Goodnight Irene

Eastville Park lake


In Eastville Park there's a very active open air debating society that meets every morning to drink industrial-strength cider and declaim on issues of the day in loud and forthright tones.

On Wednesday I was passing and, in a change to the usual programme, they were engaged in community singing and were giving out a full-blooded rendition of the Leadbelly song Goodnight Irene, that gladdened the hearts of all those passing by.

It's a funny thing, but Eastville Park is on the banks of the river Frome and the other side of the river used to be the home of Bristol Rovers football club. They've since moved up the hill, but the supporters' anthem was (and probably still is) Goodnight Irene.

So that song has long been sung on the banks of the river Frome.

Does that mean anything? I don't know.

Does the river remember? Probably not.
As far as I'm aware, rivers don't have memories, but who knows?

Goodnight Irene - Wikipedia entry

Goodnight Irene - sung by Bristol Rovers fans

Goodnight Irene - by Leadbelly