSlinger]

You might prefer Emerald Rose's version, then! It was the first one I heard, and probably still my favorite: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n2q2k5l4dtVqatU

[@martinprocter4246]

I'd take an opposing view. I've always interpreted it as from the point of view that YOU might THINK we are 'small fey-like folk,' but at your risk, we are in fact much stronger, more resilient, more resourceful, more intelligent and perhaps more dangerous than you realise, hence (in my opinion) the proud and forceful way in which it is delivered. Just my opinion...

[@seanmalloy7249]

Another version is this one, sung to Leslie Fish's scoring: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3OvgpymmJiSfas

[@jokiskywalker5417]

Where did you get fey-folk from? I assumed this was straightforwardly about the Picts (and maybe about the British Empire between the lines)

[@TomorrowWeLive]

@@jokiskywalker5417 the Picts were often identified with fairy folk in later folklore, much like the original inhabitants of Ireland who went underground to become the aes sídhe. Nobody knows very much about the real actual Picts anyway.

[@boogiewoogie1178]

Not gonna sugar coat it, this is probably the worst rendition of this i've heard.