''The Boston Burglar'' (
Roud
The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...
261) was a number one hit in the Irish Charts for
Johnny McEvoy
Johnny McEvoy (born 24 April 1945) is an Irish singer and entertainer of Country and Irish genre born in Banagher, County Offaly, Ireland.
Personal life
Johnny was born in 1945, one of four children with two sisters and a brother to John a ...
in 1967. It is a
transportation ballad commonly assumed to have been adapted in America from the
sea shanty
A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional Folk music, folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large Merchant vessel, merchant Sailing ship, sailing vessels. The term ''shanty ...
''The Whitby Lad'' / ''Botany Bay''. before the 20th century. The
filk
Filk music is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has existed since the early 1950s and been played primarily since the mid-1970s.
Etymology and defin ...
song
Banned from Argo
"Banned From Argo" is a filk song written and originally recorded by Leslie Fish, released in 1977 on the album ''Solar Sailors'', and later as part of various compilations (''Star Trek Comedy: The Unofficial Album''; Dr. Demento's ''Hits From Oute ...
's tune was based on this song.
Synopsis
The story tells of a young man who has been well brought up but turns to crime in the city of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, in America. Caught, tried and sentenced the man is placed on train to
Charlestown, and warns people to be lawful so to not end up incarcerated like him.
References
Notes
Footnotes
Sources
*
*
*
Boston Burglar, The
Year of song unknown
1967 singles
Songwriter unknown
{{folk-song-stub