Who Pays the Ferryman Chris De Burgh?
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….Don’t Pay the Ferryman.
| “Don’t Pay the Ferryman” | |
|---|---|
| Length | 3:48 |
| Label | A&M |
| Songwriter(s) | Chris de Burgh |
| Producer(s) | Rupert Hine |
What does pay the ferryman mean?
Greek and Latin literary sources specify the coin as an obol, and explain it as a payment or bribe for Charon, the ferryman who conveyed souls across the river that divided the world of the living from the world of the dead.
Who sang ferryman?
Chris de BurghDon’t Pay the Ferryman / ArtistChristopher John Davison, known professionally as Chris de Burgh, is a British-Irish singer-songwriter and instrumentalist. He started out as an art rock performer but subsequently started writing more pop-oriented material. Wikipedia
What do you use to pay the ferryman?
In mythology, the ferryman Charon was paid one obol, representing in weight one half of a scruple of silver (itself 20 grains) or one-sixth of a drachma. It cannot have been a large amount, as the coin was placed under the tongue of the deceased by his family, so he could pay his fare across the River Styx.
What happens if you don’t pay Charon?
A coin to pay Charon for passage, usually an obolus or danake, was sometimes placed in or on the mouth of a dead person. Some authors say that those who could not pay the fee, or those whose bodies were left unburied, had to wander the shores for one hundred years, until they were allowed to cross the river.
What happens if you can’t cross the River Styx?
If the correct fee is paid, Charon will take the dead across. If the dead cannot afford the fee, however, they will be forced to wander the banks of the River Styx as Wraiths for eternity (or one hundred years, depending on the recount). The greatest oath that a god can make is to swear on the river Styx.