When David Guest first wore a vest and sat on his nanny’s knee
He said ‘Nanny dear, it’s awful queer to live in luxury
Some boys have all the toys and other boys have none
It seems to be unfair to me - something must be done’
David Guest was charming and his voice rang like a bell
But when he lost his temper he really lost it well
David Guest was quickly blessed with his father’s tongue
And he would gob to every mob who did pass along
At nine years old and feeling bold he preached unto a throng
Of nursemaids who looked all amazed that something must be done
David Guest was charming and his voice rang like a bell
But when he lost his temper he really lost it well
Now David Guest was quickly best in every lesson read
Made Cambridge dons suck their thumbs and tug their beards with dread
He crossed the sea to Germany in 1931
He saw the Jews were being abused and something must be done
David Guest was charming and his voice rang like a bell
But when he lost his temper he really lost it well
So David Guest puffed out his chest and he did rant and rail
And for this deed and at great speed they sent him off to jail
When he returned how his tongue burned like something had begun
The pain he'd seen just made him keen that something must be done
David Guest was charming and his voice rang like a bell
But when he lost his temper he really lost it well
David Guest could hardly rest - it caused his mother pain
And though she begged David said ‘I must go to Spain.’
As the Ebro flows David knows the reason why we’ve come
‘When the world’s on fire you mustn’t tire - something must be done'
David Guest was charming and his voice rang like a bell
But when he lost his temper he really lost it well
David Guest shot through the chest by a sniper’s gun
And the earth was thin we laid him in on Hill 481
And those who heard his final words made sure to pass them on
‘Leave me still, get up the hill – something must be done’
He said ‘Nanny dear, it’s awful queer to live in luxury
Some boys have all the toys and other boys have none
It seems to be unfair to me - something must be done’
David Guest was charming and his voice rang like a bell
But when he lost his temper he really lost it well
David Guest was quickly blessed with his father’s tongue
And he would gob to every mob who did pass along
At nine years old and feeling bold he preached unto a throng
Of nursemaids who looked all amazed that something must be done
David Guest was charming and his voice rang like a bell
But when he lost his temper he really lost it well
Now David Guest was quickly best in every lesson read
Made Cambridge dons suck their thumbs and tug their beards with dread
He crossed the sea to Germany in 1931
He saw the Jews were being abused and something must be done
David Guest was charming and his voice rang like a bell
But when he lost his temper he really lost it well
So David Guest puffed out his chest and he did rant and rail
And for this deed and at great speed they sent him off to jail
When he returned how his tongue burned like something had begun
The pain he'd seen just made him keen that something must be done
David Guest was charming and his voice rang like a bell
But when he lost his temper he really lost it well
David Guest could hardly rest - it caused his mother pain
And though she begged David said ‘I must go to Spain.’
As the Ebro flows David knows the reason why we’ve come
‘When the world’s on fire you mustn’t tire - something must be done'
David Guest was charming and his voice rang like a bell
But when he lost his temper he really lost it well
David Guest shot through the chest by a sniper’s gun
And the earth was thin we laid him in on Hill 481
And those who heard his final words made sure to pass them on
‘Leave me still, get up the hill – something must be done’
Contributed by Dq82 - 2019/5/19 - 19:44
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Note for non-Italian users: Sorry, though the interface of this website is translated into English, most commentaries and biographies are in Italian and/or in other languages like French, German, Spanish, Russian etc.
The ballad of Johnny Longstaff
Lyrics taken from mudcat.org
Any Bread? - Carrying the Coffin - Hostel Strike - Cable Street - Robson’s Song - Ta-Ra to Tooting - Noddy - The Great Tomorrow - Ay Carmela - Paella - No Hay Pan - Trench Tales - Lewis Clive - David Guest - Over the Ebro - The Valley of Jarama - Trespassers (da tiny notes)
David Guest was one of the last songs to be completed in March 2018. Dave wrote the tune after we abandoned an earlier version which had a much bluesier feel. The life of David Guest – Mathematician, Philosopher, Composer, Idealist, Communist - is captured beautifully in David Guest – A Scientist Fights for Freedom 1911-1938 which was compiled shortly after his death by his mother Carmel Haden Guest. In one anecdote we hear how the infant David met J. M. Barrie who asked him if he wanted to grow up. ‘Not if I end up looking like you,’ he replied! He wasn’t known to have a fiery temper in Spain but this quote from the adolescent Guest really captured my imagination..If you lose your temper lose it properly!
The names of David Guest and Lewis Clive along with Wally Tapsell from London, Harry Dobson from Wales and Morris Miller from Hull were etched onto a concrete monument in the mountains of the Serra de Pandols in 1938. Incredibly this memorial escaped the desecration and destruction of Republican monuments and graves that followed Franco’s victory in 1939. It was re discovered by a group of walkers in 2000 and is the subject of a beautiful David Leach film Voices from a Mountain