Once again, the St Patrick's Day season is upon us (the Irish, being contrary, celebrate Carnival season in the middle of Lent), so I will be taking some time to post Irish music, but traditional and popular. This year, I think I'll start off with folk rockers Horslips, which I have featured in previous posts. The band was the first to blend traditional folk songs with hard rock, often incorporating traditional melodies into guitar riffs. The band also drew upon myth and legend for inspiration, recording 'concept albums' based on the Táin Bó Cúailnge and the Lebor Gabála Érenn.
One of the standout tracks on the album The Book of Invasions was Trouble (With a Capital T), which is still a popular music selection in the bars in my neighborhood. The song, despite its titular allusion to The Music Man, deals with the arrival of the Tuatha Dé Danann, a tribe of divine beings, to Eire. The song poses the question, "But are they gods or real folk?" It's the sort of question that one of the Fir Bolg would have posed when the sorcerous Danann host arrived on the island. At any rate, the song is a fun 1970s artifact, with a 'Jethro Tull' esque flute part:
Now isn't the arrival of a bunch of sorceror-kings with eldritch superweapons a bit more worrying than the opening of a pool hall?
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2 comments:
What about Dropkick Murphys? Surely an alcohol-soaked celebration would be remiss without them. Also, too, what about the traditional smoking of the green?
I dig the Dropkick Murphys, they are good pro-union guys. I'm not a big fan of cannabis, though I am for full legalization... it just makes me have an unnaturally acute sense of personal space, which is foreign to my NY nature.
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