In this episode, Jim Moray and Jon Wilks discuss the traditional song, “The Leaving Of Liverpool” [Roud 9435], where it came from, and the fascinating journey it went on to become one of the best-known songs in the cannon.

Along the way they touch on the history of sea shanties, the idea that songs can have a nationality, the concept of “composition in performance”, how ballad singers remember all the words, how traditional songs can alter even while in one person’s repertoire, the importance of the singer to the song, how a singer works as an editor for traditional songs, and why Jim is drawn to compare this song to “Don’t Look Back in Anger”. Phew!