History Lesson
"History Lesson" was first recorded by The Three City Four in 1965. It has its origins in Leon's frustration at school history classes, which he found tedious and stifling, particularly when the sunshine was out. (Leon attended school on Highgate Road, along the edge of Hampstead Heath, and would have been able to overlook the trees and open spaces while waiting for the school bell to ring.)
The lyric spotlights how children are forced to memorise historical characters deemed worthy of remembrance - Joan of Arc, Henry VIII, William Pitt the Elder, Francis Drake, Wellington and so on, while the wonders of the natural world lie out of reach beyond the classroom. Providing a clever slant, Leon weaves colours into every scene, running a visual thread through the whole song.
The number was clearly a favourite of Leon's and he has recorded it several times over the span of a few decades.
The lyric spotlights how children are forced to memorise historical characters deemed worthy of remembrance - Joan of Arc, Henry VIII, William Pitt the Elder, Francis Drake, Wellington and so on, while the wonders of the natural world lie out of reach beyond the classroom. Providing a clever slant, Leon weaves colours into every scene, running a visual thread through the whole song.
The number was clearly a favourite of Leon's and he has recorded it several times over the span of a few decades.
"The theme is not a new one - the contrast between school lessons and the world outside the window - but Rosselson's imagery, in particular the use of colours as threads of continuity, brings the idea to life and perhaps suggests that the two worlds aren't so utterly separate." - Stephen Sedley, sleevenotes to The Three City Four, 1965
"I remember the tedium of history lessons at school on the edge of Parliament Hill Fields, in London, when it always seemed to be a spring day outside, and the Hampstead ponds, though out of sight behind the lines of lime trees, were not out of mind. But the bluebottles were always more persistent than the butterflies and I could never escape. I had my reward when I passed my O-level history exam by memorising facts such as those in the song and I've since taught the same facts to others, so I suppose they must be important." - LR (Songs For City Squares and Sceptical Circles (songbook), 1966)
"The tedious recital of facts and dates and great men's deeds is just the sort of history our present rulers would like to reinstate." - LR (sleevenotes to Perspectives, 1997)
"I remember the tedium of history lessons at school on the edge of Parliament Hill Fields, in London, when it always seemed to be a spring day outside, and the Hampstead ponds, though out of sight behind the lines of lime trees, were not out of mind. But the bluebottles were always more persistent than the butterflies and I could never escape. I had my reward when I passed my O-level history exam by memorising facts such as those in the song and I've since taught the same facts to others, so I suppose they must be important." - LR (Songs For City Squares and Sceptical Circles (songbook), 1966)
"The tedious recital of facts and dates and great men's deeds is just the sort of history our present rulers would like to reinstate." - LR (sleevenotes to Perspectives, 1997)
Recordings
Version 1 (1965) Lead singer is Martin Carthy
Version 2 (1968) Live solo recording
Version 3 (1975)
Version 4 (1997)
- The Three City Four
- The Carthy Chronicles First appearance on CD of the original Three City Four recording
- Smoke & Dust
Version 2 (1968) Live solo recording
Version 3 (1975)
Version 4 (1997)