A MOG microtrend I can really get behind
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This St. Patrick's Day stuff doesn't work for me in any way. For one thing, my family is orange. I never thought this was a big deal growing up - though when we went to the Irish pub at the '64 World's Fair in New York, I couldn't understand why all those other Irish family names were pinpointed on the map of Ireland printed on the paper placemats, but our rather common last name was missing. My parents were oddly silent on the matter.
And yeah, call me humorless, but the depiction of Irishness as a concentrete of boozy bonhomie and twiddle-dee-dee dancing is -as has been noted elsewhere on MOG - insulting in a way that no nationality should be forced to endure.
And then there's the whole drinking-to-lose-your-dignity thing. (As if one hadn't already given dignity the heave-ho by donning a green T-shirt, plastic hat and beads.)
But a thumbs-up to the Celtic essence? I'm all over that. Which is why Spike and dermahrk have delighted me by posting tracks that go deep and stay there. I'm not a big Irish music buff - for me it's music that's meant to be heard live, recordings don't quite cut it - but this is one of the Irish bands I love. We play this in the Ivylander home as we eat our pommes frites....
Comments (26)
Me Father's Father would go ballistic at the wearin' of the Orange on St Patrick's day.
......Ahhhh, but the music. I cannot wait to get home to hear what three of my favorite music gurus have posted.
BTW....did they ever figure out who put the overalls in Mrs Murphy's Chowder?.......................That song made me grandfather quake in rage.
I couldn't agree with you more!
Birmingham (or rather the Oirish Quaater) starts to resemble a David Lynch retread of a weird disney-esque irish theme park inhabited by pixie-like leprechauns and very drunk women with plastic hats and inflatable 4 leaf clovers!
I attended school in a very irish Catholic environment and was very much the English Catholic.
But way back before troubles - the music of that beautiful isle was and is rich in history, mystery and beauty. Lovely music!
CF
Please don't read my today's post.
Anna! As the witch in "The Long Leather Bag" said to the maid, "Go about yer duties. And whatever ye do, don't look up the chimbley."
I am firmly in the ANTI-plastic hats and green beer camp. For my wearin' o' the green this morning I stuck a dollar bill in my school ID pocket. Either it's "my green" or my retirement account.
This song is ravishing. I guess the stereotyps and the New Age Celtic trend make this sort of thing a rare treat. I like Altan too, and I have a handful
I'll be posting something, some music and maybe an Irish tale. But I have to do it from home because the CDs are there, so it won't be until later.
I wish I was at home and had my CD collection unpacked. There was a guy who pitched up at Real World called Airla O'Leonard (and I've mis-spelled his name), a slight young thing with a notebook full of lyrics. He sang in an Irish acapella tradion songs full of violence and sorrow and beauty. It was one of the most haunting sounds I've ever heard and if I was at home with the CDs to hand, then I'd chuck up one of these amazing songs. Which is just a long-winded way of saying I'm with you on this green beer and plastic hat nonsense. As for orange or green, my grandmother's family visited the fair isle with the invader Cromwell, so they were probably the enemy whatever the colour.
Meant to and forgot to include Mike the Knife's Enya post in the whole microtrend business. I am not big on Enya, but do give her props for occasionally succeeding in the attempt to fuse traditional music and what you might call mystical pop.
DMDM, I can't help being orange - it's kismet. (Cue Kermit....)
Chandlersford, agreed on all counts. It alarms me a little to learn that this nonsense also takes place outside the States....
Anna, now I must. Not that I wouldn't have anyway.
Spike1, do you mind if I steal your dollar bill idea? I would pay you a royalty if I could afford to....
Jonh, I hope you're somewhere fun. We can be patient for Airla O'Leonard as long as there's paydirt at the end of our wait. As for Cromwell, well, he's a bit of an embarrassment, isn't he?
Well, Jonh, Oliver's Army is here to stay. With the boys from the mersey and the thames and the tyne.
Oh rub it in both of you. If it's any compensation, I have to live with the shame that the family seat (I wish) is where Westlife come from.
Your Cromwell problem (if it can be put that way) is mine as well. Aren't Westlife from Sligo? That sticks in my mind for some reason.
My grandfather was a Scotsman, but I definitely fall to the green side in my thoughts on the troubles and my knowledge of the music of Ireland. In the US, St. Pats seems like New Year's..amateur hour for drinkers. I stay inside. Of course I do that on most days. Maybe my agoraphobia is coming back. The pure voice here is a beautiful one.
Cody, her name is Mairead Ni Mhaonaigh. And I too want to marry her....
Westlife are indeed from Sligo. My cousin still lives there.
There are some great Irish artists who move and delight, regardless of the bitter history and divisions. I give U2 props for being christian wihout being identified with any sect, Sinead is deeply soulful, and Glen Hansard's group, the Frames tickle my taste too. I don't use alcohol, so the whole drink beer and puke routine doesn't appeal--my ancestors were primarily Scottish...
Jonh, have you gone there much? I've heard it's terrifically beautiful, though not for those who require a fast-paced existence....
Bob, I'm with you across the board - although the Scots I know can drink with the Irish any day....
Over here, a matter of a few miles from the ferry across the North Sound, St Patrick's Day is not really marked too prominently, given its sectarian connotations, in a part of the country where most towns or districts of cities are still recognised as either "Protestant" or "Catholic" (to use the polite terms).
Distance (and a rather imperfect grasp of history and geography) obviously lends enchantment, or something. It's nigh on 24 years since I was last even as far as Dublin, back in the days when U2 still paid taxes in their homeland....
The tune itself could be sung in the same style by a Gaelic singer from the Hebrides; there really is little discernible musical boundary between much "Celtic" Scots and Irish folk
When I traveled in fully Catholic Ireland (that was practically 20 years ago, come to think of it), I was anxious beforehand because I couldn't look more Irish but have an obviously Protestant name. And because they routinely ask Americans if they're of Irish extraction (because the answer is usually yes), and because they then ask your family name, there was no way of disguising my origins. It surprised me how little any of the sectarian crap mattered to them - back here in the States we were misinformed. Then again, Dublin was as far east as I got....
The post and the comments are all fascinating. Altan's singer's voice and the song are really beautiful. Suddenly I realized that Altan had been covering :-) the following song from a Smithsonian Folkways CD Music of Indonesia 20: Indonesian Guitars, recorded between 1990-1997. Listen to the strummed guitar intro and opening vocal melody.
We went for one weekend. The place where my grandmother grew up is now a hotel so we stayed there. Best part: The Johnny Cash Room. He had stayed there when filming a TV special with June sometime in the 90s. No, it's not a very fast-paced place - quite remote on the northwest coast and yes, very beautiful.
Spike, that is truly uncanny. So far as I can ascertain, "A Nobleman's Wedding" is one of those songs that go back centuries, but either Altan decided to give it a slyly Indonesian twist or the coincidence speaks of connections that are unfathomable to minds of my constrained capacity.
Jonh, please tell me you stayed in the Johnny Cash Room. Even if it's not true.
Lovely song and sentiments. Mrs. DM tells me the Irish treat this day as a religious holiday and go to church. Here in the U.S. .... well, you know.
Do you need to ask?! [It was pretty amusing squaring up the thought of the Man In Black and his bride walking the halls (or Hall) and my grandmother's comment, "We used to play knights and ladies on the roof...because of the battlements." You get a lot of time to modify your house in Sligo.]
DM, yes, I know, I know....
Jonh, I expected no less of you. You do us proud.
Ms. Hatajulu in 1997 might have heard the field recording guy's Harvest Storm CD from 1992."
Anything is possible in this zany world....
Amen to all this, ivy. And props to you for the wonderful, well-picked Altan track.
And props to you for getting the ball rolling....