CHORUS:
Yes me father was a Geordie and Geordie’s understand
We’ve always had the dole queues, they’re part of Geordie land
Me father was a grafter and worked hard for his pay
He would take any job, many would turn away
He lived through the depression, hunger marches then were rife
We’ve always had the dole queues, they’re part of Geordie life
I’m breaking from tradition with this post, to share a totally different (and honestly my most favourite) side to Dad’s songwriting. Way before The Jarrow Marchers, my earliest memories of Dad are him singing songs from The Beatles and Lindisfarne, as well as his own pop style compositions. Quite often on Sundays he’d grab his guitar and you could tell his mood from the choice of song – if it was R.O.C.K. then it was a great mood, but if it was Fool for You then he was probably feeling blue.
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Ron’s a rent collector from Newcastle on the Tyne
He never turns doon a drink; whisky, beer or wine
The snow was fallin doon this one particular day
When an old woman invites him in and this to him did say
I’ve got just the thing for you Titty fa la, titty fa ley
To warm you through and through Titty fa la, titty fa ley
And he went where it was hot, thinking he would get a tot,
But porridge is al’ he got Titty fa la, titty fa ley
Tra la la la la la o’er the wall is oot
I wish I was back where I was born in Newcastle on the Tyne
In England’s North East country with all those friends of mine
Walking down Northumberland Street then ’round to Eldon Square
I wish I was back in Newcastle, I wish that I was there
I wish I was back in Newcastle, I wish that I was there
Three, six, nine, on the banks of the Tyne, here comes Bobby Shaftoe
Canny day doon the Waggon Way, we’ll may the Keel Row Continue reading
This is the third part in my series of posts about Dad (Wilf Mitford)’s achievements. It’s a summary of the impact of his work. All of the posts in this series are taken directly from an award nomination made by my Mum, Maggie, back in the late 1990s, which is an absolute gem in terms of the history of Dad’s folk music writing period. This is all of course just one part of his songwriting history. Before his venture into Geordie songs he wrote some great pop songs like ‘A Fool for You’ and ‘Sitting Here Thinking’, and in later life he wrote more about his own experiences in his album ‘Geordie on his Holidays in Spain’ and ‘A Northumbrian Geordie’.
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When going through Dad’s things I found this award nomination that my Mum wrote, no doubt with some input from Dad. It’s an absolute gem of a piece of writing as it clearly outlines what he produced, when, and the reception it received. I couldn’t resist sharing it. I’ve left it pretty much as written, with only a few changes to formatting here and there, and I’ve added some photos from the time to bring it to life. I’m splitting it into 3 parts so come back again soon for part 2!.
“Wilf Mitford has been writing songs for the last thirty years. Influenced by the songwriting of John Lennon and Paul McCartney he wrote his first ‘pop’ song in 1963 when he was fourteen.
In the late 1960’s he started writing contemporary folk songs which he performed in local clubs in the North East area.
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I’m very sad to share the news that my Dad, Wilf, passed away on 20th September 2022. Whilst he didn’t get a chance to see all of his songs published (I’ve barely scratched the surface!), he was glad to know before his passing that this project was well underway, and that his streamed music has received over 12,000 listens.
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When w’put wa hoose up for sale, w’got loads of nosey parkers
Who would caall around at aawkward times, when you’re in the bath and starkers
Y’knew they didn’t want to buy, they would aalways mek an excuse
Oh the trials and tribulations when tryin’ to sell ya hoose
There is a place in Newcastle’s West
Lately it has had bad press
Though people there think it’s the best
The bonny banks of Benwell
Mitford Music 