Sean Brady's 'Irish stuff' Blog
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Welcome to my Irish blog section. It's been an interesting experiment that has been about as popular as psoriasis so far. So. If I don't start getting some apt responses soon I'll be putting this page into the recycle bin, BUT, don't worry. I'll replace it with something a tad more interesting and enlightening. We'll keep it going until the end of the year and then it's into the recycle bin!
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Of all the Irish songs I've sung this is absolutely the bees knees and dogs b's for causing a row by a long chalk. I have to admit that in my, shall we say, 'less emotionally developed days' (sounds better than, 'days when I enjoyed causing trouble') this was always a real corker for livening up a gig at the end of the night. It leaves you open to attack, mainly verbal from all sides for different reasons. I've found myself in the midst of many's the raised hackle, furrowed eyebrow and verbal abuse from singing it, which I often did, regardless of any backlash or consequences. Why? Ok. First and foremost I was going through my 'I'm a victim and a rebel' phase and was simply ultra proud of my Irishness, needed ways to endorse and validate it for reasons that maybe only foreign born Irish people will understand and I was...well...just a bit nutty I suppose. Belting out the Irish National Anthem in a pub or club in England was not alone a great finale to a gig, it was a way of saying 'F*** you to the anti Irish brigade. In the days when being Irish in Britain was something that many felt was something to keep a low profile about, roaring out The Soldiers Song was a great way of saying, 'Listen up you ars***** in Fleet Street and anywhere else who thinks we are kowtowing to your misconceptions and demonising of our Irish identity, this is our National Anthem and we don't give a monkeys! Was I over reacting? Ott and suffering from all sorts of crises? A tad retarded perhaps? You bet. I have always sung it in English too which is another can of worms. Many's the time I've had someone coming up after singing it at the end of a gig, nostrils flared, eyes bulging, with a comment like, 'Yecuntchyawhy'dyesingitinenglishyefocker'. Just for the record, 'The Soldiers Song' was originally written in English and was not translated and adopted as the Irish national anthem until several years later. Peadar Kearney (a relative of Brendan Behan) wrote the Irish language version, so in either language, it works for me. I've sung it in lots of countries and amongst the most fervent and patriotic Irish crowds I've played to, the Glaswegian Irish come out tops. In Glasgow you might find yourself feeling a bit of a 'billynomates' if you don't sing it in it's original format. I think that the line from the original lyric, - that, as legend goes, was sung by the rebels in the GPO as it blazed around them during Easter week - was probably written specifically for those of us who were born in London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Boston, Chicago, etc. "Soldiers are we whose lives are pledged to Ireland, some have come from a land beyond the waves". If you really want to hear that sung with the gusto and pride that it deserves, take a trip to Celtic park sometime. Does it still send shivers up my spine? You bet.
If you'd like to have your thoughts and observations considered for adding on here, email to: seansblog@bradysmusic.co.uk
Traditional Irish songs or plagiarism?
What's a traditional Irish song? Hmmm. Well, in my eyes it's generally an old one that's been sung since God knows when and is one of those bog standards such as, 'Carrickfergus', 'Spancil HIll', 'Wild Rover' etc. How old does it have to be to join the trad club? Good question. I suppose it's up to us and how we feel about it to a degree. Modern Irish classics can also sound very traddy but might only have been written relatively recently. For example many of Pete St John's (if you've never heard of him, shame on you!) best songs such as, 'Rare old times', 'The Ferryman' and of course the 'Fields of Athenry' were written within the last 30 years. Other writers have penned such perennials as 'Grace', 'My Last Farewell', etc, which are also recent creations. We also have a multitude of new songs written to old traditional airs of which the likes of Shane McGowan and Christy Moore have often specialised in and made their own. There's nothing wrong or bogus about putting new lyrics to old traddy tunes. It's an accepted and perfectly honourable method of songwriting, particularly in the Folk genre. I have done it a few times with my own songs. My song about Maggie Thatcher was based on an old Irish emigration song melody. Legally it's all above board too, once a song reaches a certain age and the original writer has been deceased for a certain period, the song becomes public domain. It then counts in the world of royalties as pretty much a brand new song. What's the point of this blog? Well, it's really to encourage YOU to try your hand at writing a song without having to worry about copyright stuff stopping you from giving it a bash. If you're looking for melodies to use, find one, do a Google and see if it's still in copyright or public domain and give it a go. I'm offering a FREE copy of two of my albums of choice for the best submission of a new lyric to a public domain melody. I'll post some of the efforts on here and leave the offer open until the end of April. Get that pen out! Oh, by the way, if you want to know how to copyright a song, in theory it's easy. In practice I can't vouch for it but the idea that was suggested to me when I first started sending out demos was, when you've written it, send it to yourself in a strongly sealed envelope by registered post and DO NOT open it. Keep it safe j-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-us-s-s-st in case**. Theory being that you have a sealed, pre dated version of your song, that if some schmuck claimed were theirs, you could prove otherwise! It would be terrible to wake up one morning, turn on the radio and hear Britney Spears or maybe Bon Jovi singing your new song, 'The green fields of Ballymuck aint green anymore' or 'My Granny's false teeth are full of bits of beef' and you left without a penny! Email your entries to: seansblog@bradysmusic.co.uk **I accept no responsibility for that being 100% failsafe and if you really want to be 100% aware of what's needed to get copyright protected get some expert advice from bodies such as IMRO, PRS or MCPS.
If you'd like to have your thoughts and observations considered for adding on here, email to: seansblog@bradysmusic.co.uk