Public Domain: Hanging Johnny

Stan Ridgeway: Hanging Johnny

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Part of the fun this week for me is going to be finding performances of traditional songs by artists you wouldn’t expect. There is no need to sacrifice quality to do this. Consider this song. I wouldn’t look to the work of Stan Ridgeway for a sea shanty, but based on this, maybe he should do more. The band he’s working with here includes another surprise. The English horn part is by Kate St John, of the Dream Academy.

The word “hanging” in the title is sort of a pun. On sailing ships, a sailor would hang from the halyard rope to give it a final tightening before a voyage. So this song is not about the gallows, but it has fun with the double meaning.