ferryman setebos mawer burgh bigkev duffet geisterinsel naufragium awak melonia reportory wracke storyman amaluna moonfleet tempête caliban adès prospero straightway sycorax jingling zesty mordant nordheim hine ferryboat césaire stephano beheld
who sings the song don't pay the ferryman
Do n't pay the ferryman - wikipedia Do n't pay the ferryman Jump to : navigation , search This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . ( October 2007 ) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message ) <Th_colspan="2"> `` Do n't Pay the Ferryman '' <Th_colspan="2"> Single by Chris de Burgh <Th_colspan="2"> from the album The Getaway Released 1982 Genre Hard rock , art rock Length 3 : 48 Label A&M Songwriter ( s ) Chris de Burgh Producer ( s ) Rupert Hine `` Do n't Pay the Ferryman '' is a single by Chris de Burgh from his 1982 album The Getaway . It became Chris de Burgh 's first UK hit single almost eight years into his recording career when it entered the chart on 23 October 1982 and peaked at number 48 , staying on the chart for five weeks . In 1983 , the single reached number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States . It was a major hit on the Australian Kent Music Report chart , where it reached the Top 5 and spent 25 weeks in the Top 100 . AllMusic critic Sharon Mawer states the song has become `` a standard art rock classic '' and one of de Burgh 's most frequently played songs on radio , despite not reaching the Top 40 on its original UK release . Contents ( hide ) 1 Background 2 Chart positions 2.1 Weekly charts 2.2 Year - end charts 3 Notes 4 References 5 External links Background ( edit ) The song tells the story of a man who boards a ferryboat and sets off . A storm approaches and the ferryman demands payment . The song 's narrator warns the passenger not to pay the ferryman until the boat arrives at its destination on the other side . The repetitive lyrics are believed to have a connection with mythology . The song describes the ferryman as `` the hooded old man at the rudder '' , and seems to connect to the classic image of the Grim Reaper , a hooded being ( usually a skeleton ) who leads lost souls to `` the other side '' , also a lyric in the song . The ferryman demanding his payment is also similar to the Greek ferryman of the dead , Charon . He demanded an obolus ( coin ) to ferry dead souls across the River Styx . Those who did not pay were doomed to remain as ghosts , remaining on the plane of the mare , the restless dead . In the bridge of the song , lines from Shakespeare 's The Tempest can be heard , spoken very low by British actor Anthony Head . ( Act 5 , Scene 1 , lines 230 - 237 ) BOATSWAIN : I 'd strive to tell you . We were dead of sleep And ( how we know not ) all clapp 'd under hatches ; Where , but even now , with strange and several noises Of roaring , shrieking , howling , jingling chains , And moe diversity of sounds , all horrible , We were awak 'd ; straightway at liberty ; Where we , in all her trim , freshly beheld Our royal , good , and gallant ship ; This section of the song is omitted from the version of the song released as a single , which is approximately 20 seconds shorter than the album version . Chart positions ( edit ) Weekly charts ( edit ) Charts ( 1982 - 1983 ) Peak position Australia ( Kent Music Report ) 5 UK Singles ( The Official Charts Company ) 48 US Billboard Hot 100 34 Year - end charts ( edit ) Chart ( 1983 ) Position Australia ( Kent Music Report ) 36 Notes ( edit ) In 2006 the movie `` The Ferryman '' starring John Rhys - Davies utilized the original version of this song for the credits . Also in 2006 the band Domain covered `` Do n't Pay the Ferryman '' on their album Stardawn . The song was referenced in the Trailer Park Boys episode `` Dressed All Over & Zesty Mordant '' . In 2017 the English rock band Lionheart included a version of the song on their album `` Second Nature '' and also released an official video for the track . References ( edit ) ^ Jump up to : Mawer , Sharon . `` Now and Then -- Chris de Burgh '' . AllMusic . Retrieved 1 February 2016 . Jump up ^ David Roberts . British Hit Singles & Albums . Guinness World Records Limited Jump up ^ Whitburn , Joel ( 2004 ) . The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits , 8th Edition ( Billboard Publications ) ^ Jump up to : `` Forum -- ARIA Charts : Special Occasion Charts -- Top 100 Singles 1983 '' . Australian-charts.com . Hung Medien . Retrieved 31 January 2017 . Jump up ^ BigKev . `` Forum -- ARIA Charts : Special Occasion Charts -- Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts -- 1980s '' . Australian-charts.com . Hung Medien . Retrieved 30 January 2017 . Jump up ^ `` Trailer Park Boys Transcripts '' . Transcripts.Foreverdreaming.org . Retrieved 25 February 2017 . External links ( edit ) Lyrics with guitar chords of Do n't Pay the Ferryman ( Link to this site can also be found on Chris de Burgh 's official site ) Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics Do n't Pay the Ferryman at Discogs ( list of releases ) <Th_colspan="2"> Chris de Burgh Studio albums Far Beyond These Castle Walls ( 1975 ) Spanish Train and Other Stories ( 1975 ) At the End of a Perfect Day ( 1977 ) Crusader ( 1979 ) Eastern Wind ( 1980 ) The Getaway ( 1982 ) Man on the Line ( 1984 ) Into the Light ( 1986 ) Flying Colours ( 1988 ) Power of Ten ( 1992 ) This Way Up ( 1994 ) Beautiful Dreams ( 1995 ) Quiet Revolution ( 1999 ) Timing Is Everything ( 2002 ) The Road to Freedom ( 2004 ) The Storyman ( 2006 ) Footsteps ( 2008 ) Moonfleet & Other Stories ( 2010 ) Footsteps 2 ( 2011 ) Home ( 2012 ) The Hands of Man ( 2014 ) A Better World ( 2016 ) Compilation albums Best Moves ( 1981 ) The Very Best of Chris de Burgh ( 1984 ) Spark to a Flame : The Very Best of Chris de Burgh ( 1989 ) The Love Songs ( 1997 ) The Ultimate Collection ( 2000 ) Notes from Planet Earth -- The Ultimate Collection ( 2001 ) Gold ( 2007 ) Now and Then ( 2008 ) Songs `` A Spaceman Came Travelling '' `` Do n't Pay the Ferryman '' `` The Lady in Red '' `` Missing You '' Related Discography <Th_colspan="3"> William Shakespeare 's The Tempest Characters Prospero Miranda Ariel Caliban Sycorax Ferdinand Gonzalo Stephano Sources A True Reportory of the Wracke and Redemption of Sir Thomas Gates , Knight Decades of the New World Montaigne 's Essays Ovid 's Metamorphoses Erasmus 's Naufragium Commedia dell'arte Sea Venture Films 1911 1963 1979 Adaptations Music Three Shakespeare Songs ( Vaughan Williams ) The Tempest ( Sullivan ) The Tempest ( Sibelius ) The Tempest ( Tchaikovsky ) The Tempest ( ballet ) ( Nordheim ) Screen Yellow Sky ( 1948 ) Forbidden Planet ( 1956 ) Tempest ( 1982 ) The Journey to Melonia ( 1989 ) Prospero 's Books ( 1991 ) Painting Scene from Shakespeare 's The Tempest ( Hogarth ) Ferdinand Lured by Ariel ( Millais ) Musicals Beach Blanket Tempest Return to the Forbidden Planet Amaluna Plays The Tempest ( Dryden ) The Sea Voyage The Mock Tempest ( 1674 Duffet ) Une Tempête ( 1969 Césaire ) The Sea ( play ) ( 1973 ) I 'll Be The Devil ( 2008 ) Opera The Tempest ( 1756 Smith ) Die Geisterinsel ( before 1798 ) Noises , Sounds & Sweet Airs ( 1991 ) Der Sturm ( 1955 ) The Tempest ( 2004 Adès ) The Enchanted Island ( 2011 Sams ) Poetry and prose fiction Caliban upon Setebos ( Browning ) The Sea and the Mirror ( Auden ) Indigo ( Warner ) A Midsummer Tempest ( Anderson ) Island ( Rogers ) The Tempest ( Tchaikovsky ) Phrases `` Ariel 's Song '' `` Brave new world '' `` Ding Dong Bell '' `` Full fathom five '' `` Sea change '' `` What 's past is prologue '' Related Caliban upon Setebos ( 1864 ) Forbidden Planet ( 1956 ) The Tempest ( 1966 ) `` Do n't Pay the Ferryman '' ( 1982 ) `` The Sea and the Mirror : A Commentary on Shakespeare 's The Tempest '' ( 1982 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Don%27t_Pay_the_Ferryman&oldid=794500576 '' Categories : 1982 singles Chris de Burgh songs Songs written by Chris de Burgh 1982 songs Song recordings produced by Rupert Hine A&M Records singles Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from October 2007 All articles needing additional references Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia فارسی Nederlands Edit links This page was last edited on 8 August 2017 , at 12 : 14 . 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