Peter McGovern
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Peter McGovern (born 1928 in Liverpool - died April 2006 in Bromborough, Wirral) was an English songwriter and activist.
He was born in north Liverpool, near the docks, and attended St. Edwards School, West Derby and Queen Elizabeth's School, Anfield. He worked for many years on the railways and was an active trade unionist and campaigner.
His main claim to fame is that he wrote "In My Liverpool Home", a song that has become become an anthem or folk tune for the people of Liverpool. It was recorded by the 1960s folk group The Spinners.
The original four verses of "In My Liverpool Home Home" were written by McGovern around 1962, but many verses have been added since.
The first two lines of the song are:
- "I was born in Liverpool, down by the docks,
- Me religion was Catholic, occupation hard-knocks"
And later in the song comes the unusual couplet:
- "We speak with an accent exceedingly rare,
- Meet under a statue exceedingly bare"
The second line refers to the statue above the main entrance of Lewis's department store in central Liverpool that acts as a well-known meeting place. Officially entitled Liverpool Resurgent, the nude statue has been affectionately re-christened Dicky Lewis.