The Green Fields Of France (No Man's Land)

Sulla traduzione originale, tra le primissime dell'intera raccolta (2003) sono state innestate delle correzioni e le integrazioni necessarie dato che il testo della canzone inserito era incompleto. Un ringraziamento speciale a Tom Joad (non direttamente quello della canzone di Woody Guthrie il cui spettro echeggia in un'altra di Bruce Springsteen) per un'ulteriore correzione (nel refrain) che mi ha evitato un abbaglio clamoroso.

This version, one of the very first of the entire AWS Collection (2003), has been implemented with necessary emendations, as the lyrics were not complete. Special thanks to Tom Joad (well, not exactly that of Woody Guthrie's song whose ghost is echoed in a song by Bruce Springsteen...), who prevented me from an awful translation mistake in the refrain. (RV)

La libera versione tedesca della canzone, di Hannes Wader, ripresa da questa pagina (1980)
A free German version by Hannes Wader, available at this page (1980)

Versione francese di Renaud
Dall'album Molly Malone - Balade Irlandaise (2009)
French version by Renaud
From the album Molly Malone - Balade Irlandaise (2009)

La versione (letterale) spagnola ripresa dal blog Zapaterías rimadas. In un commento di oltre un anno fa, ci era stato chiesto se esistesse una versione spagnola della canzone, ed eccola qua; certo, è sempre un avvenimento degno di nota aggiungere una traduzione a una "CCG Fondamentale". L'autore della traduzione, ovvero il blogger, si fa chiamare Monsieur de Sans-Foy.

The (literal) Spanish translation as reproduced from the Zapaterías rimadas weblog. In a commentary of over 1 year ago, we were asked if there is any Spanish version of the song: here it is. Rather obviously, including a translation of a "Basic AWS" is always noteworthy. The author of the translation, i.e. the blogger, goes under the name of Monsieur de Sans-Foy [CCG/AWS Staff]

La traduzione spagnola proveniente dal blog Paraíso sin descubrir. Curioso che il blogger si chiami "Panzer Kanone" e abbia come avatar un carro armato... [RV]

Here's the Spanish translation reproduced from the blog Paraíso sin descubrir ("The Undiscovered Paradise"). It's rather astounding that the blogger's name is "Panzer Kanone" and has a tank as his avatar... [RV]

Adattamento gallese (cimrico) di Myrddin ap Dafydd (Martin Davidson) Arrangiato da John Abraham (1979)
Welsh (Cymraeg) version by Myrddin ap Dafydd (Martin Davidson)
Arranged by John Abraham (1979)

Words / Geiriau : Myrddin ap Dafydd
Arrangement / Trefniad: John Abraham



This adaptation of "Willie MacBride"exposes the futility of war, and contrasts it with the struggle for freedom in Ireland
(da/from questa pagina/this page).

Era stata reperita una traduzione portoghese della canzone su questa pagina di letras.br, ma era talmente scorretta (in alcune parti il testo inglese non era stato assolutamente capito) che è stato deciso di limitarsi a prenderla come "base" e a procedere per il resto autonomamente. [RV]

A Portuguese translation of the song is included in this letras.br page, but it is so uncorrect (some parts are totally misunderstood) that we decided to use it only as a "base" and to retranslate the rest of the lyrics. [RV]

Traduzione russa / Russian translation / Traduction russe / Venäjänkielinen käännös : Crimson King (L. Trans.)

Traduzione russa / Russian translation / Traduction russe / Venäjänkielinen käännös : Valera Suk (L. Trans.)

Зеленые поля Франции (Ничья земля) — это песня Эрика Богла, написанная в 1976 году после посещения военного кладбища погибших во время Первой мировой войны солдат во Франции. В стихах также делаются отсылки на шотландскую военную песню "The Flowers of the Forest " (Лесные цветы) и британскую "The Last Post" (Последний куплет).

"Это песня была написана о военных кладбища во Фландрии и Северной Франции. В 1976 году я и моя жена посетили три или четыре таких кладбища, и мы обнаружили, что там в основном похоронены молодые ребята" — Эрик Богл.

Come tutte le grandi canzoni, anche "The Green Fields of France" ha avuto ed ha le sue parodie. Ne presentiamo qui una in cui il soldato semplice Willie McBride da una risposta inequivocabile a Eric Bogle.

Hallo Otto!

Unglücklich haben wir bis jetzt keine spanische Übersetzung gefunden, aber unsere Forschungen gehen fort....

Grüße! [RV]

Eric Bogle: I don't like Joss Stone's cover of No Man's Land, but I won't sue
The Guardian



Apparently Joss Stone’s version of my song No Man’s Land has polarised opinion. I’ve had quite a large number of emails from irate or upset fans asking me if I’d heard it and why I could allow such a travesty. It’s upset me too, mind you, and irritated me as well.

Here was I in Adelaide, bumbling along in comfortable, crisis-free obscurity at the other end of the world, when suddenly a bushfire flared up back in the increasingly Disunited Kingdom, illuminating a depth of feeling about my song I hadn’t known existed. I usually don’t comment publicly on other artists’ versions of my music, but so many people have been in touch that I felt I should answer some of the questions I have been asked.

The copyright for No Man’s Land/The Green Fields of France is held by my UK publisher, Domino Publishing, who are ultimately responsible for approving applications to record it. When an artist wishes to record the song, they must apply for a mechanical license to do so from the relevant agency, and pay a licensing fee. Permission to record is more or less automatic, especially if, as in this case, the song has been recorded before.



Generally speaking, the first I get to know of any new recording is when I see any subsequent royalties appearing on my statements, a regrettably sporadic and generally minuscule occurrence. When the artist (or artists) in question records the cover version, they can, and often do, rework the song as to be almost unrecognisable from the original. This is especially true in jazz music, and is generally regarded as an acceptable creative exercise.

Although the publisher and/or composer could take legal action if they feel the original essence of the song has been irrevocably altered to its detriment, this very rarely happens. Unsurprisingly perhaps, the bottom line is that as long as royalties are paid, any wounded artistic feelings are usually put aside.

So then, to the most asked questions about this affair. Was my permission sought when Joss’s team decided to record No Man’s Land? No. Did I know what they proposed to do with the song when they decided to record it? No. Do I approve of what they have done to the song (missing verses, rock’n’roll arrangement)? No.



Believe it or not, when I wrote the song back in 1975, I intended the four verses of the original to gradually build up to what I hoped would be a climactic and strong anti-war statement. Missing out two and a half verses from the original four very much negates that intention.

As to the arrangement, however, it really comes down to whatever floats your musical boat. I would have thought a strong, mostly acoustic version would have done a better job of getting the message across, but that’s just personal preference – I’m a bit of an old-fart folkie. To do it acoustically and include all four verses and choruses would have made the song nearly seven minutes long and of doubtful commercial appeal in today’s music market.

There’s not much doubt that the shortened, up-tempo, rock-gospel version that Joss has recorded will appeal to a much broader cross-section of the listening public – and certainly to those who did not know the song existed until they heard Joss’s cover.

Is the strong anti-war message in the original song diminished in this recording? Of course. Missing out – or censoring, if you wish – some crucial verses does not help in this regard. But any diminishment is only in the eyes (or ears) of people who have heard my original. Those who haven’t must take Joss’s version on its own merits and make their own interpretation.

Does it follow that her cover glorifies war instead of condemning it? In my opinion it certainly doesn’t glorify it, but it doesn’t condemn it either. It starts off promisingly enough and then turns into a sing-along chorus type of song. Sentimentalising perhaps, trivialising even, but not glorifying.

Will my publisher or I be suing Joss Stone, Jeff Beck or the British Legion? You have to be joking. I can’t help feeling the longer this schemozzle drags on – peaceniks and tree hugging hippies versus the military/industrial/political homogeny – the more obscured the song’s message will become.

I would have wished for a version of my song that could have been truer to my original intentions in writing it: illustrating the utter waste of war while paying tribute to the courage and sacrifice of those brave young men who fought. But if Joss’s cover touches a heart or two here and there and makes some people reflect, perhaps for the first time, on the true price of war, then her version will have a measure of validity and value