Michael Steele of the Bangles sings The Banks Of The Nile

Michael Steele and Vicki Peterson of the Bangles performed both at the Sandy Denny Tribute Concert in Brooklyn, NY at the November 21st, 1998. This is the Sandy Denny song The Banks Of The Nile, a british traditional, performed by Michael Steele of the Bangles, probably one of the most underrated artists of her generation, and a kind, warmhearted person to boot. If you like this, watch my Between The Two video and I'm Not Talking, too.

No matter how hard Debbi Peterson, Susanna Hoffs, and especially Vicki Peterson try to wipe out Michael Steele's credentials and revision the Bangles history, she won't be forgotten.

Lyrics:

Oh hark! the drums do beat, my love, no longer can we stay.
The bugle-horns are sounding clear, and we must march away.
We're ordered down to portsmouth, and it's many is the weary mile.
To join the british army on the banks of the nile.

Oh willie, dearest willie, don't leave me here to mourn,
Don't make me curse and rue the day that ever I was born.
For the parting of our love would be like parting with my life.
So stay at home, my dearest love, and I will be your wife.

Oh my nancy, dearest nancy, sure that will never do.
The government has ordered, and we are bound to go.
The government has ordered, and the queen she gives command.
And I am bound on oath, my love, to serve in a foreign land.

Oh, but I'll cut off my yellow hair, and I'll go along with you.
I'll dress myself in uniform, and I'll see egypt too.
I'll march beneath your banner while fortune it do smile,
And we'll comfort one another on the banks of the nile.

But your waist it is too slender, and your fingers they are too small.
In the sultry suns of egypt your rosy cheeks would spoil.
Where the cannons they do rattle, when the bullets they do fly,
And the silver trumpets sound so loud to hide the dismal cries.

Oh, cursed be those cruel wars, that ever they began,
For they have robbed our country of manys the handsome men.
They've robbed us of our sweethearts while their bodies they feed the lions,
On the dry and sandy deserts which are the banks of the nile.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• the
• bangles
• michael
• steele
• susanna
• hoffs
• soldiers
• war
• anti
• sandy
• denny
• fairport
• convention
• folk
• alternative

[mern9]

ah! she butchers this song! have any of you heard sandy denny's version? "oh hark, the drums do beat, my love" --that part alone she killed, it was one of the most beautiful parts in the song. also, "but i'll cut off my yellow hair" -- she doesn't sound like she can decide on and hold any note! she doesn't sound whispy or english, she sounds scattered and bad.

[DeathtrapDungeon]

She gives this song her own spin, too bad you don't like it but at least give her credit for not trying to make a carbon copy of the original. I like Michael Steeles version a lot. If you want to hear someone truly butchering a Sandy Denny song, try to find Vicki Petersons version of Listen, Listen from the same tribute concert. Now, thats a musical bloodbath!

[dsujk]

Michael was the Bangles for me... I saw she first in the videoclip of Eternal Flame in 1988, and she was so lovelly...

[jesperlp]

Michael is just plain awesome.

[conceptworld]

Michael did a sterling job on this song and North Star Grassman that night. The original poster obviously has some axe to grind with Vicki Peterson, who is still a friend of Michael's and has NEVER done anything to "try to wipe out Michael Steele's credentials and revision (sic) the Bangles history". Get over yourself.

[Gordrann]

@KennBurch - I remember Anthony Hopkins in "The Bounty" - the one with Mel Gibson - where he played Captain Bligh, and I thought he tried to do a period-correct accent, rather than the generic Brit accent, as you mention. If I'm not mistaken, it's rather close to a modern "northern" British accent. Seems like that particular inflection these days signifies their equivalent of a "hick"!

[KennBurch]

What's really nice about this rendition is that, vocals aside, it's also faithful to the "feel" of the instrumental backing on the original Fotheringay track-an arrangement that had both a poignant and somewhat disemodied "reverie" quality-the guitars give a good sense both of the feelings of rage and grief in the late Sixties-early Seventies that were produced by the feeling that the Vietnam war was never going to end and that a lot of people would die in it for no reason.

[KennBurch]

@mern9 If you knew anything about the history of the British Army, you'd realize that a person singing "Banks of the Nile" didn't HAVE to sound English, since there was a good chance that the sweethearts in whose voice the original song was written were Irish, Scottish, or Welsh conscripts. Plus, there's a lot of evidence that what we think of as an "English" accent today didn't even exist in the time of the Napoleonic Wars.

[Gordrann]

Oh, and by "complaint" I don't mean to complain about those things, just to acknowledge them. I personally find art that's TOO perfect to be less-compelling than art that reaches a little bit beyond its grasp.

[Gordrann]

In the end, I think her voice is a beautiful instrument which she handles with skill and feeling, and she so obviously sings this song with a great deal of love and respect. Again, she is a consummate musician, and is deserving of the same love and respect.

[Gordrann]

The only complaint I can lodge with this performance is perhaps a little shakiness at the end of lines, and maybe a little unsurety with some of the vocal filigrees. That could have resulted as much from a little bit of nerves, as from not being up to the challenge, as some here are saying. I imagine that the thought of such a naked vocal part by one of her favorite singers, in front of a crowd that was likely up on their Sandy Denny, might be a little intimidating!

[Gordrann]

This just shows what a fine *musician* Michael is. The song selection, the fidelity to the original (but not slavishly so), her vocal timbre (with which one is simply born), and her heartfelt performance - I really can't say enough good about her.

Add to that her other work over the years, both in and out of the Bangles, and her composing and lyrical ability, plus being a really soulful bass player (which is so rare), and I find a very high level of musicianship and all-round talent.

[poptrashadoll]

Beautiful, beautiful....beautiful.

[rawmark]

Absolutely loved Michael when I was growing up. In fact, she was the one i had the biggest crush on. Sure Susannah Hoffs was out in front but Michael was "it" for me!