5 songs to better "get" the Oirish
Dec. 11th, 2003 05:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jawnbcDo you find us intriguing? Annoying? Enigmatic? Here's a few tasty cuts to better understand t'ings--an' people--Oirish
There a lots of songs about the Irish experience. In Ireland, or the diaspora. Funny ones. Bitter ones. Morose ones. This list isn't meant to be exhaustive, or wholly representative. But each one captures the essence of some aspect of Irishness or Irish experience. Do feel free to tell me ta go an' fook awf if you disagree.
Rat Trap Boomtown Rats Billy don't like it living here in this town (he says) trap have been sprung long before he was born...
Until the Rats came along, Irish bands found international success as "British" bands: Thin Lizzy perhaps the best example of a band who many fans never knew were Irish. But the Rats were all about their Irishness--and not any idealize or romanticized version either. Mostly North Dubliners (the rougher side of town) and high school dropouts, a couple were quite forthright about their illiteracy. Their leader, Bob Geldof, wasn't however: his Da was a baker from Belgium who was an entrepreneur. But Bob saw Ireland as a "banana republic" run by corrupt officials and a way too strong influence of Catholic clergy. His mates had few opportunities--over half his generation eventually moved offshore to the UK, the Americas or elsewhere to find work not available at home. The Rats were pissed off and full of themselves and when they appeared on Top of the Pops the week Rat Trap hit #1, they tore a photo of John Travolta (Sinéad you copy cat) as they'd managed to keep "You're The One that I Want" out of #1 and outsold ABBA in the UK in 1978-79. This never-should-have-been-a-single single cut to the chase and talked about tough, urban reality in Ireland.
Fairytale of New York The Pogues The boys of the NYPD choir were singing 'Galway Bay.' And the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day
The first time I listened to this song my heart stopped--a song that told my story. No I never ended up in the drunk tank, and no Kirsty MacColl didn't sing to me, but this song about the Irish experience in New York cuts close to the bone. Very close. The words are raw, arguably offensive ("You're an old slut on junk Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed You scum bag, You maggot, You cheap lousy faggot"), and bang on. And the tune itself? Totally Irish. Shane McGowan and most of the Pogues weren't born in Ireland, their parents were. But the unique fusion of punk attitude and traditional Irish song craft are a great example of how Irishness carries through generations, even amongst those who've never been to Ireland itself. Call this one the voice of the diaspora
Town I Loved So Well Paddy Reilly, Ronan Keating, others Now the music has gone but they carry on. For their spirit's been bruised, never broken
A lot of music about "The Troubles" of Northern Ireland is nationalistic and aggressive: a whole tradition of "Irish Freedom Songs" has nurtured nationalist sentiments on both sides of the border (Think "A Nation Once Again" or "Four Green Fields" or the militaristic "The Men Behind the Wire"). Phil Coulter wrote this song as a Derryman; before penning this masterpiece of a song he was known as a pop jinglist; one song of his "Puppet on a String" won Eurovision for the UK in 1967. Rather than pontificate or attempt to foment a revolution, Coulter describes what it feels like to see your peaceful town become a war zone. And his own, personal loss. Moving, but not his version--he's not a great singer and his arrangements are often saccharine.
The Sky Road Frances Black Danny's made his mind up He's leaving for America Leaving all of us behind. He says there's nothing here not drenched in beer, in blood and retribution
If Fairytale of New York is the voice of the children of diaspora, this is the voice of those left behind. There's a real Sky Road, on the West coast of Galway and it's fekking gorgeous. But gorgeous doesn't pay the bills and it certainly doesn't always make the too-often narrow-mindedness of small town folks palatable. Economic and social refugees drained out of rural Ireland by the millions in the 19th and 20th centuries, a tide only stemmed in the last 10 years of the "Celtic Tiger" (when Ireland's population grew slightly due to return migration and a booming high-tech economy). But many young people are still leaving the farm, for educations or jobs or the chance to move beyond narrow and rigidly defined roles. Their families understand, yet they lament their leaving. The Sky Road is such a lament, and it's heartbreaking.
A Woman's Heart Eleanor McEvoy with Mary Black My heart is low, my heart is so low. As only a woman's heart can be
In the early 90s, Ireland had its Quiet Revolution. Contentious referenda campaigns led to constitutional amendments outlawing divorce and abortion--in fact, it became illegal to even discuss abortion services, even those in other countries. Then a 14 year old girl, raped and impregnated by her friend's father, was arrested trying to get a ferry to England for an abortion--with her parents. Then a series of sex scandals (the bishop's son in America, the priest having a heart attack in a Dublin gay sauna, given last rites by another priest at the sauna) rumbled across the social fabric of this very Catholic country. The ramifications of these trends--progressive and the backlash that followed--underscored the precarious circumstances under which many Irish women lived. Mary Black and Eleanor McEvoy, hardly revolutionaries, decided that the best way to bring Irish women's experiences--challenges sure, but also their strength--was through music. When the single and albums "A Woman's Heart" were released in 1992, they were huge hits (the album is still the best selling Irish album in Ireland, beating the likes of U2, Sinéad O'Connor and the Cranberries). The title track spoke to the experience of many Irish women whose husbands abandoned them, leaving them in economic, social and legal limbo. For its impact on Irish society (the abortion laws were modified, and divorce is now legal), and its use of the ballad to articulate reality, earns A Woman's Heart its place here
There a lots of songs about the Irish experience. In Ireland, or the diaspora. Funny ones. Bitter ones. Morose ones. This list isn't meant to be exhaustive, or wholly representative. But each one captures the essence of some aspect of Irishness or Irish experience. Do feel free to tell me ta go an' fook awf if you disagree.
Rat Trap Boomtown Rats Billy don't like it living here in this town (he says) trap have been sprung long before he was born...
Until the Rats came along, Irish bands found international success as "British" bands: Thin Lizzy perhaps the best example of a band who many fans never knew were Irish. But the Rats were all about their Irishness--and not any idealize or romanticized version either. Mostly North Dubliners (the rougher side of town) and high school dropouts, a couple were quite forthright about their illiteracy. Their leader, Bob Geldof, wasn't however: his Da was a baker from Belgium who was an entrepreneur. But Bob saw Ireland as a "banana republic" run by corrupt officials and a way too strong influence of Catholic clergy. His mates had few opportunities--over half his generation eventually moved offshore to the UK, the Americas or elsewhere to find work not available at home. The Rats were pissed off and full of themselves and when they appeared on Top of the Pops the week Rat Trap hit #1, they tore a photo of John Travolta (Sinéad you copy cat) as they'd managed to keep "You're The One that I Want" out of #1 and outsold ABBA in the UK in 1978-79. This never-should-have-been-a-single single cut to the chase and talked about tough, urban reality in Ireland.
Fairytale of New York The Pogues The boys of the NYPD choir were singing 'Galway Bay.' And the bells were ringing out for Christmas Day
The first time I listened to this song my heart stopped--a song that told my story. No I never ended up in the drunk tank, and no Kirsty MacColl didn't sing to me, but this song about the Irish experience in New York cuts close to the bone. Very close. The words are raw, arguably offensive ("You're an old slut on junk Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed You scum bag, You maggot, You cheap lousy faggot"), and bang on. And the tune itself? Totally Irish. Shane McGowan and most of the Pogues weren't born in Ireland, their parents were. But the unique fusion of punk attitude and traditional Irish song craft are a great example of how Irishness carries through generations, even amongst those who've never been to Ireland itself. Call this one the voice of the diaspora
Town I Loved So Well Paddy Reilly, Ronan Keating, others Now the music has gone but they carry on. For their spirit's been bruised, never broken
A lot of music about "The Troubles" of Northern Ireland is nationalistic and aggressive: a whole tradition of "Irish Freedom Songs" has nurtured nationalist sentiments on both sides of the border (Think "A Nation Once Again" or "Four Green Fields" or the militaristic "The Men Behind the Wire"). Phil Coulter wrote this song as a Derryman; before penning this masterpiece of a song he was known as a pop jinglist; one song of his "Puppet on a String" won Eurovision for the UK in 1967. Rather than pontificate or attempt to foment a revolution, Coulter describes what it feels like to see your peaceful town become a war zone. And his own, personal loss. Moving, but not his version--he's not a great singer and his arrangements are often saccharine.
The Sky Road Frances Black Danny's made his mind up He's leaving for America Leaving all of us behind. He says there's nothing here not drenched in beer, in blood and retribution
If Fairytale of New York is the voice of the children of diaspora, this is the voice of those left behind. There's a real Sky Road, on the West coast of Galway and it's fekking gorgeous. But gorgeous doesn't pay the bills and it certainly doesn't always make the too-often narrow-mindedness of small town folks palatable. Economic and social refugees drained out of rural Ireland by the millions in the 19th and 20th centuries, a tide only stemmed in the last 10 years of the "Celtic Tiger" (when Ireland's population grew slightly due to return migration and a booming high-tech economy). But many young people are still leaving the farm, for educations or jobs or the chance to move beyond narrow and rigidly defined roles. Their families understand, yet they lament their leaving. The Sky Road is such a lament, and it's heartbreaking.
A Woman's Heart Eleanor McEvoy with Mary Black My heart is low, my heart is so low. As only a woman's heart can be
In the early 90s, Ireland had its Quiet Revolution. Contentious referenda campaigns led to constitutional amendments outlawing divorce and abortion--in fact, it became illegal to even discuss abortion services, even those in other countries. Then a 14 year old girl, raped and impregnated by her friend's father, was arrested trying to get a ferry to England for an abortion--with her parents. Then a series of sex scandals (the bishop's son in America, the priest having a heart attack in a Dublin gay sauna, given last rites by another priest at the sauna) rumbled across the social fabric of this very Catholic country. The ramifications of these trends--progressive and the backlash that followed--underscored the precarious circumstances under which many Irish women lived. Mary Black and Eleanor McEvoy, hardly revolutionaries, decided that the best way to bring Irish women's experiences--challenges sure, but also their strength--was through music. When the single and albums "A Woman's Heart" were released in 1992, they were huge hits (the album is still the best selling Irish album in Ireland, beating the likes of U2, Sinéad O'Connor and the Cranberries). The title track spoke to the experience of many Irish women whose husbands abandoned them, leaving them in economic, social and legal limbo. For its impact on Irish society (the abortion laws were modified, and divorce is now legal), and its use of the ballad to articulate reality, earns A Woman's Heart its place here
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Date: 2003-12-13 08:55 am (UTC)Do you know Magot Backus's "The Gothic Family Romance; Heterosexuality, Child Sacrifice, and the Anglo-Irish Colonial Order" btw? It reads almost like a gussied up lit dissertation, but she is keenly interested in sexual violation in Irish society. Her recent research has been on child sex abuse, and the various manifestations, het and homo, in different homes and orphanages, North and South, Prod and Taig.
no subject
Date: 2003-12-13 10:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-12-13 05:29 pm (UTC)