# Rock Songs With Bagpipes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459 "2008-07-23T05:39:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/1 "2008-07-23T05:39:37Z")
I’m a big fan of both. I love hearing the pipes in rock songs. Let’s name as many as we can. The Animals - Sky Pilot, comes to mind, ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/2 "2008-07-23T05:40:19Z")
There’s a song by Dinosaur Jr. with bagpipes but I can’t remember what it’s called. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/3 "2008-07-23T05:54:35Z")
First song I thought of: AC/DC’s “It’s a Long Way to the Top If You Want to Rock n’ Roll.” ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/4 "2008-07-23T05:57:14Z")
John Farnham’s _You’re The Voice_. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/5 "2008-07-23T05:59:04Z")
First thing I thought of was Big Country’s hit single, “Big Country”, off their hit album _Big Country_. But the bagpipe bit may have been synthesized. The video certainly featured a bagpip **er** , I know that much. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/6 "2008-07-23T07:25:09Z")
There are a whole lot of good Celtic rock bands you can check out, including Cuillin (esp. the song “Major Dipstick”), the Gutterpups, Horslips, Enter the Haggis, MacKeel (check out the song “Cranntara”), The Peatbog Faeries (these guys are strange–listen to “The Great Ceilidh Swindle”), Prydein (“Farewell to Eirann” is pretty good), the Real MacKenzies (Scottish punk!), Slainte Mhath (their “VA” album has some good piping), and Wolfstone. I think the Pogues and Tempest used some bagpipes, too, but I’m not sure in which songs. There are some other genres with bagpipes mixed in that can get interesting, too. “Pipe Dreams” by the Yakoo Boyz is basically Celtic techno. Google “afro-celtic” sometime, too. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/7 "2008-07-23T08:15:06Z")
_The Spicy McHaggis Jig_ by the [Dropkick Murcphy’s.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_AT1HkRbNc&feature=related). For the Pogues from this [site](http://www.discogs.com/release/369147), _Dirty Old Town_ and _The Body Of An American_ are supposed to have bagpipes, but I couldn’t find any clips that actually had bagpipes. I think that greatest hits album may be out of print and on other versions they may have bagged the bagpipes. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/8 "2008-07-23T08:49:58Z")
Didn’t Paul McCartney’s Mull of Kintyre have bagpipes? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/9 "2008-07-23T11:13:07Z")
“Morning Dew” by the Jeff Beck Group, on the “Truth” album. “Under the Milky Way” by the CHurch ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/10 "2008-07-23T11:34:55Z")
I was going to say [Run Runaway](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09CuKZp4UZA) by _Slade_, but they’re pretty heavily obscured. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/11 "2008-07-23T11:39:17Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] “Morning Dew” by the Jeff Beck Group, on the “Truth” album. [/QUOTE] Sing it, brother. I love that version and am always surprised to hear Grateful Dead versions of it, even though it is my understanding is that it is strongly associated with the Dead. Beck’s use of wah on that song is definitive, along with his cover of You Shook Me and I Ain’t Superstitious (if you don’t own Truth, buy it immediately). **Koxinga** , if you can believe it, the guy in Big Country got that tone out of his guitar. I don’t remember the details, but I remember reading out it while I was living in Scotland when that song was first a hit back in the 80’s - as you might guess, BC was pretty prominently featured in the Scots music press at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/12 "2008-07-23T11:42:00Z")
Jethro Tull, “The Third Hoorah” ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/13 "2008-07-23T11:45:33Z")
“Shoots and Ladders” by Korn has some bagpipes. Not sure if its the kind of rock you’re looking for though. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/14 "2008-07-23T11:49:58Z")
[QUOTE=WordMan] **Koxinga** , if you can believe it, the guy in Big Country got that tone out of his guitar. I don’t remember the details, but I remember reading out it while I was living in Scotland when that song was first a hit back in the 80’s - as you might guess, BC was pretty prominently featured in the Scots music press at the time. [/QUOTE] The same applies to Run Runaway by Slade (and the follow up ‘Hey Ho Wish You Well’ off their next album). All guitars and tuning. Neat effect. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/15 "2008-07-23T11:54:40Z")
[QUOTE=WordMan] … **Koxinga** , if you can believe it, the guy in Big Country got that tone out of his guitar. I don’t remember the details, but I remember reading out it while I was living in Scotland when that song was first a hit back in the 80’s - as you might guess, BC was pretty prominently featured in the Scots music press at the time. [/QUOTE] That’s my recollection as well. In fact I seem to remember some interviews with the band from back in the day in which they professed surprise and even irritation that people thought they actually used bagpipes in their music, the band claimed they couldn’t “hear” it, to them it was just guitars. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/16 "2008-07-23T11:59:53Z")
[QUOTE=Laughing Lagomorph] That’s my recollection as well. In fact I seem to remember some interviews with the band from back in the day in which they professed surprise and even irritation that people thought they actually used bagpipes in their music, the band claimed they couldn’t “hear” it, to them it was just guitars. [/QUOTE] Yeah, that’s right, isn’t it? Now that you mention it, in the one interview I am thinking of, the guitar player went out of his way to say that the bagpipe-emulating tone wasn’t a conscious thing, but maybe his ear was “trained” that way growing up in Scotland. Whatever. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/17 "2008-07-23T12:03:17Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] “Under the Milky Way” by the CHurch [/QUOTE] I hate to be another party pooper but… I’m a big Church fan, and I’m sorry to say it’s not bagpipes, it’s e-bow guitar. For example, if you listen very closely to the first couple of seconds, you can clearly hear a sound that just couldn’t be bagpipes. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/18 "2008-07-23T12:07:32Z")
Huh, that’s neat. One other thing I discovered on Youtube: the video for “Big Country” did not feature a bagpiper. I could have sworn there was a scene where a little kid is in a room and suddenly a bagpiper wearing a bearskin hat bursts in, in a cloud of smoke. Ah, but then I discovered [this video](http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wk25TuaCwk&feature=related), seeing it for the first time in ~25 years. Neat Celtic sounding guitar effects in that one, too. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/59ef9b/32.png) [@FlyingRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRat)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/19 "2008-07-23T12:34:40Z")
[QUOTE=WordMan] Yeah, that’s right, isn’t it? Now that you mention it, in the one interview I am thinking of, the guitar player went out of his way to say that the bagpipe-emulating tone wasn’t a conscious thing, but maybe his ear was “trained” that way growing up in Scotland. Whatever. [/QUOTE] A big factor in Big Country’s guitar sound is the [e-bow](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-bow)– Stuart Adamson was one of its early pioneers. ETA: I think most of the people who said that Big Country sounded “bagpipe-y” were simply referring to the strong Scottish character of their melodies, musical motifs, etc. but simply hadn’t been exposed to that type of “Scottish sound” on any other instrument than the bagpipe. (Big BC fan here-- I think it’s a real shame that they didn’t achieve more success in the US, considering they had a long and successful career up through the early '00’s when Adamson passed away. They had a lot of really fantastic songs. If you like the sound of “In a Big Country”, you’ll probably like any of their first three albums, although their third, _The Seer_, is arguably the most “Scottish”. None of their other stuff is to be sniffed at, though.) Also, someone alluded to it above, but Afro-Celt Sound System is a great group if you like electronica/“worldbeat”. (I think they may use the Irish uillean pipes more than the Scottish bagpipes, though.) I joke that they are one of the few groups out there where the name gives a pretty good idea of what they sound like! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2008, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459/20 "2008-07-23T12:36:30Z")
**Gary Moore** ’s “Over the Hills and Far Away” features the UIllean pipes, including in the video IIRC. **The Men They Couldn’t Hang** used pipes in “Colours” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rock-songs-with-bagpipes/457459.md?page=2)