70s

Thank You Fionnghuala

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I’ve been starving for inspiration. I got nothing to write about. One needs to be passionate about something in order to create. I just had this conversation with a Scottish novelist via Facebook. And he remarked that the cure for depression is being able to do something. While we were chatting, I was listening to the second album of The Bothy Band. It’s called Old Hag You Have Killed Me. Remember that one around 1976? It is the album’s second track. I think something happened to my mind when it started to play. It is such a beautiful tune. The accuracy and speed of the rendition is otherworldly. They made their voices into instruments. And they are signing in Gaelic in this recording. I think this is my personal favorite from now on. bothyband371529

The beauty of traditional Irish music is that it is timeless. You could never tell that this album came out in the 70s. It sounds like it’s only recorded this year. You can feel the passion of the band members and how much they have mastered their musicality. It is true though that members Paddy Glackin, Tony MacMahon, Matt Molloy,Paddy Keenan, Dónal Lunny, Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill, Mícheál Ó Domhnaill, Tommy Peoples and Kevin Burke have already established themselves in the trad scene before joining this band.

I thank The Bothy Band for sparkling my fingers to write again. It is true you can’t give what you don’t have. You can’t write when you don’t hear or see anything that inspires you. I suggest, when you find yourself in the midst of a rut, go listen to anything or go out and see the view outside. There might be something there waiting for you.

You can buy Old Hag You Have Killed Me through Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Old-Hag-You-Have-Killed/dp/B0014GFHQQ/ref=pd_bxgy_m_img_y

The Fields of Athenry-an enduring anthem

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Pete St. John

Pete St. John

  If you are a fan of Dropkick Murphys then you might have listened to this song a countless times. It was actually suggested by a friend from Northen Ireland and after listening to it in several renditions, I could say that it is powerful. I mean there’s even a reggae version of this song recorded around 2003 .  I haven’t seen Veronica Guerin starring Cate Blanchett and I would be looking forward seeing it after realizing that this song also appears in that movie.

  The Fields of Athenry is a folk ballad written by Pete St. John in the 70s,  set on a great famine(1845-50).According to Wiki: about a fictional man from near Athenry in County Galway who has been sentenced to transportation to Botany Bay, Australia, for stealing food for his starving family. It is a widely known and popular anthem for Irish sports supporters and fans of Celtic FC.

  Here’s the lyrics:

By a lonely prison wall,
I heard a young girl calling:
“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 calling
“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 falling
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.