Lakes of Pontchartrain: The Irish Folk Song With American Roots
There’s something fascinating about Lakes of Pontchartrain. It sounds like it has been part of the Irish traditional music canon forever. Walk into a trad session in Ireland and there’s a good chance someone will know it. Ask for the story behind it, though, and things get a little more complicated.
Because despite its deep connection with Irish folk music, Lakes of Pontchartrain
is actually set in Louisiana, USA.
Like so many folk songs, its journey across the Atlantic is difficult to trace. Songs travelled back and forth between Ireland, Scotland and America, picked up new verses, changed shape and were passed from one singer to another. Somewhere along the way, this particular song found its way home to Ireland - and eventually became one of the most recognisable songs in the Irish folk repertoire.
From Planxty and Christy Moore to Paul Brady and Bob Dylan, Lakes of Pontchartrain
has been interpreted by some of the biggest names in folk music. More than a century after its mysterious beginnings, it’s still being sung in pubs, folk clubs and traditional music sessions around the world.
The Mysterious Origins of Lakes of Pontchartrain
The exact origins of Lakes of Pontchartrain
remain something of a mystery, which is probably part of the song's appeal.
The references to New Orleans, Lake Pontchartrain and Creole culture strongly suggest that the song originated in the southern United States sometime in the 19th century. But exactly who wrote it - and when - is much harder to pin down.
Various theories have been suggested over the years. Some accounts connect the song with soldiers during the War of 1812, while others suggest that it may have been written or adapted by an Irish immigrant living in America, possibly during the period of the American Civil War.
Whatever its precise origins, the song appears to have travelled through Irish and Scottish communities in America before making its way back across the Atlantic.
Irish immigrants, sailors, woodsmen and other travellers carried songs with them wherever they went. Once back in Ireland, those songs could be altered, reworded and absorbed into the local tradition.
That seems to be what happened with Lakes of Pontchartrain
. And perhaps that's why it feels so naturally Irish today.
What Is Lakes of Pontchartrain About?
At its heart, Lakes of Pontchartrain
is a story about loneliness, kindness, love and heartbreak.
The narrator is a traveller who finds himself far from home and completely down on his luck. He leaves New Orleans with little or no money and heads towards Jackson town. With no way to pay for his journey, he resorts to the classic hobo method of travelling by train - hiding underneath the railroad cars, or riding the rods.
Eventually, he finds himself stranded near Lake Pontchartrain, the huge estuary in southeastern Louisiana.
Things don't exactly look promising. He's alone, broke and facing a night outdoors, with the added worry of alligators lurking nearby.
Then the story takes a turn.
A beautiful Creole woman finds him and takes him into her home. She gives him food, shelter and kindness when he has nothing to offer in return.
Naturally, he falls in love with her.
The traveller asks her to marry him, but there is a catch. Her heart already belongs to another man - a sailor who is away at sea.
It's a classic folk-song heartbreak: the narrator has found the person he wants most at precisely the moment he cannot have her.
Rather than ending in bitterness, however, he leaves with gratitude. He remembers her kindness, her beauty and the time she gave him, promising to raise a glass to her wherever he goes.
It's a simple story, but that's part of the magic. There is no complicated plot or elaborate moral. Just a traveller, a brief encounter and a love that was never going to work out.
The Many Versions of Lakes of Pontchartrain
One of the reasons Lakes of Pontchartrain
has survived so well is that it lends itself beautifully to reinterpretation.
Over the decades, countless folk singers have put their own stamp on it. The melody is haunting, the story is easy to connect with and there is plenty of room for a singer to make the song their own.
Planxty recorded the song on their 1974 album Cold Blow and the Rainy Night
, helping cement its place in the modern Irish folk revival.
Christy Moore later recorded a popular solo version for his 1983 album The Time Has Come
. The Furys also became associated with a particularly well-known, slower interpretation.
English folk singer Maggie Holland recorded the song as Pontchartrain
with Hot Vulture in 1979.
And that's only part of the story. The song has continued to circulate through traditional sessions, folk clubs and informal performances on both sides of the Atlantic.
Paul Brady's Definitive Version
If there is one artist most closely associated with Lakes of Pontchartrain
, however, it has to be Paul Brady.
Of course, calling any recording the definitive
version is ultimately a matter of opinion. But Brady's interpretation has become hugely influential, and it's easy to understand why.
His guitar playing is a major part of the arrangement. Brady uses an open D tuning, giving the guitar a warm, ringing quality that perfectly suits the song's melancholy story. Rather than overwhelming the lyrics, the guitar sits underneath them, creating a spacious and almost hypnotic backdrop for his voice.
Brady originally recorded Lakes of Pontchartrain
for his celebrated 1978 solo album Welcome Here Kind Stranger. He later revisited the song for his 1999 greatest-hits collection and even recorded an Irish-language version, Bruach Loch Pontchartrain
.
Paul Brady and Bob Dylan
Brady's version also had a major admirer across the Atlantic: Bob Dylan.
When Brady and Dylan met in 1984, Brady reportedly taught Dylan how to play Lakes of Pontchartrain
. Dylan took a liking to the song and subsequently performed it during his concerts in the late 1980s.
It's a perfect example of how folk music works. A song with mysterious American roots travelled to Ireland, became part of the Irish folk tradition, was reinvented by an Irish singer — and then travelled back to America through Bob Dylan.
That's quite a journey for a folk song.
Years later, Dylan even performed the song in Killarney, Ireland, paying tribute to Brady and the song's place in the Irish musical tradition.
Lakes of Pontchartrain Today
The story doesn't end with the classic recordings.
Modern Irish musicians continue to discover and reinterpret Lakes of Pontchartrain
, proving that the song is far from being a relic of the folk revival.
Celtic Woman featured a version performed by Megan Walsh and Tara McNeill as part of their Postcards From Ireland project. Irish rock band The Coronas have also performed the song live.
And away from the big stages, the song remains firmly at home in Irish trad sessions and folk clubs.
You could hear it in Dublin. You could hear it in Galway. You could hear it in New York. You might even hear it from someone with an acoustic guitar in a pub who has never given a second thought to the song's complicated history.
That's the beauty of folk music.
Why Has Lakes of Pontchartrain Lasted So Long?
Perhaps the biggest reason Lakes of Pontchartrain
remains so popular is that it doesn't belong entirely to one place.
Its geography is American. Its history is uncertain. Its modern identity is strongly connected to Irish folk music. And its story is universal.
It's about being lost and finding kindness. It's about falling in love with someone who doesn't love you back. It's about leaving with nothing except a memory.
Most importantly, it's a song that has been allowed to evolve.
Every singer who performs Lakes of Pontchartrain
adds something to its story. Paul Brady's guitar, Christy Moore's voice, Planxty's arrangement and Bob Dylan's interpretation all become part of the song's ever-growing history.
And that's exactly how traditional music is supposed to work.
A song travels. Someone changes it. Someone else learns it. Another generation gives it a new life.
So while we may never know exactly who wrote Lakes of Pontchartrain
we do know where it has ended up: firmly embedded in the world of Irish traditional music, where it looks like it will be sung for many years to come.
Photo Credit: Paul Brady at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, 2006 — photo by Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0.
