"Walk" songs

[Cordelia]

Hello Charlie

I am part of the web team for FightHunger.org a special division of the UN World Food Programme set up to address the first Millenium Development Goal which is to eradicate hunger - in particular child hunger - by 2015

As part of our awareness we have an annual walk - Walk the World. This year it's on 21 May. In 2005 over 200,000 people walked in 91 countries and 266 cities and raised $1.5 million. This year we are aiming to get 750,000 walkers and raise $5 million

One of the things we would like to do is to have a selection of music tracks that relate to "Walking" and put them for download on the website.

I was listening the other day when you played Burning Spear's "Walk" song which is obviously a perfect fit. I was wondering also, with your vast knowledge of world music, if you could recommend any other songs (in any language!) that have a walk theme

Thanks for your time and thanks for a wonderful programme

Best wishes

[Charlie]

Aha, thanks, Cordelia, this could run and run, to coin a pun

I did a show on this theme in a previous series of Without Frotniers on Radio 2, and reproduce the playlist below, with a note from the script mentioning some others.

1a - Prince Buster - One Stop Beyond - 64

1b - The Bangles - Walk Like An Egyptian - 86

2 - Jack Scott - The Way I Walk - 59

3 - Champion Jack Dupree - Strolling (Walking the Blues*) - 56

4 - Staple Singers - Long Walk to DC - 72

5 - Zawose/Brook - Let's Walk - 2002

6 - The Police - Walking On The Moon - 79

7 - Johnny Cash - I Walk the Line - 56

* same song as Walking the Blues by Willie Dixon

There are lots of songs about walking in the rain –

Johnnie Ray sang Walking in the Rain,
Del Shannon was a-walking in the rain in Runaway’, and
Love Unlimited went Walking in the Rain with the One I Love, produced by Barry White.

Also - Walking to New Orleans by Fats Domino, Walk Don't Run by the Ventures and Walk Right Back by the Everly Brothers

It will be interesting to see which songs get mentioned that are about walking but don't have the word in their titles

[Dominic]

Let's get some obvious ones out of the way:

Walk This Way - Run DMC/Aerosmith

Walk On The Wild Side - Lou Reed

Walk Of Life - Dire Straits

Spanish Stroll - Mink de Ville

Walk, Don't Look Back (Is that the correct title? Who's it by? My mind's gone blank & I'm supposed to be working...)

The Way I Walk, which Charlie lists as a song by Jack Scott, was covered in typically wonderful (if over-the-top) style by The Cramps.

[Con Murphy]

The "World Music" side of my brain hasn't woken up yet, so from the other side:-

Walk on By - Dionne Warwick
Walking Down Madison - Kirsty McColl
Don't Look Back - Peter Tosh
Walking Blues - Muddy Waters
Walking By Myself - Jimmie Rodgers
Walking Spanish - Tom Waits
Cakewalk Into Town - Taj Mahal
Jesus Walks – Kanye West

The latter has some typically un-PC language, but is really good IMVHO, and according to Emmanuel Jal has been very popular in many African countries recently so might be apposite given the cause.

Best of luck with it anyway, Cordelia.

[Ted]

The Walk - Jimmy McCracklin
Feet Start Walking - Doris Duke

TW

[howard male]

From your resident Bolan fan:

Beltane Walk - T.Rex

[ritchie]

and there is 'walking in the rain' by 'Grace jones'

and not really walking but 'feet don't fail me now' by little feet.

'walk right back' by the Honeycombs

'these boots are made for walking' by nancy sinatra (I believe there was a follow up made but I can't seem to find it any where)

now I'll be singing walking songs all day ....thanks!

[RobHall]

Let's get some obvious ones out of the way:
The Way I Walk, which Charlie lists as a song by Jack Scott, was covered in typically wonderful (if over-the-top) style by The Cramps.

It was also (brilliantly, imho) covered by Robert Gordon and Link Wray.

A few more:

25 Miles - Edwin Starr (The absolutely perfect song for this enterprise)
Walk Away Renee - The Four Tops/Left Banke
Struttin' With Some Barbeque - Louis Armstrong
Give Him A Great Big Kiss - The Shangri Las ("I'm gonna walk right up to him...")

Happy walking

Rob

[Guest]

The following are a trifle esoteric but nevertheless:

Gus Cannon or Rooftop Singers - Walk Right In
Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee - Walk On
Mahalia Jackson - Walk In Jerusalem
Blind Boy Fuller - Walking My Troubles Away
Little Milton - Walking The Back Streets & Crying
Robert Jr Lockwood - Take A Little Walk With Me
Bo Diddley - Mummy Walk
Gatemouth Brown - She Walks Right In
Prof Longhair - Walk Your Blues Away
Fats Domino - I Want To Walk You Home
John Lee Hooker - I Wanna Walk
Any Gospel Artist - Just A Closer Walk With Thee

That's a dozen blues/gospel related ones but better stop before I get too boring, as is my wont.

Good luck.

Alan Balfour

[Cordelia]

Hello Charlie and Sound of the World Forum

Thanks so much for all these great suggestions! Here in the FightHunger office we've gone from only being able to think of a few to being flooded with fantastic ideas. We'll now go through them all and see which ones we can use

Thanks again and keep the ideas coming... and get ready to Walk (whilst singing obviously) on May 21st!

Thanks again

Cordelia
Web team
www.FightHunger.org
Walk the World

[Martin_Edney]

The Jesus & Mary Chain — "The Hardest Walk"

[Con Murphy]

It will be interesting to see which songs get mentioned that are about walking but don't have the word in their titles

I think Le Vagabond by Edith Piaf has a nice 'walking' image (written by Michel Emer, I think):-

Mais un vagabond,
Qui est joli garçon,
Me chante des chansons
Qui donnent le frisson.
Il marche le long des routes
En se moquant du temps.
Il chante pour qui l'écoute,
Les cheveux dans le vent.
C'est un vagabond
Qui est joli garçon.
Il chante des chansons.
La la la la...

But a vagabond
Who is a good-looking boy
Sings me songs
That make me shiver
He walks along the roads
Mocking time
He sings for those who’ll listen

(my translation, feel free to correct)

[Ian M]

The Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
Helen Shapiro - Walkin Back to Happiness

[Dominic]

Be My Rambling Woman by Rory McLeod. It's from Lullabies For Big Babies (1997 Cooking Vinyl, now reissued by Rory's own Talkative label).
This lovely album also includes Tea Martoonies, one of my favourite songs about drinking: "My favourite drink is the nest one" ... "When I drink I feel sophisticated but I can't pronounce it" ... "I lose my car keys & my inhibitions" ...

[Chris Walsh]

There's also the great

'Walkabout' by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

it's got a great roundabout rhythm and some killer wah-wah guitar!

- Chris