Pulling hard against the stream

AKA	Do your best Do your best for one another In this world In this world I gaint my knowledge
1st Pub	Jan 1867

Lyrics

Harry Clifton

Music

Harry Clifton

Roud

RN1958

From UK Sheet Music (Personal copy)

PULLING HARD AGAINST THE STREAM
Written and sung by Harry Clifton, arranged by M Hobson.

In this world I’ve gained my knowledge,
And for it I’ve had to pay.
Though I haven’t been to college
Yet I’ve heard a poet say – 
Life is like a mighty river,
Rolling on from day to day, 
Men are vessels launched upon it, 
Sometimes wrecked and cast away.
So then

Do your best for one another,
Making life a pleasant dream,
Help a worn and weary brother
Pulling hard against the stream.

Many a bright good hearted fellow,
Many a noble-minded man,
Finds himself in water shallow;
Then assist him if you can.
Some succeed at ev’ry turning,
Fortune favours ev'ry scheme:
Others too, though more deserving,
Have to pull against the stream.
So then

If the wind is in your favour,
And you’ve weather’d ev’ry squall,
Think of those whose luckless labour,
Never get fair winds at all;  
Working hard, contented, willing,
Struggling thro' life’s ocean wide;
Not a friend and not a shilling; 
Pulling hard against the tide.
So then

Don’t give way to foolish sorrow,
Let this keep you in good cheer:
Brighter days may come to-morrow
If you try and persevere.
Darkest nights will have a morning,
Though the sky be overcast;
Longest lanes will have a turning,
And the tide will turn at last.
So then

Collected from singers on both sides of the Atlantic (Newfoundland, Canada, America, Ireland, Scotland and England) and found in broadsides and song books from the late 19th century on, Pulling hard has been an extremely popular song in traditional circles for many years!

Various different people have claimed to have written it, and its sometimes described as “Trad”, but whilst it may borrow phrases from other songs we can be reasonably sure that the original was written by the great Harry Clifton, and that it was first published it in early 1867:

Harry Clifton (1832 to 1872) was the son of a carpenter, and a successful singer-songwriter as well as performer. He wrote highly successful comic songs such as Polly Perkins of Paddington Green and A Dark Girl Dressed in Blue.

But he was also very well known for his so-called “motto songs” like this one, Paddle Your Own Canoe, Wait for the Turn of the Tide, and Work Boys and be Contented. He was perhaps one of the more respectable Music Hall songwriters and his songs often sold well as parlour ballads: sheet music for the respectable middle classes.

To some modern writers his motto songs have been dismissed as trite: promoting a particularly Victorian ethic of hard work as its own reward. Contemporary writers reported that his songs were equally popular with the poorer working class audiences, and this may be because they heard them delivered as songs, rather than just seeing them written down.

I accept it’s quite possible to read the lyrics above and dismiss the song as middle-class wishful thinking or propaganda, but listen to the version by Kirsty Potts below, to get a sense of how powerful this song can be in the right hands.

Sources:

• UK Sheet Music (1867): personal copy.
• US Sheet Music (1869): Digital Commons at Connecticut Univ Sheet music
• Kilgarriff: Sing us
• Entries in the Roud Indexes at the Vaughn Williams Memorial Library: https://archives.vwml.org/search/all:single[folksong-broadside-books]/0_50/all/score_desc/extended-roudNo_tr%3A1958
• Scott Early Doors
• Baker British Music Hall

A wonderful version by Kirsty Potts from 2016

Last Updated on November 28, 2023 by John Baxter | Published: April 13, 2020