There is a comforting hilarity in Irish Drinking songs that can envelope you and whisk you into the corner of a low-ceilinged of an Irish bar. Before your eyes is a pint of iron-enriched dark liquid they call Guinness, and beyond that you see a throng of jiggly patrons tapping their feet, clapping their hands and singing along to another rendition of “Whiskey In The Jar” (It is an unsung law that every Irish Pub Band plays this song at least five times during a set). A right jolly old craic, as an Irishman would say. The Dubliners, an Irish folk-rock band that formed in 1962 are the pioneering Irish Pub Band, having started out by playing gigs at O’Donoghue’s Pub in Dublin.
“Seven Drunken Nights” is a traditional Irish Folk song that dates back to the 1920’s. The Dubliner’s version of this witty song was recorded in 1967, and describes what a drunk think he sees on coming home. His poor wife sets him straight each day. Although this version of the song only contains 5 days (I’m guessing the guy slept through the weekend to get rid of his hangover), versions of the song do exist that contain the full seven days. Those versions are often pretty rude and left to be heard only in the bar.
A long time ago, way back in history,
when all there was to drink was nothin but cups of tea.
Along came a man by the name of Charlie Mops,
and he invented a wonderful drink and he made it out of hops.
He must have been an admiral a sultan or a king,
and to his praises we shall always sing.
Look what he has done for us he’s filled us up with cheer!
Lord bless Charlie Mops, the man who invented beer beer beer
tiddly beer beer beer.
The Curtis bar, the James’ Pub, the Hole in the Wall as well
one thing you can be sure of, its Charlie’s beer they sell
so all ye lads a lasses at eleven O’clock ye stop
for five short seconds, remember Charlie Mops 1 2 3 4 5
He must have been an admiral a sultan or a king,
and to his praises we shall always sing.
Look what he has done for us he’s filled us up with cheer!
Lord bless Charlie Mops, the man who invented beer beer beer
tiddly beer beer beer.
A barrel of malt, a bushel of hops, you stir it around with a stick,
the kind of lubrication to make your engine tick.
40 pints of wallop a day will keep away the quacks.
Its only eight pence hapenny and one and six in tax, 1 2 3 4 5
He must have been an admiral a sultan or a king,
and to his praises we shall always sing.
Look what he has done for us he’s filled us up with cheer!
Lord bless Charlie Mops, the man who invented beer beer beer
tiddly beer beer beer.
How can anyone celebrate Irish music without a mention of one of the World’s most commercially successful rock band’s of all time? U2 have rocked their way through the last three decades, and are still going strong. “Achtung Baby”, their seventh album happens to be one of my favorites, and became the basis of a reinvention for the band along with the supporting elaborate and interactive “Zoo TV” tour. “The Fly” was the lead single off of the album, a song which Bono described as “the sound of four men chopping down the Joshua Tree”, a reference to an earlier album by the band and emphasizing the change of direction.
Six Nations Rugby. Guinness. Celtic folklore. The Riverdance. What could be more Irish? As St. Patrick’s day is rapidly approachig I thought I would nod my head towards anything Irish, and what better way to start then with Ireland’s rousing rugby anthem, “Ireland’s Call”. This song was commissioned in 1995 by the Irish Rugby Football Union and played before all Rugby International matches. The Irish rugby team consists of players from the whole island of Ireland (Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, or Eire). I’ve always favored the Irish rugby team over England, and I think my Grandma is to blame for that! She married an Irishman, which makes me a quarter Irish.
When I was younger, we used to go to her house every Sunday afternoon. Most week’s we would play cards, and watch Italian Soccer. But in rugby would take precedence during the Winter season, especially if the six-nations was on (the six nations is an annual rugby union tournament played between England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy). My Grandma’s favorite player (and hence my favorite player) was Peter Stringer, the scrum-half of the Irish team. By rugby standards he is a dwarf – standing at only 5′7″ and weighing 152lbs, but is ability to ankle-tap-tackle players and his scrum-half sneaks makes him a formidable player. I always enjoy the the playing of the anthems before the game – especially when the camera passes from face to face along the Irish line-up.
“Ireland, Ireland, together standing tall, shoulder to shoulder we’ll answer Ireland’s call!”
Err.. Peter Stringer.. can you stand a little taller please?
I feel I have to apologize to the Stereophonics. I was one of those mainstream music grabbers in the late 90’s that loved the first two album’s this Welsh band released, and though I didn’t forget about them, I failed to follow up much with their subsequent records. I’m not sure why I left the band on the doorstep, maybe I grew tired of Kelly Jones’ voice, but I really did enjoy their early work. “More Life in a Tramps Vest” and “I Wouldn’t Believe Your Radio” are two outstanding tracks.
Not any more though, as I’ve frantically been re-listening to the band’s back-catalog, especially their fifth album, “Language. Sex. Violence. Other?” The lead single off of the album, released in 2005 is “Dakota”, an anthemic rock song that sounds great loud and probably even greater live. It’s one of those songs that possesses a humongous feel-good factor.
I love Bondathons, though I’m not that guy that will sit in front of the TV for 24 hours straight to watch eight James Bond movies in a row. No, I’m the guy that might grab a 30 minute break out of a busy day, flick through the TV listings guide and be pleasantly surprised to find an obscure cable channel is screening a Bondathon. Result! This past weekend, it was the turn of G4 TV, and I found myself watching “The Spy Who Loved Me” – the tenth Bond film, shot in 1977. Because of Marvin Hamlisch’s soundtrack, and the disco toots and beeps, I’m now calling this film the Disco Bond – though I can’t really imagine Roger Moore strutting any disco moves on the dance floor! I love the old Bond movies, because of how cheesy and dated they are, because of the megalomaniac bad guys and their elaborate bases, because of characters like Jaws and Oddball, and because of Q’s gadgets.
“Whatcha Gonna Do About It” was the debut single which the British Mod group Small Faces released in 1966 (A great year for music). The Small Faces were initially heavily influenced by American R&B. The melody was written by Small Faces songwriting duo Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, and was influenced by Solomon Burke’s hit R&B song “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love”, which was written two years earlier. Small Faces would go on to sing and write a more psychedelic approach to their records before breaking up in 1969.
Subscribe to Posts
Twitter
Facebook
Last.fm
LaLa.com
