♫ Ferry Cross The Mersey ♫ (Redux In Memoriam)

Posted on by under music

Yes, I know I just played this one back in June, but tonight this is rather a tribute, for yesterday, 03 January 2021, Gerry Marsden, the frontman of Gerry and the Pacemakers, died at the age of 78.  I thought a bit of a tribute was fitting, and so I am reduxing this, probably the song he is most known for. 

Marsden-1960s

Gerry Marsden in the 1960s

marsden-2009

Gerry Marsden in 2009

Marsden went into hospital on Boxing Day after tests showed he had a serious blood infection that had travelled to his heart. His daughter Yvette Marbeck told the PA news agency: “My sister Vicky and myself have always been very, very proud of Dad … He was our hero, wonderful.”

Paul McCartney paid homage on Twitter …

McCartney-Gerry

R.I.P. Mr. Marsden, and thank you for some wonderful music!

This is the first time I’ve featured a song by the group Gerry and the Pacemakers, in part because I can only think of two songs by them … this one and Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying.

Gerry and the Pacemakers were an English beat group prominent in the 1960s. In common with the Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein, and were recorded by George Martin.  Gerry Marsden formed the group in 1959 with his brother Fred, Les Chadwick, and Arthur McMahon. They rivalled the Beatles early in their career, playing in the same areas of Hamburg and Liverpool.

This song was written by Gerry Marsden and released in late 1964 in the UK and in 1965 in the United States, becoming a hit in both countries, #8 in the UK and #6 in the U.S.

“Mersey” refers to the River Mersey in northwest England, a river that flows into the Irish Sea at Liverpool. The Mersey Ferry runs between Liverpool and Birkenhead and Seacombe on the Wirral.

Ferry Cross The Mersey
Gerry and the Pacemakers

Life goes on day after day
Hearts torn in every way

So ferry ‘cross the Mersey
‘Cause this land’s the place I love
And here I’ll stay

People they rush everywhere
Each with their own secret care
So ferry ‘cross the Mersey
And always take me there
The place I love

People around every corner
They seem to smile and say
We don’t care what your name is boy
We’ll never turn you away

So I’ll continue to say
Here I always will stay

So ferry ‘cross the Mersey’
Cause this land’s the place I love
And here I’ll stay
And here I’ll stay
Here I’ll stay

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Gerard Marsden / U. S. Income Only
Ferry Cross The Mersey lyrics © Pacermusic Ltd.

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24 thoughts on “♫ Ferry Cross The Mersey ♫ (Redux In Memoriam)”

    • Indeed, his voice is melancholic. My favourite is “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying”, but a number of readers have commented on one that was never popular here, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” … I hadn’t heard it before, so I didn’t play it here, but it might well have been a more appropriate one, under the circumstances.

      Liked by 2 people

  6. Sorry to see him go, but we each have our time to die. (Not meaning fate or predestination.)
    Gerry had a number of hits, the song Paul mentioned being one you haven’t played yet. Not so funny story, but my best friend growing up went a bit nuts one day, went through his extensive record collection–his parents gave him a huge weekly allowance–and took out all his Gerry and the Pacemaker singles and albums, and proceeded to destroy them with his bibi gun. When I asked him why, he said they had become bubblegum, and he only wanted to listen to serious music from now on. That was the first indication I ever saw that he was not quite right. He made similar purges after that, bands he had loved for years suddenly became verboten! I was not surprised when a few years later I became verboten. I never found out why.

    Liked by 4 people

    • Indeed, a number of readers have mentioned “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, and I had pondered upon it before deciding on this one. In retrospect, it would have been the more fitting tribute.

      It sounds as if your friend had some serious issues! I understand musical tastes changing, but to shoot up the entire collection when others might have gotten pleasure from it? Sigh.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Exactly. We used to hold all our parties at his house. His parents built him a rec room, with the best stereo equipment available at the time, and the biggest music selection. (Were they trying to buy his love? You think!) It was no wonder it went to his head, and he thought he could control what his friends wanted to listen to. When they started to drift away, unhappy with the conttol-freak he was becoming, he could not understand. He died young of liver failure, poor man. His type I diabetes ravaged his body. That was sad. But by then he wasn’t talking to me, so I didn’t even know he was gone. I have no idea if he considered his life a happy one.
        The novel I wrote, the one you never finished reading, was partly about him. He was the one who coined the name of the fictitious band, The Cold End of the Bathtub.

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    • Yes, I almost played that one, as I told Mary in response to her comment/video! I didn’t because I didn’t recognize it, so I went with this one, but “You’ll Never Walk Alone” would have been a much better choice, now that I think about it.
      Cwtch

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  8. Ah, Jill – you MUST add this to your collection:

    I have ‘Don’t let the Sun Catch you crying’ as a vinyl 45. And Ferry Cross the Mersey is of course … well, it’s what it is, fabulous and is still played in the ferry as it crosses the Mersey today. . But this is the anthem that gives me shivers and brought tears to my eyes when I saw him perform it – free – at Liverpool Pier Head one August . We moved to Liverpool in 2004 and happened on this free concert some time later – he was playing Ferry Cross the Mersey as a ferry pulled in to dock at the Pier Head. Never to be forgotten. But everyone waving their arms in the air to this… Wow. (It is, by the way, the anthem for Liverpool Football Club.). Sound (a Liverpool expression) man. RIP.

    Liked by 5 people

    • You are so right, my friend! Here’s the irony … when I heard of his death, I looked for the perfect song to play and this one, “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, seemed to fit the bill. However, I had never heard it and found it didn’t make the cut here in the U.S., so I settled on “Ferry Cross The Mersey”. I really wanted to play “Don’t Let the Sun …”, as it is my personal favourite, but I had played it quite recently. I have added this one to my collection!

      What an awesome memory that is!!! It sends shivers up my spine just reading about it! By the way … a belated Happy Christmas and New Year to you, my dear friend. Hugs!

      Liked by 2 people

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