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Home , Celtic rock, Horslips, Ireland, Irish traditional music

EUROPAVICINA_16_2007 8-11-2007 14:41 Pagina 24

IRELAND: A CULTURE REFLECTED IN ITS MUSIC

by Fergal Kavauagh* country’s history can often be traced through its berries (Zombie) and Amusic, and this is particularly true of . ( Bloody From traditional folk tunes to modern rock, singers Sunday and Please) and bands have always drawn on the spirit, culture and are synonymous with history of this often troubled nation. songs dealing with the In Ireland music and culture are different sides of in Northern same coin, so much so that the has appeared on Ireland. It is true that all coins issued in since the formation of the these bands’ reper- in 1922. It also became, and remains, the toires rarely explicitly official symbol on the Government seal, and featured incorporate traditional on the State’s flag until the introduction of the tri- music, but Bono colour. More familiarly, at an international level, claims that “U2 are a Breweries also feature the harp as the folk band Ð the loudest symbol of their famous , now Ireland’s biggest folk band you’ll ever export. hear”, and that they are continuing “the Irish tradition The harp is, however, misrepresentative of Irish music of the story-teller”1. of the previous century, being in fact typical of the The main themes running through traditional songs 1500’s. The country was then governed by Chieftains, are British occupation, the famine and emigration. who employed professional harpists to compose and English settlers imposed the at the end of perform for them. When invaders forced the Chief- the seventeenth century, including the ban of the Irish tains to flee, these musicians became “travelling” or language. With no written record of the songs of the “itinerant” harpists, and the tradition gradually faded. time, many lyrics were lost forever. There are no written records of how this music The invaders brought their own music, the sounded, as Irish music is part of the oral tradition, form, which was soon incorporated into the form of passed on from musician to musician through playing, Irish music. Songs from the time spoke of the impris- and inevitably adapted to suit onment of tenants and the the individual’s (and burning of their properties for memory!). their inability to pay the land- The ’ arrival in Ireland al- ’s high rents. The Fields of most two thousand years ago Athenry, now popular as a foot- and the Viking invasion in 800 ball chant, and Skibbereen both A.D. helped influence the tradi- speak of these atrocities. Inter- tion of storytelling through estingly, in a contemporary song, which continues to the demonstration of the country’s present time. At a time in the culture affecting the music in early 1970’s when Irish youth these politically delicate times, were rejecting their traditions, Sinéad O’Connor’s 1998 ver- group sion of the latter song leaves recorded a song about the ar- out the final verse where “Irish rival of the Viking invaders, men of freedom stern will rally Trouble with a T, based one and all... to raise the cheer, on a Celtic marching tune and Revenge for Skibbereen”. played on two electric . When the crop repeat- This fusion of rock and tradi- edly failed in the mid-nine- tional music began a renewed teenth century, the population interest and sense of identity fell from over eight million to and pride in Irish music. two and a half million through Today’s home grown superstars starvation and emigration. The continue the tradition of re- emigrants brought their music flecting their culture in their with them to Britain and musical output. Both the Cran- America, sharing it with who-

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ever wanted to listen Ð this can be seen in the film Ti- own country. Rockers had a huge interna- tanic, where Irish music is performed throughout the tional hit in 1973 with a reworking of the traditional voyage. In the 1860’s 26% percent of New York’s , since covered by Metallica. Bono population was Irish, and a third of these were native says that this was one of the first songs he learned on Irish speakers. Of course this language couldn’t be guitar4. sustained in America, but the tunes of the songs they This renewed interest opened Irish ears to the more were singing were translated or set to new English traditional vein of their rich culture. Traditional musi- language versions. The traditional Paddy’s Lament is cians met in for a seisiún (traditional session), an infused with homesickness Ð with the promise of a impromptu gathering of traditional players con- wage many emigrants fought on opposing sides in the tributing freely together. The ballad form became ex- 1775 American War of Independence. The song con- tremely popular and was often used to make social or cludes with “I wish I was at home in dear old Dublin”. political statements. Christy is the best known Sinéad O’Connor, who recorded it on -Nós Nua, of these singers, with a huge repertoire of songs from her collection of Irish traditional songs, cites it as “the not only Ireland, but also Britain and America. Out- best anti-war song ever made”2. side influences have enriched Irish music, with both More emigrants found work on America’s transconti- the and becoming important fea- nental railroad line, alongside African emigrants Ð tures in recent years. With up to 40% immigrants in both were said to have sung continuously as they some areas of Ireland today, the genre is destined to worked. Inevitably the two genres became inter- continue to develop and reflect another thousand twined, and the traditional songs from both cultures years of culture! picked up new rhythms and arrangements. The mar- riage of Irish and African music has been demon- * The author of this article runs the website www.tuneintoenglish.com, strated to great effect in recent years by the band Afro- with many activities for learning English through music. He also pres- Celt Sound System, and many traditional southern ents a show in schools called Tune Into Ireland Ð a cultural journey through music, as well as The Tune Into English Roadshow. Italian folk songs owe their origins to African music, but sound notably similar to Irish reels and . Emigration has been essential to the survival of Irish 1 Bringing It All Back Home, Nuala O’Connor, BBC Books, 1991. 2 music Ð emigrants wanting to keep in touch with their Sleeve notes for Sean-Nós Nua, Sineád O’Connor, Hummingbird Re- cords 2002. own identity gathered together to sing and to speak 3 Bringing It All Back Home, Nuala O’Connor, BBC Books, 1991. Irish Ð these songs eventually were integrated into the 4 Idem. local culture, influencing American music as we know it today – ’s With God On Our Side uses an tune and bluegrass and both acknowledge their musical origins. Even the Beatles, looking across the Atlantic, were once a band, a form derived from . American film-score composer Elmer Bernstein opines that the music “... comes directly from life, uncensored from the soul of the people; it’s ”3. As everywhere in the centuries before the arrival of radio and , the music produced and listened to in Ireland was very insular. One of the factors halting significant musical innovation was the . They claimed dancing was de- bauched and denounced all involved. They were helped further by the Irish State who, in 1936, banned all , even private, without a licence. Many tal- ented young musicians emigrated to America where the Irish traditional music scene was booming. When British and American rock filtered through to Ireland, people began to abandon their musical roots, looking for a more exciting alternative not controlled by the Church or State. Interest in home-produced music was to finally return in the 1970’s with the aforementioned Horslips. Dressed like Celtic , their mix of traditional Irish music with electric rock was extremely exciting and uniquely Irish, helping revive the music of their

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