He was born in Hatfield and grew up in Hampstead, London. After training as an actor he sang in coffee bars. He became a resident at the Troubador folk club in Earls Court in the late 1950s. He joined Redd Sullivan's Thameside Four in 1961. He is a renowned solo performer of traditional songs in a very distinctive style, accompanying himself on his trusty old Martin Guitar; his style is marked by the use of alternate tunings, and a strongly percussive picking style that emphasizes the melody. His debut album, Martin Carthy, was released in 1965, and also featured Dave Swarbrick playing fiddle on some tracks, although he was not mentioned in the album's sleeve notes.
He has also been involved with many musical collaborations. He has sung with The Watersons since 1972, was an early member of the UK folk rock group Steeleye Span, and was part of the innovative Brass Monkey ensemble, which mixed a range of brass instruments with Carthy's guitar and mandolin and John Kirkpatrick's accordion, melodeon and concertina.
For many years Carthy has enjoyed a creative partnership with fiddle player Dave Swarbrick. More recently, Waterson:Carthy has provided the forum for a successful partnership with partner Norma Waterson together with their daughter Eliza Carthy.
In June 1998 he was awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours. He was named Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2002, and again in 2005 when he also won the award for Best Traditional Track for 'Famous Flower of Serving Men'.
Company Policy
Martin Carthy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Standing alone on a market quay.
As I passed her by I heard her sigh
As the military parade came on TV.
There were twenty screens in the showroom window,
Victors marching large and small.
As they wheeled on by I heard her sigh,
They called him Jack, they called him John,
He was there sat tight offshore.
They caught him cold in the heat of a battle
For a South Atlantic company store.
Mama told me, don't you wed a soldier
Don't ever marry your heart's delight
He will be gone when the fighting's done
And you will be left for to mourn in the light.
Every night I dreamed that I saw him,
Dreamed I never would see him more.
In my dream his body come floating
Away where the ocean rise and fall.
But it was not death that bawled in the alley
Came skittering up to my love's door.
It was not death that cried and howled
In the teeth of a South Atlantic roar.
But the bomb bounding down on the alley,
The bomb wrapped in a silver shell,
The bomb that plucked the face from my love,
Spread it wide on the face of the swell.
Oh, sweet and soothing showers,
Breathe upon his burning head,
Ease among his waking dreams
Whose tears nightly drench my bed.
For it was all a case of saving face
When they sent my love to the war
For eighteen hundred landless tenants
Of a South Atlantic company store.
Eighteen hundred landless tenants,
Eighteen hundred landless poor,
Eighteen hundred waking dreams
Of Empire long gone before.
In my dream I stand at Bluff,
I've an empty shell up to my ear,
The only sound the sound of cash
Being wrung from the snows of Antarctica.
Ring-a-ring-a city roses,
Victors march, and markets bloom.
The flame that melted my love's cheek
Come a-dancing the Iron Lady too.
The lyrics of Martin Carthy's song "Company Policy" tells the story of a woman who is standing alone on a market quay, sighing as she sees the military parade on TV. She had a darling boy named Jack or John, who was caught in the heat of battle for a South Atlantic company store. Her mother warned her not to marry a soldier as they would be gone when the fighting is done, but she didn't listen. In her dream, she saw her beloved's body floating away with the rise and fall of the ocean, but it wasn't death that bawled in the alley, it was a bomb wrapped in a silver shell that took the face from her beloved and spread it wide on the face of the swell.
The lyrics of this song are a commentary on the harsh reality of war and the purpose of war. It speaks of the injustices inflicted upon the innocent during war, as well as the exploitation of landless tenants by big corporations. The woman in the story is left alone to mourn the loss of her beloved, who was sent to war by the South Atlantic company store in the name of saving face. The song also speaks to the idea of empire and how it is long gone but still affects the present.
Line by Line Meaning
I saw her by the showroom window,
The singer saw a woman standing alone by a market quay, beside the window of a showroom.
Standing alone on a market quay.
The woman was by herself on a dock next to the market.
As I passed her by I heard her sigh
The singer heard the woman let out a deep breath as they walked past her.
As the military parade came on TV.
The sound of a military parade on television was audible in the background.
There were twenty screens in the showroom window,
The window of the showroom had twenty different screens displaying footage.
Victors marching large and small.
Uniformed soldiers in large and small formations could be seen marching on the screens.
As they wheeled on by I heard her sigh,
The woman let out another sigh as she watched the marching soldiers.
Oh, and oh for my darling boy.
The woman was sad and upset for her loved one who was away.
They called him Jack, they called him John,
The woman's loved one had two common first names.
He was there sat tight offshore.
Her loved one was stationed offshore somewhere.
They caught him cold in the heat of a battle
He was caught in the middle of a battle with no warning.
For a South Atlantic company store.
He was fighting for a company operating in the South Atlantic region.
Mama told me, don't you wed a soldier
The woman was warned by her mother not to marry a man in the military.
Don't ever marry your heart's delight
She was cautioned against marrying someone she truly loved.
He will be gone when the fighting's done
Her loved one would be absent and possibly never return after the war was over.
And you will be left for to mourn in the light.
She would be left to grieve in the light of day after he was no longer around.
Every night I dreamed that I saw him,
The woman had a recurring dream about her loved one.
Dreamed I never would see him more.
In her dream, she was without her loved one forever.
In my dream his body come floating
She dreamed of his body floating in the ocean.
Away where the ocean rise and fall.
The dream took place where the tides rose and fell.
But it was not death that bawled in the alley
The woman's loved one did not die in the alley.
Came skittering up to my love's door.
Something else made a chaotic noise outside her loved one's door.
It was not death that cried and howled
The noise outside was not a howling cry of someone's death.
In the teeth of a South Atlantic roar.
The noise was battling against the intense South Atlantic winds.
But the bomb bounding down on the alley,
The noise was caused by a bomb rolling down the alley.
The bomb wrapped in a silver shell,
The bomb was enclosed in a shiny silver package.
The bomb that plucked the face from my love,
The bomb exploded and completely destroyed her loved one's face.
Spread it wide on the face of the swell.
The explosion caused the mutilated face to scatter everywhere in the water's surface.
Oh, sweet and soothing showers,
The woman asked for peaceful showers.
Breathe upon his burning head,
She wished for her loved one to be comforted and cooled down.
Ease among his waking dreams
She hoped to put a sense of ease into her loved one's dreams.
Whose tears nightly drench my bed.
The woman shed tears every night due to the absence and loss of her loved one.
For it was all a case of saving face
Her loved one was sent to fight in the war to preserve someone else's reputation.
When they sent my love to the war
He was deployed to fight in the war.
For eighteen hundred landless tenants
He was fighting for a company that didn't care about its tenants or jobless population.
Of a South Atlantic company store.
The fight took place in a company's store located in the South Atlantic region.
Eighteen hundred landless tenants,
The company had thousands of people without land or work.
Eighteen hundred landless poor,
These people were incredibly impoverished.
Eighteen hundred waking dreams
The people had unfulfilled aspirations and hopes.
Of Empire long gone before.
These dreams could no longer be achieved due to the fall of the empire.
In my dream I stand at Bluff,
In this new dream, the woman is standing at Bluff.
I've an empty shell up to my ear,
She hears the sound of an empty shell in her ear.
The only sound the sound of cash
The only other noise she hears is the sound of cash being handled.
Being wrung from the snows of Antarctica.
The source of the money is from the icy terrain of Antarctica.
Ring-a-ring-a city roses,
The sound of a nursery rhyme is heard in the background.
Victors march, and markets bloom.
The victorious military parade is marching and the markets are flourishing.
The flame that melted my love's cheek
The bomb's fire had caused the woman's loved one's cheek to burn away.
Come a-dancing the Iron Lady too.
The image of the Prime Minister, nicknamed Iron Lady, seems to be dancing in the midst of the chaos.
Contributed by Natalie R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Daniel
on Lovely Joan
Hello ! The lyrics here art alle wrong. An' it's got tae be a frog-eater a-tellin' thee....