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FROM CD #2:
Lilly Dale

Words and music by H.S. Thom(p)son

Liner Notes

A Portrait of the Artist

In the published version of these notes I stated the identity of H.S. Thom(p)son was a mystery except for his Boston connection and general period of activity. Ongoing research by Mr. Richey is rapidly increasing what we know, and a synopsis can be found in the About the Composer page; further details will be published as available.

According to Oliver St. John Gogarty in his essay James Joyce as a Tenor, Joyce "heard singing in his nursery and nature had endowed him with a musical ear." As to the early use of that ear, a good — but unanswerable — puzzle for Joyceans is whether the substitution of "place" for "grave" in young Stephen's version of this song is the result of bowdlerizing by his elders — unlikely, in my opinion — or his first recorded wordsmithery.
[CD liner notes by Kevin McDermott]

Text Citation »

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