Experimental northern folk trio Harp & a Monkey are breaking a period of silence with a new single today – and we have a video exclusive.
The song ‘Poor People We’ deals with such timeless themes as injustice, frustration and social protest, and the accompanying lyric video is suitably gritty.
Part of a new project the award-winning trio are undertaking to explore a wide variety of every-day human emotions and experiences, the Lancastrians are also planning to address anger, fear, frustration, loss, love, compassion, creativity and contentment in future releases.
This first offering (‘Poor People We’) was inspired by two 19th century industrial street ballads that originate from their native North-West of England: ‘Humanity Is Calling’ and ‘The Spinners Lamentation’ – both of which date back to 1863-64 and the great British cotton famine.
The famine was a by-product of the American Civil War, when many cotton-dependent towns and cities across the British Isles were brought to a standstill when the raw cotton they were dependent on from the southern (Confederate) states of America was successfully blockaded by the northern (Yankee) states.
Harp & a Monkey frontman Martin Purdy explains: “According to the Victorian song collector John Harland, the two songs we have referenced were printed as street ballads and sold and sung by workers who had been forced to try and find different ways to put bread on the table for their families. These workers were expressing their anger at the lack of support, such as any form of unemployment benefit, they were getting from their rich masters.”
Martin adds: “Although we reworked some aspects of the original songs, we ensured the essence remained the same. The frustration expressed has clearly continued to resonate down the ages…”
The artwork for the single also addresses this theme, as the flying ducks are based on the famous home décor of the character Hilda Ogden in Britain’s longest-running soap opera, Coronation Street, and a poignant moment when she moved out of The Street in 1987. In response to the comment that she must be glad to leave the décor behind, Ogden replied: “I’ve come in here more times than I care to remember, cold, wet, bone tired, not a penny in me purse, and seeing them ducks and that murial… well, they’ve kept me hand away from gas tap, and that’s a fact.”
The theme of the ‘Poor People We’ also ties in nicely with the completion of a new documentary (soundtracked by Harp & a Monkey) that can be watched by visitors to the historic Elizabeth Gaskell House in Manchester. The short film looks at the life and work of this ground-breaking female campaigner and writer who is perhaps best-known for creating such popular and hard-hitting Victorian novels and social statements as ‘North and South’.
Stream the single here: https://ditto.fm/poor-people-we
http://www.harpandamonkey.com/