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Does anyone have the lyrics to "Bells of Rhymney?" Can anyone even understand them? Is there a decent Byrds songbook out there somewhere?

Not surprised you are having a hard time fathoming them, Welsh ("Cymraeg," or "y Gymraeg"), is part of the Brythonic branch of Celtic spoken natively in Wales (Cymru), by some along the Welsh border. Not an easy language to master!

Rhymney is a town located in the county borough of Caerphilly, traditional county of Monmouthshire, south Wales. The place was well known for its neighboring coal mines, which used to employ almost the entire population, in the beginning of the 20th century.

The words are from a lament in "Gwalia Deserta" by Welsh poet Idris Davies, based on the pattern of the nursery rhyme "Oranges & Lemons," later set to music by Pete Seeger.

Oh what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney
Is there hope for the future?
Say the brown bells of Merthyr
Who made the mine owner?
Say the black bells of Rhondda
And who killed the miner?
Say the grim bells of Blaina

Put the vandals in court
Say the bells of Newport
All would be well if, if, if, if
Say the green bells of Cardiff
Why so worried sisters? why?
Sang the silver bells of Wye
And what will you give me?
Say the sad bells of Rhymney

bw

Unbelievable! Now I don't feel so inept. Thanks a million.

Okay, now how about LOUIE LOUIE...

Definitely not Welsh.

But there might be some crusty old sailors that can help you with those lyrics... <g>

bw

Some years ago while touring the UK, it was pointed out to Roger McGuinn by audience members that he had been mispronouncing "Rhymney" dating back to the version on MTM. The correct pronunciation is "rum-nee", not "rim-nee". Roger has since made the adjustment, both live and on record.

Budrocket: Thanks so much. I've often wondered where these lyrics came from and exactly what they were saying. Part of the 'Oranges and Lemons' rhyme appears in George Orwell's '1984'. This solves that mystery for me. Cheers!

Wow-GREAT info Buddy & Steve!! I knew the lyric, I knew it was about a coal mining disaster in Wales, but that was about it! Thanks, Christian

It's been a while since I heard the Byrds version - or Pete Seeger's for that matter. This tune is a regular song in my repertoire (I play it more like the Seeger version than the Byrds). I learned it 20 years ago and I sing a second verse. I presume this is from the Pete Seeger version but as I said, it's been a long time since I've heard any other version than mine so I could be wrong:

They will plunder willy-nilly,
Cry the bells of Caerphilly.
They have fangs, they have teeth,
Say the loud bells of Neathe.
Even God is uneasy,
Say the moist bells of Swansea.
And what will you give me
Say the sad bells of Rhymney

Your memory is 99.999% accurate:

They have fangs, they have teeth,
*Shout* the loud bells of Neath.

bw

Thanks for the correction! The verbs in this song have been a burr in my lyric saddle for some time. I've been playing this tune for a long time and I have to admit, I improv the verbs with regularity-sometimes I have the bells of Caerphilly shouting and the bells of Newport crying and the moist bells of Sanwsea screaming and the black bells singing and the grim bells chortling and the brown bells chuckling-you get the idea. It's pretty rare though when somebody yells out, "Hey you loser, the loud bells of Neath are shouting not saying!"

Bells of Rhymney...to me this song lines right up there with Tambourineman, and TTT. The Byrds Instrumental ..or should I say Roger's Ric 12 on Bells of Rhymney pulled the words and their meaning to the top and right in your face. You can feel this song. Absolutely a musical masterpiece.

Does anyone have the tablature for the instrumental break from BoR? I really just need the chord shapes; I can prob figure out the finger picking.

Cole

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