☘️St Patrick’s Day Tunes☘️

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Last year I posted some songs to mark St Patrick’s Day: I’m not Irish, but I’ve always loved their music. The post was tolerably well received so I thought I’d do it again, with a (mostly) different selection of tunes.

I’m starting with the same one as last year – the only repeat – as this brings together two icons of Irish music from the past fifty years, and it’s a damn fine tune too:

That was the opening track from an album that Van Morrison and The Chieftains joined up to make in 1988, called Irish Heartbeat. It is a fabulous album, which I bought at the time – in those days I got a lot of my music on cassettes, and I wore out the tape on this one! Highly recommended, if you don’t already know it.

The opening track on side two of that album was a version of a playground skipping song that had been popular with children for a hundred years or so. It has been recorded many times (including the Otava Yo version I gave you a few weeks ago) but for today here is one by another iconic Irish folk group:

This version is from The Dubliners’ album Live At Vicar Street, which was recorded at a concert in July 2006 and reached #53 in Ireland. They had first released it on their debut album, The Dubliners With Luke Kelly, all the way back in 1964. The song is very much a standard of Irish folk music, though it has travelled far around the world: versions with different locations in the lyrics were known in England in the 19th century, for example.

A favourite Irish band for me is The Pogues. Typically, their version of a traditional Irish song is taken at breakneck speed, and this collaboration with The Dubliners is fantastic:

This was originally a single in 1987, which was a #1 in Ireland and got to #8 in the UK. It was later added as a bonus track to a 2004 reissue of the band’s 1988 album If I Should Fall From Grace With God. A fun fact: though they are very much an Irish band only two of them were actually born there.

Over the years a number of Irish bands and singers have explored Celtic mythology in their music. This is one such, a band which has since been recognised as one of the founders of what became known as ‘Celtic rock’:

This was a song on Horslips’ second album, The Táin, which was released in late 1973. It was based on the Táin Bó Cúailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), one of the most infamous legends of Early Irish literature, dealing with the war between Ulster and Connacht over a prize bull. That guitar riff is instantly recognisable to anyone who, like me, saw the band play live when the album came out: one of the better bookings made by the Social Secretary at UEA! They put on a great show, and prompted quite a few album sales on the night – including mine.

My final selection for today was actually written and originally performed by an American, Steve Earle, but the famous accordion player, Sharon Shannon, played on that recording and was instrumental (see what I did there?) in getting together this wonderful celebration of the joy of music, and it couldn’t be more Irish:

See what I mean? The overload of joy in that is wonderful to see: it must have been fantastic to be a part of that. If you stick with the video through the extended credits you will see that the song originally appeared on Steve Earle’s album Transcendental Blues, which was released in June 2000, peaking at #66 in the US and #32 in the UK. Mundy, who takes the lead vocal here, is an Irish singer who has had a #1 hit there with his cover version of the song. I don’t think it is a patch on the original, but he is popular there and this is a fitting way to bring today’s tunes to a close.

If you’re celebrating today, I hope you have a great day and that you don’t regret it tomorrow when the hangover kicks in 😉

Happy St Patrick’s Day! ☘️🎻🪗

44 thoughts on “☘️St Patrick’s Day Tunes☘️”

  1. Pingback: WQW #12: “You Cannot Stop Spring from Coming.” – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write

  2. As always a great selection. That said I am not so sure about Horselips of whom I’d never heard. I will hunt them out given your recommendation.
    I loved the last song a truly joyous live song – so much energy.

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  3. Nice little play on words with the way Sharon Shannon was instrumental for the band …. hahah
    And that reminds me that the accordion can be such a beautiful addition. We had my FIL get one for my son when he was in late preschool (they asked what he wanted) and so we said that! Well the cranky ol’ rude FIL kind of made fun of it!
    I let it go but it was rude
    Anyhow – son never cared for the actor Ian (cute little children’s model) and he ended up taking up bass and then guitar
    —
    All the songs were new to me and such a fun selection for st paddy’s day or anytime we want that Irish vibe!

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    • A pity that your son’s wish for an accordion didn’t lead any further, but it’s good to know he followed his love of music another way.

      I’m pleased you enjoyed these selections – Irish music is such a joyous affair, isn’t it!

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      • well he never wanted the accordion – I thought of it – and was thinking of heritage and all that.
        And even with the rude and snarky comments from my FaIl (which were constant on and off from him – but I digress) the real reason it waned was we did not know anyone who offered lessons (and YouTube wasn’t around yet).

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      • Sorry, only just found this! I can’t imagine life without the interweb – it does so much for us.

        It was quiet, but at least two of my three football teams won, which is uncommon lately. Hope yours was good too 😊

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  4. You really are an expert, Clive. I’m a total neophyte when it comes to most music. I know almost nothing about Irish music and I love this selection. What fun that last one is. Definitely, I would have loved to have been there! So memorable! I see why you love it so much. Love it. I’d adore it if you added your link to my WQW post comments for St. Patrick’s Day on Wed. Fabulous!

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    • Thank you so much for these kind words, Marsha. I don’t think of myself as being anywhere near an expert! I’m pleased you enjoyed these, and that last one is very special, isn’t it.

      I read and ‘liked’ your WQW post but didn’t comment at the time. I’ve revisited it (three times!) and tried to add the link for this piece to the comments, as you suggested, but it doesn’t appear to be showing up. Maybe you’ll find all three in your spam folder? Thank you for the invitation, though!

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      • They all came through, and I deleted the two extras. 🙂 It must take a lot of time to listen to and choose the right tunes for each blog post. Not being super musical, I don’t have anything in mind, so I usually rely on Google when I do a post that has music. Not very professional, I know.

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      • Thank you for that! I wondered if it was the inclusion of a link that might have held them up. Glad they got there though. I love music, and it has been a major interest since I was about 6 or 7, back in the early 1960s. I have a huge number of songs in my Apple Music library which gives me a good start when I choose a theme for a post, though I do resort to Google on occasions if I get stuck! It’s there, so why not use it?

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      • Sometimes it comes up with music I know, but lots of time I’m introduced to entirely new groups or types of music. Sadly, I don’t delve into them and go back and enjoy them later. I read and write in the quiet of my head. I know lots of people listen to music while they write, walk or whatever. I hate the feel of anything in my ear, so I do a lot of quiet unless I’m driving.

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      • You may well be missing out on a lot, but you have to do what feels right for you, don’t you. I tend to write in silence, too, interspersed with music when I’m deciding on which clips to use – there is often more than one available for each song. And then I play them all through before posting. I listen to a lot of music!

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      • That’s what I do when I’m writing. It takes 10-12 hours to create a post with both music and photos. Isn’t it amazing to spend that much time on a post that is read by maybe 100-200 people at the max? Yet, I love doing it.

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      • I reckon on around 4-5 hours for mine, but it’s my hobby and like you I enjoy doing it. Since I started Tuesday Tunes, which kind of became a series almost by accident, it has given me a focus and structure which I lacked before. And the interaction with readers makes it worthwhile 😊

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  5. great song to start things off – the royalty of Irish music combining forces – it doesn’t get better than that.

    enjoyed that version of I’ll Tell Me Ma…

    the third song is another combo of Irish music royalty- now that’s Irish music, love listening to Shane MacGowan. will always remember his wonderful Christmas song…

    I did not know the fourth song, but I can see how that guitar riff would be memorable…

    I’m so glad you included the last song. you were the one who introduced that song to me a while ago, and it has become one of my favorite songs that I still play a few times a year…

    great post, thanks for celebrating Irish music!

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    • Thanks, Jim, I’m pleased you enjoyed these. It’s not hard finding great Irish music, is it!

      I think that’s the second time I’ve shared that final clip, which is a little ironic for me as I prefer Steve Earle’s original. But there is something about that event which is just so very special, and so very Irish 😊

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  8. I think my two favorites were the first and the last. I actually remembered The Chieftains from last year. As always, I learn a thing or two with your posts, Clive. I had never heard of Celtic rock until today. You know I like rock, but this one didn’t do it for me.

    You probably know the answer to this question. I remember a group from the 1960s called the Irish Rovers who had a a hit back in the day over on our side of the pond. Do you know what song that might have been?

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  11. All good choices. In Canada, The Irish Rovers were omnipresent on TV, for what seemed to be forever. There was a renewed interest in traditional Irish/Scottish/English folk songs in the late 80s, with many bands being able to introduce younger audience to the style. Even Metallica got into it with their rendition of “Whiskey in the Jar”. (Is it too early for a pint of Guinness?)

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    • Thank you. I’m not much of a fan of the Irish Rovers, tbh. Too family friendly for me. That interest had been rekindled here a good deal earlier, when the likes of the Dubliners became popular, and the English folk-rock scene was set in motion by Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span, who both drew a lot from traditional sources. I don’t know the Metallica version but at a rough guess I’d imagine they ‘borrowed’ it from Thin Lizzy? Where you are, Guinness is the breakfast of champions 😂

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  12. Well done Clive. The Irish love their music. My oldest son loves an Irish-American rock and roll group called “Flogging Molly.” I have actually seen them perform with him.

    When we toured Ireland as a family, we did an excursion to a Irish pub open just to our tour group. My oldest son joined the band by invitation as he knew lyrics to “Molly Malone.” It was a treat for all of us, especially him. Thanks for the memories. Keith

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    • Thanks, Keith. I quite like Flogging Molly too – very much like the Dropkick Murphys I think. Those are wonderful memories to have – the Irish love their pub music sessions 😊

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