Was gonna post The Sickbed of Cuchullain!
Ha! We’ve had two “saddest song ever” threads in the past 10 years, and this pretty much was the winner both times.
The Road to Ballygareen Louise Mulcahy
Raglan Rd by Luke Kelly is top dog for me. Memories of singing this to my son to get him to go to sleep when he was a baby.
Taking real poetry (Patrick Kavanagh) and setting it to music sounds like it should be easy, but I don’t think it is [if it was lyrics wouldn’t be as shite as they generally are]. Luke is immense here, to the extent that no one else can really sing it (and a few serious voices have covered it).
I’d have McAlpine’s Fusiliers is my favourite Dubliners track, another Dominic Behan song and one of their best known. For a lesser known masterpiece, though, I love The louse house of Kilkenny
Sorry I’m late!
I’m surprised nobody posted this one–as it’s a Celtic band, I’d argue that it qualifies (and I think the lead singer is Irish, but I could be wrong).
This version by Mick Maloney and friends is haunting and gorgeous (starts at 1:50):
Ulfreida, I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen “Kilkelly Ireland” mentioned in conjunction with “happy”.
“The Night That Paddy Murphy Died” by Great Big Sea. Such a fun drinking song!
The Irish Rovers, The Orange and the Green
I love me some Irish Rovers.
Back when I was still on the radio, I had George Millar on my show (via phone) for St. Patrick’s Day & once for Christmas-time (I did the latter on November 1st to confuse as many people as possible).
The Mountains of Mourne, as sung by Don McLean.
I’m very fond of The Parting Glass, performed here in a choral version.
I also really like the energy of Gaelic Storm, particularly Dia Luain de Mairt
Van Morrison and the Chieftains do an admirable job, no? Raglan Road
It’s an odd piece; I’ve listened to a half dozen version on YouTube recently. The lyrics, by poet Patrick Kavanaugh, can seem vain-- he writes about sharing the secret “sign” that is known to true artists. Near the end he calls himself an angel, and the woman " clay."
Van Morrison can make those lines work because he’s a great, spiritual, cranky nutball. A smooth, conventional singer sounds silly reciting the words. An idiosyncratic female singer can do the song effectively because the song is stripped of the sheen of male sexism.
I enjoy Loreena McKennitt’s gender-switched version, and Sinead O’Connor’s. Glen Hansard sounds callow and so does Mark Knopfler. The High Kings escape the profundity issue by emphasizing the song’s hooks.
The Rocky Road to Dublin - The Dubliners
Luke Kelly, A Song for Ireland
