If you go an Irish bar, what song might the band be sick of getting requests for? A song with lyrics, please, rather than an instrumental.
“Danny Boy”?
Black Velvet Band.
Irish Washerwoman?
Whiskey Before Breakfast?
I have never heard of either of these? Seriously?
ETA: And “A song with lyrics, please, rather than an instrumental.”
I assume you mean an Irish bar outside of Ireland, but on the off chance you mean an Irish bar in Ireland, well, it’s rare enough that a pub band would take requests (it’s usually more of a wedding thing).
As a dedicated booze hound, the only time I’ve ever seen someone go up to a band to ask for a song was when the person was properly drunk. It’s just not really a thing we do.
Whiskey In The Jar is probably the most famous trad song.
Keep in mind that there is a difference between songs (include lyrics) and tunes (no lyrics)
This is a pretty good list of stuff you might hear from a pub band.
My question and thinking were U.S.-centric, but I appreciate your info. It’s interesting.
“Danny Boy” is probably The Answer, but it’s just too iconic. (I’m writing some promo copy for a music show.)
The Wild Rover?
Thank you. That’s probably the information I wanted, plus some Youtube links to explore for entertainment.
That’s an interesting link, top 30 Irish songs of all time, and Steve Earle’s Galway Girl is No.3! It is a cool song.
An Irish/punk band I like always does a tune they call The Irish National Anthem. It goes something like this:
FWIW, “name an Irish song” was a category on a classic episode of Family Feud yesterday. Now, I haven’t heard of half of these, but here were the answers from 100 people surveyed:
When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
Danny Boy
Wild Irish Rose
Mother Machree
I’ll Take You Home Again Kathleen (which isn’t even Irish)
Those are in order from most popular to least popular, but there may have been one more below “Wild Irish Rose.”
Though, it was nonetheless repeatedly sung by an Irishman, Lieutenant Kevin Riley, over the Enterprise’s comm system in the Star Trek episode “The Naked Time.”
What do you think an Irish bar is? Damn sure I never hear Danny boy or any of the random stuff mentioned in this thread when I go for a pint at the weekend.
Maybe the Unicorn Song?
It’s possible we’re all confused, and maybe not just me, but there are (1) bars in Ireland, and (2) an American institution called an Irish Pub. They used to just have Irish names and Irish beers and shamrocks in the decoration (plus lots of polished wood inside, if they were nice ones). These-a-days they’re morphing into gastropubs that serve !!!authentic!!! boxty and corned beef alongside the lovingly hand-pulled Guinness.
I’m not even entirely sure this is an American thing. It seems like wherever I go in the world, there’s an “Irish Pub” somewhere to be found.
I was thinking of that song, specifically because it’s one of the only “Irish” songs which which American kids may be familiar (and, thus, ask to hear).
(For pulykamell: this is the song that they would play on WGN's *Ray Rayner and His Friends* show in the 1960s and 1970s, for Lester Fisher's "Ark in the Park" segment.)Great tune (basically the same tune as his Dixieland).
You ever hear the ditty “Mactavish is dead”? That’s the Irish Washerwoman.
Re: Whiskey before Breakfast - I play a lot of bluegrass/folk, and often have a hard time distinguishing between Irish and fiddle tunes. I thought Whiskey was Irish, and it seems to be one of the most called tunes in the jams I frequent. I’m probably mistaken. You know the old saw, Why do fiddle tunes have names? So you can tell them apart!
Whiskey in the Jar and Wild Rover are pretty common as well. For some reason I consider Finnegan’s Wake to be in the same vein.
When Irish Eyes Are Smiling is nearly as schmaltzy as Danny Boy.