Song to remember lost fishermen races up charts

The Nancy Glen sank in Loch Fyne on 18 January.

Yesterday morning, within hours of its release, Please Bring Our Boys Back Home, was racing up the download charts of Amazon and iTunes.

By midday, the poignant song, featuring a mix of Tarbert musicians, was sitting at number 1 on Amazon’s Movers and Shakers chart and number 36 on iTunes.

Later in the day it had also taken the top spot onAmazon’s hot new releases and best sellers.

Proceeds will go to the families of Tarbert fishermen Duncan MacDougall, 46, and Przemek Krawczyk, 38, who lost their lives when their boat sank in Loch Fyne, a mile from their home village, on 18 January.

A third crewman, John Miller, 34, also from Tarbert, survived after being rescued by a passing vessel.

Written and produced by Silvio Gigante and Simon Greatbach, the tune was due to be released on 5 March, but Gigante said the date had been brought forward due to public demand.

Announcing its early release and success on social media yesterday morning Gigante said: “What a night, I can hardly hold in my appreciation, we are No 36 in iTunes chart – this means we are on a really good run to No 1.”

He added: “This will make history and will create a legacy of major proportions. The iTune charts and such are from Friday to Friday, so we won’t be in the national charts until next Sunday’s countdown – so we need to keep going. Can we make this No 1 and the sound of Kintyre? Come on Scotland, let’s show them what we are made of.”

Performers on the song, recorded at Tarbert’s Templar Hall, include local singer Beatrice Catherine, Tarbert Academy Choir and Loch Fyne Pipe Band.

Meanwhile, a crowdfunding site, set up by the Clyde Fishermen’s Trust, has raised more than £258,000, thanks to fundraising events in Tarbert and further afield.

Gosia Krawczyk, the widow of Przemek, responding online to Gigante’s comments about the song’s release, said: “All it takes is one song to bring people together, a song whose lyrics are my story, story of my life, story that still has no end, song that means so much to me, song that shows me that I’m not alone.

“This song tells you more about Scottish people’s spirits than any lips ever.”