A (proper?) salute to St. Paddy's Day

As my friend Bill (Ivylander) pointed out this morning,

And yeah, call me humorless, but the depiction of Irishness as a concentrete of boozy bonhomie and twiddle-dee-dee dancing is insulting in a way that no nationality should be forced to endure, (http://mog.com/ivylander/blog/1252336)

St Paddy's Day has become a day that the Irish culture is, frankly, puked upon. It's used as an excuse to get absolutely shitfaced and to embarrass yourself. This is quite a shame, really. The Irish culture has a rich and storied history that deserves to be remembered as well. Today, I give you The Fields Of Athenry. The song is probably one of the most recognizable and memorable of Irish tunes. It tells the story of a man who is guilty of a petty crime, a crime that would have kept his young, starving family alive. The convict says his crime is that he "stole Trevelyan's corn"; a reference to Charles Edward Trevelyan, a senior British civil servant in the administration of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in Dublin Castle.

Fields of Athenry

By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young girl call: "Michael, they have taken you away, For you stole Trevelyn's corn, So the young might see the morn. Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay."

Low lie the fields of Athenry Where once we watched the small free birds fly Our love was on the wing We had dreams and songs to sing It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry.

By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young man call "Nothing matters, Mary, when you're free Against the famine and the crown, I rebelled, they cut me down. Now you must raise our child with dignity."

Low lie the fields of Athenry Where once we watched the small free birds fly Our love was on the wing We had dreams and songs to sing It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry.

By a lonely harbor wall, She watched the last star fall As the prison ship sailed out against the sky For she lived to hope and pray For her love in Botany Bay It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry.

Low lie the fields of Athenry Where once we watched the small free birds fly Our love was on the wing We had dreams and songs to sing It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry.

• Fields Of Athenry - Dublin City Ramblers.mp3
• Dropkick Murphys - Fields Of Athenry.m4a

both songs : http://drop.io/tystlrx

Dropkick Murphys - Fields of Athenry [Sgt. Andrew Farrar version]

This is a ballad version of the song so its slower than the original DKM version. It's slightly modified as a dedication for a soldier who died in Iraq. Sgt. Andrew Farrar (the soldier) was a long time Dropkick Murphy's fan whose last wish, in a letter he wrote to his wife, was that DKM play the "Fields of Athenry" at his funeral if he died in combat. DKM accepted his request and played it while his coffin was being carried into the church.