Released December 1964 | Format 7" single Length 2:24 | |
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B-side "You, You, You" (UK)"Pretend" (USA) Recorded May 27, 1964, EMI Studios, London("You, You, You": September 28) | ||
"Ferry Cross the Mersey" (sometimes written Ferry 'Cross the Mersey) is a song written by Gerry Marsden. It was first recorded by his band Gerry and the Pacemakers and released in late 1964 in the UK and in 1965 in the United States. It was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic, reaching number six in the United States and number eight in the UK. The song is from the film of the same name and was released on its soundtrack album. In the mid-1990s a musical theatre production also titled Ferry Cross the Mersey related Gerry Marsden's Merseybeat days; it premiered in Liverpool and played in the UK, Australia, and Canada.
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Song title and lyrics
"Mersey" refers to the River Mersey in northwest England, a river that flows into the Irish Sea at Liverpool.
The song is often misspelled as "Ferry 'Cross the Mersey", but according to the song's lyrics, the track is correctly titled "Ferry Cross the Mersey". "Cross" is not a contraction of the preposition "across" but rather an imperative verb - "Ferry, cross the Mersey." The Mersey Ferry runs between Liverpool and Birkenhead and Seacombe on the Wirral.
Charity record for The Hillsborough Disaster Fund
In May 1989, a charity version of "Ferry Cross the Mersey" was released in aid of those affected by the Hillsborough disaster, which claimed the lives of 95 Liverpool fans the previous month (a 96th, Tony Bland, died in 1993 as a consequence of that disaster). The song was recorded by Liverpool artists The Christians, Holly Johnson, Paul McCartney, Gerry Marsden and Stock Aitken Waterman. The single held the #1 spot in the UK chart for three weeks and the Irish chart for two weeks.