The Words of the Photographs

The Green Leaves of Willie McBride
Watermarked(2017-05-01-1231).jpg

ProShot, ColorStory (Tools/Crop, Candy Minimal/Bananas, Deep/True), Over

From the song "No Man's Land" (1976)
Also known as "The Green Fields of France" or "Willie McBride".
Eric Bogle. Scottish Autralian folksinger-songwriter.

Well, how do you do, Private William McBride,
Do you mind if I sit down here by your graveside?
And rest for awhile in the warm summer sun,
I've been walking all day, and I'm nearly done.
And I see by your gravestone you were only 19
When you joined the glorious fallen in 1916,
Well, I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean
Or, Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene?

Did they Beat the drum slowly, did the play the pipes lowly?
Did the rifles fir o'er you as they lowered you down?
Did the bugles sound The Last Post in chorus?
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?

And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some loyal heart is your memory enshrined?
And, though you died back in 1916,
To that loyal heart are you forever 19?
Or are you a stranger without even a name,
Forever enshrined behind some glass pane,
In an old photograph, torn and tattered and stained,
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame?

The sun's shining down on these green fields of France;
The warm wind blows gently, and the red poppies dance.
The trenches have vanished long under the plow;
No gas and no barbed wire, no guns firing now.
But here in this graveyard that's still No Man's Land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man.
And a whole generation who were butchered and damned.

And I can't help but wonder, no Willie McBride,
Do all those who lie here know why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you "The Cause?"
Did you really believe that this war would end wars?
Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain,
For Willie McBride, it all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again.
 
Glenton said:
The Green Leaves of Willie McBride
View attachment 93113
ProShot, ColorStory (Tools/Crop, Candy Minimal/Bananas, Deep/True), Over

From the song "No Man's Land" (1976)
Also known as "The Green Fields of France" or "Willie McBride".
Eric Bogle. Scottish Autralian folksinger-songwriter.

Well, how do you do, Private William McBride,
Do you mind if I sit down here by your graveside?
And rest for awhile in the warm summer sun,
I've been walking all day, and I'm nearly done.
And I see by your gravestone you were only 19
When you joined the glorious fallen in 1916,
Well, I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean
Or, Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene?

Did they Beat the drum slowly, did the play the pipes lowly?
Did the rifles fir o'er you as they lowered you down?
Did the bugles sound The Last Post in chorus?
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?

And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some loyal heart is your memory enshrined?
And, though you died back in 1916,
To that loyal heart are you forever 19?
Or are you a stranger without even a name,
Forever enshrined behind some glass pane,
In an old photograph, torn and tattered and stained,
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame?

The sun's shining down on these green fields of France;
The warm wind blows gently, and the red poppies dance.
The trenches have vanished long under the plow;
No gas and no barbed wire, no guns firing now.
But here in this graveyard that's still No Man's Land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man.
And a whole generation who were butchered and damned.

And I can't help but wonder, no Willie McBride,
Do all those who lie here know why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you "The Cause?"
Did you really believe that this war would end wars?
Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain,
For Willie McBride, it all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again.
Click to expand...
I absolutely love this image. The text is like an extra leaf. Wonderful. And what a song - heartrending.
 
Glenton said:
The Green Leaves of Willie McBride
View attachment 93113
ProShot, ColorStory (Tools/Crop, Candy Minimal/Bananas, Deep/True), Over

From the song "No Man's Land" (1976)
Also known as "The Green Fields of France" or "Willie McBride".
Eric Bogle. Scottish Autralian folksinger-songwriter.

Well, how do you do, Private William McBride,
Do you mind if I sit down here by your graveside?
And rest for awhile in the warm summer sun,
I've been walking all day, and I'm nearly done.
And I see by your gravestone you were only 19
When you joined the glorious fallen in 1916,
Well, I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean
Or, Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene?

Did they Beat the drum slowly, did the play the pipes lowly?
Did the rifles fir o'er you as they lowered you down?
Did the bugles sound The Last Post in chorus?
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?

And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some loyal heart is your memory enshrined?
And, though you died back in 1916,
To that loyal heart are you forever 19?
Or are you a stranger without even a name,
Forever enshrined behind some glass pane,
In an old photograph, torn and tattered and stained,
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame?

The sun's shining down on these green fields of France;
The warm wind blows gently, and the red poppies dance.
The trenches have vanished long under the plow;
No gas and no barbed wire, no guns firing now.
But here in this graveyard that's still No Man's Land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man.
And a whole generation who were butchered and damned.

And I can't help but wonder, no Willie McBride,
Do all those who lie here know why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you "The Cause?"
Did you really believe that this war would end wars?
Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain,
For Willie McBride, it all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again.
Click to expand...


This image is really relaxing to the eyes. I also love how the lines created by the leaves put me in a state of peace. :)
 
MissDee said:
This image is really relaxing to the eyes. I also love how the lines created by the leaves put me in a state of peace. :)
Click to expand...
I am very glad that your appreciation and the feelings that have caused you the image, fully coincide with my intended interpretation. With this exemplary anti-war song, as Jilly says, heartbreaking, I wanted to try to present an image which would represent the antithesis of cruelty, horror and futility of wars. Peace, tranquility, harmony... and always, the green of hope (in the future).
 
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JillyG said:
I absolutely love this image. The text is like an extra leaf. Wonderful. And what a song - heartrending.
Click to expand...
Gracias Jilly, y sí, es una canción muy fuerte. As I think it must be a song that wants to express and try to remember all humanity, the madness and the folly of wars, and how many human lives, and especially young, are lost, useless and cruelly. (A como creo que debe ser una canción que quiera expresar e intentar recordar a toda la humanidad, la locura y desatino de las guerras, y cuantas vidas humanas, y sobre todo jóvenes, se pierden, inútil y cruelmente.)
 
Spare
JillyG said:
I Walk Alone
View attachment 93140
Words from the song by Green Day (see above).
Enlight>Mixer for the double exposures, Repix>Daubs for the blobs.:D
Click to expand...

I like this in both versions (B&W and colour). Really nice interpretation and image. Esp like the balance of the 'alone' bit and the more detailed 'rest of it'. Kindof fits my unkinder *eyeroll* responses to the existential angst of thirty-something lyrics.
I do quite like Green Day, though - and they've done well to reinvent themselves just enough to stay relevant for (dunno) 20 odd years? without losing their, um, 'style'?
 
Glenton said:
I am very glad that your appreciation and the feelings that have caused you the image, fully coincide with my intended interpretation. With this exemplary anti-war song, as Jilly says, heartbreaking, I wanted to try to present an image which would represent the antithesis of cruelty, horror and futility of wars. Peace, tranquility, harmony... and always, the green of hope (in the future).
Click to expand...

It was able to communicate the right emotions. Good job on that one :thumbs:
The green color is very effective in creating a peaceful energy.
 
To Jen
(from one of her romantic friends :))
Watermarked(2017-05-08-1043).jpg

ProCamera, ColorStory (Chroma/Blue Skies), BeCasso (Leonardo, Emma, Rough Canvas)

From the song
"Tan Joven y Tan Viejo" (So Young and So Old), 1998
Joaquin Sabina, Juglar Español (Spanish Minstrel)

"(...) Apenas vi que un ojo me guiñaba la vida
le pedí que a su antojo dispusiera de mí,
ella me dió las llaves de la ciudad prohibida
yo, todo lo que tengo, que es nada, se lo dí.

Así crecí volando y volé tan deprisa
que hasta mi propia sombra de vista me perdió,
para borrar mis huellas destrocé mi camisa,
confundí con estrellas las luces de neón.

Hice trampas al póker, defraudé a mis amigos,
sobre el banco de un parque dormí como un lirón;
por decir lo que pienso sin pensar lo que digo
más de un beso me dieron (y más de un bofetón).

Lo que sé del olvido lo aprendí de la luna,
lo que sé del pecado lo tuve que buscar
como un ladrón debajo de la falda de alguna
de cuyo nombre ahora no me quiero acordar."

Translation to English taked from http://lyrics.wikia.com/wiki/Joaquín_Sabina:Tan_Joven_Y_Tan_Viejo/en

"(...) I saw that life twinked me an eye
I begged her that made with me what she wanted.
She gave me the keys of the forbidden city
I gave her all I had that was nothing.

That's how I grew, very fast and I grew so fast
that my own shadow lost sight of me.
I broke my shirt to erase my footprints
I thought that the neon lights were stars.

I cheated playing poker, I defrauded my friends,
I slept in the bench of a park like a dormouse.
For saying what i thought without thiking what i said,
more than one kiss gave me (and more than a slap).

What I know about the forgetfulness I learnt it from the moon
What I know about sins I had to look for it.
Like a thief under the skirt of a girl
whose name I don't want to remember."
 
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