My playlist for st. paddys day if anyone gives a damn
1.Thousands Are Sailing-The Pogues. This song is a lyrical epic about the cruel reality of coffin ship era immigration. Brilliant stuff.
2.Colony-Damien Dempsey. Dempsey is from a hardscrabble part of Co. Dublin. He is a straight-up songwriter. This song expresses a heartbroken Irish nationalist perspective and looks at the painful legacy colonialism worldwide.
3.Great Gaels Of Ireland and Scotland-Damien Dempsey. Shane Macgowan called this guy one of his favorite songwriters with good reason.
4.Green Island-Christy Moore. If you even pretend to like Irish folk/singer-songwriter stuff and haven't heard of Moore, shame on you. This guy is Ireland's Woody Guthire. Unfortunately all his good stuff is to be had only as an import.
5.Foggy Dew-The Younger Dubliners. I can't really care for this band, but this rendition of this classic rebel song rocks.
6.Johnny Connors-Christy Moore. This ballad outlines the the fictional life or Ireland's much maligned Travellers (their version of Gypsies)
7.Vivi La Quinte Brigada-Ronnie Drew. Moore wrote this song about Ireland's contribution to the international volunteer forces that fought Franco in Spain. Ireland's Catholic church gave support to the blueshirts (Irish facists) and blessed them as they headed out to fight for Franco. This song details the other side.
8.An Irish Airman Foresees His Death-Shane Macgowan and the Dublin Orchestra. Yeats' poem set to an orchestral background and read by chemically damaged but nonetheless iconic Macgowan. Somehow it works beautifully
9.Caoin (Lament)-The Tossers. If their is an heir apparent to the Pogues. it is these guys. Irish ex-pats living in Chicago.
10.Phoenix Park-The Tossers
11.If I Should Fall From Grace with God-The Pogues. Macgowan said some most of the lyrics came to him in a matter of minutes. Rich, layered and full of symbolism, I found that hard to believe.
12.Broad Black Brimmer-The Wolfe Tones. These guys have been around for a million years. Hyper-national and super-republican, these make their living belting out old rebel songs. I thought it was kind of sad they have been reduced to playing St. Paddys day gigs at Disneyland, but they have been.
13.Belfast 14-Jake Burns. Burns was/is the front man for one of my favorite first wave punk bands, the Stiff Little Fingers. A couple of years he ventured off and recorded a countryish/folkish album in Nashville. This is autobiographical piece is one of the more authentic offerings on the disc.
14.Young Ned of the Hill-The Pogues. Best version of this song.
15.Fields of Anthenry-Paddy Reilly. First pop punkers No Use For a Name covered this, than Dropkick Muphrys put out their version. If you haven't heard a folk version, give this one a listen, it does the song justice.
16.Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six-The Pogues. Banned by the BBC because it called into question the convictions of ten Irishmen who were tired hastily, and who history later vindicated. It's a potent contrast of stop start lyrical firepower
enjoy
1.Thousands Are Sailing-The Pogues. This song is a lyrical epic about the cruel reality of coffin ship era immigration. Brilliant stuff.
2.Colony-Damien Dempsey. Dempsey is from a hardscrabble part of Co. Dublin. He is a straight-up songwriter. This song expresses a heartbroken Irish nationalist perspective and looks at the painful legacy colonialism worldwide.
3.Great Gaels Of Ireland and Scotland-Damien Dempsey. Shane Macgowan called this guy one of his favorite songwriters with good reason.
4.Green Island-Christy Moore. If you even pretend to like Irish folk/singer-songwriter stuff and haven't heard of Moore, shame on you. This guy is Ireland's Woody Guthire. Unfortunately all his good stuff is to be had only as an import.
5.Foggy Dew-The Younger Dubliners. I can't really care for this band, but this rendition of this classic rebel song rocks.
6.Johnny Connors-Christy Moore. This ballad outlines the the fictional life or Ireland's much maligned Travellers (their version of Gypsies)
7.Vivi La Quinte Brigada-Ronnie Drew. Moore wrote this song about Ireland's contribution to the international volunteer forces that fought Franco in Spain. Ireland's Catholic church gave support to the blueshirts (Irish facists) and blessed them as they headed out to fight for Franco. This song details the other side.
8.An Irish Airman Foresees His Death-Shane Macgowan and the Dublin Orchestra. Yeats' poem set to an orchestral background and read by chemically damaged but nonetheless iconic Macgowan. Somehow it works beautifully
9.Caoin (Lament)-The Tossers. If their is an heir apparent to the Pogues. it is these guys. Irish ex-pats living in Chicago.
10.Phoenix Park-The Tossers
11.If I Should Fall From Grace with God-The Pogues. Macgowan said some most of the lyrics came to him in a matter of minutes. Rich, layered and full of symbolism, I found that hard to believe.
12.Broad Black Brimmer-The Wolfe Tones. These guys have been around for a million years. Hyper-national and super-republican, these make their living belting out old rebel songs. I thought it was kind of sad they have been reduced to playing St. Paddys day gigs at Disneyland, but they have been.
13.Belfast 14-Jake Burns. Burns was/is the front man for one of my favorite first wave punk bands, the Stiff Little Fingers. A couple of years he ventured off and recorded a countryish/folkish album in Nashville. This is autobiographical piece is one of the more authentic offerings on the disc.
14.Young Ned of the Hill-The Pogues. Best version of this song.
15.Fields of Anthenry-Paddy Reilly. First pop punkers No Use For a Name covered this, than Dropkick Muphrys put out their version. If you haven't heard a folk version, give this one a listen, it does the song justice.
16.Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six-The Pogues. Banned by the BBC because it called into question the convictions of ten Irishmen who were tired hastily, and who history later vindicated. It's a potent contrast of stop start lyrical firepower
enjoy
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