So I have read extensively the discussions on accents and putting on a fake accent, etc, etc. while singing. Now I have always put on a fake Irish accent when I sing Irish music (or Scottish... but that's the extent of it) and everyone seems to enjoy my singing (as far as I know).
My dilemma is that I feel I will not be taken seriously by other musicians seeing as I am from southern Oregon and the closest thing to an accent I grew up with is my father's warped American-Irish accent (he's from Cork- my Aunt lived in Autralia for some time and she has a warped Aussie-Irish accent!).
So as I embark on my solo Irish singing/guitarring career I would like your opinion: is it better to fake the accent and sing well, or scrap the accent and sing poorly?
Maybe I don't sing as well as I think, and maybe my "American" singing isn't as bad as I think, but at any rate that is the question I have for you. I'm looking forward to hearing some more opinions on this matter!
"A quick word to anyone wanting to sing this. There are two fatal mistakes non-Scots often make in singing Scots songs. The first is to try to fake a Scots accent and the second is to try to rewrite the words in English. Neither is necessary. The second is aesthetically disastrous. The first is impossible - there is no such thing as "a Scots accent", any more than there is such a thing as "an English accent"; there are several hundred "Scots accents" and trying to imitate what you might imagine to be a generic one is going to end up with you sounding like Scotty from Star Trek, guaranteed to have any Scot who hears you wetting their legs laughing.
Just sing the Scots words in your own accent. Two of the very best performances of this song I have ever heard were by non-Scots, the first by Luke Kelly who sang it in his broad Dublin accent, and the second by Pete Seeger who sang it with his own accent, quite identifiably from North America. Both were totally convincing - because they made no attempt to pretend to being Scots and they had both made the effort to understand the nuances of the meanings of the words."
All those Presley and Sinatra clones out there ...
Taking this discussion slightly sideways, the same applies to instrumentalists who go to some lengths to sound just like [a famous name of your choice], usually not convincingly enough to be successful but close enough for the listener to recognise whom they're trying to copy.
If I want to hear a famous Name of my choice I much prefer to hear said Name in person, or at least a recording thereof.
The funniest thing I used to hear when I lived in NYC many years ago, was white native middle class or higher New Yorkers, mainly the guys, singling blues songs, trying to sound like a poor old Black cotton picker from Mississippi.
This can be much the same, esp. if laid on thick!! On the few occasssions i get talked into singing (or forced more like it) I wouldn't dare... it's just enough to get through the song intact in my native accent.... just generic USA east coast.
as for playing istruments, I'm with lazyhound, be yourself. It takes time to develop your own style though, may take years to get an ease with the instrument etc., and sometimes trying to play like someone else is a stepping stone into that. You can very often though, tell who has listened to what, and bases their playing on them.
This isn't an arguement for or against - just food for thought.
If you were singing a sing in French (and you're not a native speaker) would you try to use the most authentic accent you could manage? Not many would manage it so that a French person wouldn't notice, but do you think they would appreciate you trying?
Some of us suffer from that disease where if you are around people with a particular accent, after a little while you start to sound like them. I know that I am like this, and I am not trying to fool anyone - it just happens, and I'm sure the results are hilarious at times. (I'm honestly not sure what my "own" accent is anymore.) Putting your own stamp on traditional music is one side ot the coin - staying true to your source is the other. Some people put all their emphasis on one aspect or the other, so it is obvious where they would stand on this issue. If someone is a natural "accent sponge" and is also perhaps rather immersed in a particular genre of music, it is not surprising that their pronunciation etc of song lyrics is going to be pretty close to that of their source.
To me this is completely different than attempting to lay on some sort of generic stage accent, or to pretend to be something you are not. In the past many have been guilty of doing this with their own culture or dialect as well as those of others. Yeck!
When I play an Irish tune, I may or may not have a particular players rendition of it in mind, and I may or may not be particularly true to that version. However, if I am trying to play Irish music then I do generally try to play it with an "Irish accent". At times my own roots and other influences will come through - intentionally or unintentionally. I've learned to feel okay about this side of my performance, too. It's intersting to consider whether it is, or should be, any different for singers.
True Kris...about natural sponges! I remember a few years back travelling south by car to a conference for work with a colleague and she grew up in GA. Lived in NYC for 40 years. As we travelled south her accent slowly came back, and the week we spent down there.... at first I thought she was goofing, but she had no idea she was doing it! I even started talking R-E-A-L S-L-O-W, like the rest of the folks down there.
Maybe if the singing accent sounds genuine, it's good, but if it sounds sort of vaudevillian, maybe that's over the top.
I have a very strong Boston accent. So when I sing "Cliffs of Doneen" it goes: " You may travel fah fah from yaw own native land". Sound like crap because we drop the "r" sound. So touching them up a bit helps the song sound legible. I used to sing bluegrass music and had the same problem. Can we make acceptions?
Sing songs from your local area - after all, that's what the Irish were doing when you heard the song you now wish to sing but don't know what to do about the accent.
Learning the music and playing tunes in the style of a tradition is not the same thing as pretending to have a particular speaking accent.The natives will immediately see either quite clearly, for what they are. If you do that at in Ireland, be sure to listen for the 'compliments' you receive.
Another thread asks about learning 'tricks' on tin whistle.
Viewing ornaments as 'tricks' and fake accents as contributing positively to good singing (unless, perhaps, in theatre) will just delay the process of maing tunes and songs your own.
The "sponge" effect is a perfectly natural mimicry phenomenon. Live in a place for a while and you'll inevitably absorb some of the local accent and speech patterns.
My wife has lived in Bristol for a long time, but she has only to be in an Irish environment, even for a few hours, and her native Cork accent returns.
I'm told I have a natural slightly Welsh accent, even though I've spent most of my life in Bristol. But apparently that Welsh accent gets stronger without me realising it when I'm on holiday in West Wales.
No-one can slip into Geordie-and-related. That's why I'm not in a High Level Ranters tribute band: that, and the fact that the guys are still around, of course...
Go get the movie Braveheart and watch it over and over until Mel Gibson becomes part of you and study his phrasing and vocal delivery on EVERY line... the you will have the proper accent! (of course this is a joke)
I really like this version of Eulaigh Liom (Elope with me)
some of it is sung in Gaelic, and I'm wondering if this is
Irish, or Scots, or Welsh
How do you tell the difference ?
If you laugh at an American faking a Scottish or Irish accent, you would have a seizure listening to a Norwegian Country singer faking an American accent.
Being a lifetime denizen of the American South, I get to enjoy an endless parade of actors and singers faking my native accent. Sometimes it's respectful, such as when they actually come close to a real regional accent, and that doesn't bother me at all. The Hollywood stereotype is pretty awful, but the worst may be the native Southerner who, in some kind of perverted self-caricature, puts on an exaggerated accent. Makes my skin crawl.
Once I started playing British Isles music in earnest, I went for the "Mid-Atlantic accent," i.e. my good old bland East Coast US voice with just enough subtle touches of Irish/English/Scots flavor so that it sounded less American but not really affected UKish.
It's really a judgement call, and you have to be really selective in what you enhance or don't. For instance, the lovely song "Welcome Royal Charlie" has the chorus
"Oh ye've been lang a-comin'
lang, lang, lang a-comin'"
But if I were to Americanize it -- "Oh you've been LONG a-comEEN, LONG, LONG, LONG a-comEEN..." uhm, yeah, you can see it just doesn't work.
Those of you who watch "Saturday Night Live" might remember the recurring characters -- one of them played by Will Ferrel -- of two middle-aged "music teachers" who insist on trying to play all the hit songs of modern day, including rap, hip-hop, Latino, in the most straight-arrow white middle class voices you can imagine. An anti-role model if there ever was one.
Oh, and re Dick Van Dyke: I was more or less forgiving of the fake Cockney accent in "Mary Poppins." What I had more trouble with was his participation in the awful alleged "morris dance" scene early on in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang."
I steer clear of accents ever since the incident at Slattery's Pub in Dublin in 1990. We were eating lunch one afternoon and I went to the bar to get some tea. I was behind three girls, and as each one approached the bar the barman would ask them what they would like. The first one said, "I'd like Tay"... and he handed her the yoke with the pot, cups and such. The second said "Tay please." And she was handed the same. The third said simply, "Tay." And he handed it to her and she went away. Then he turned to me and asked what I would like, and I said, "Tay." And he said, "What!!!???"
But that's just because the rest of the world thinks American's gave up tea at some party in Boston two centuries ago and that 'cawf fee' oe coke is what they drink. He didn't not recognise the word....he could't take in the concept!
There is no way i am changing my repertoire to be sung with an english folky accent could you imagaine it
grace
green fields of france
bold donnelly
whiskey in the jar
star of the county down
when will we be married molly
I would get laughed at big time, and how could ye sing 500 miles by the proclaimers without a scottish accent I dont want to sound like ian dury, suggs, or billy bragg I would much prefer to ape eddie furey, luke kelly, tommy byrnes and tony calinan
"how could ye sing 500 miles by the proclaimers without a scottish accent"have
You can get away with anything if you do it with enough conviction. Who would ever have imagined you could sing rock 'n' roll with a Scouse accent before the Beatles came on the scene?
"Putting your own stamp on traditional music is one side of the coin - staying true to your source is the other."
I have to say, IMHO these are not necessarily two flip sides. What if your source has put his own stamp on something he heard from his source, and then you painstakenly copy your source's version, thinking it's the original... gets mucky very quickly, doesn't it Traditional music and song, by its very nature changes through time, in part based on the characteristics of the performer, which would include accent and interpretation.
As for Kris's other point:
"If you were singing a song in French (and you're not a native speaker) would you try to use the most authentic accent you could manage?"...
Language and accent are two different animals. You could learn a song in French (if you so chose to go to the trouble, as a non-native speaker) and work hard at getting the pronunciation right, to avoid ruining the song and insulting locals, but this does not mean you then need to 'put on an accent'. Do you go for the generic Pink Panther stereotype? Or do you do your best at imitating the accent from the wine region of your choice?! I think by attempting to ensure the meaning is clear through proper pronunciation is sufficient.
As for "Hollywood does Oirish" pet hates - it's got to be Tom Cruise in Far and Away... makes my skin crawl (actually he makes my skin crawl anyway!!)
I love that Dick Gaughan quote. Awesome! Once at a festival someone asked me when myself and the two other girls in my band were going to learn to sing in a proper scottish accent. It was actually in reference to a song I learnt from my mum who learnt it from her scottish grandmother. I know we don't pronounce it the same way my great-granny would have but I just feel pretentious putting on an accent that I don't speak in.
showaddydadito.... hey, I'm "Iris From The Block". A few call me I-Lo, really!
I remember the salsa growing up for sure, I was from the lower end of the upper west side, but went to school a bit higher uptown....!! That and old Rock n' roll. Great nostalgia.
I would never venture anywhere near a karaoke night, but sometimes pass pubs (quickly) and hear the cacophony inside - invariably with a mock-American accent as many "pop" singers do.
Why do they do it?
In the seventies I stayed in a village on the east coast of Scotland. There were only 10 households in the village. They had their own local songs, which they all sang together at parties - even to the extent of having a song about the road to the next village - a distance of less than half a mile.
By the way, Iris, by choice I live so completely 'out in the sticks' that although I have heard the name JLo on the radio, I have no idea who it is.
Remember the scene in "The Commitments" when the trumpet player was trying to get the girls to sing the backups to "Mustang Sally" without their Irish accents? I love that movie.
I think the worst Hollywood-Irish accent I've ever heard was Julia Roberts' in "Michael Collins". What do you natives think of:
Brad Pitt in "The Devil's Own"
Daniel Day-Lewis in "In the Name of the Father"
And for you Kiwis, Anthony Hopkins in "The World's Fastest Indian".
Showaddydadito.... It's Jennifer Lopez! I believe from NYC, Upper West Side, or Bronx... a bit higher up. I really get a kick out of her to tell the truth, I just know the steroetype very well from going to school with many like her.
I live in the sticks myself, have for a long time. There are still sticks in NJ. I live on an old farm, still farmed, and live in the barn! It's about 1 1/2 hours from NYC, so I don't get in much.
I believe the original was "I get no kick from cocaine" - but PC crept in, despite the fact that the words don't seem to be praising that substance - and it got changed to "champagne" (pronounced to rhyme with "cocaine"), thereby weakening the impact of the song by anticipating the second line.
Worst fake Irish accent of all time, maybe: Dennis Hopper in a mediocre movie called "Ticker." (Don't say I didn't warn you.)
Corey, I think you should forget about the accent and read a lot of Frank McCourt, James Joyce, W. B. Yeats, Seamus Heaney, etc. to learn more about Irish history and culture. Knowing what you are talking/singing about is more important than developing a fake accent.
Funny c.g should choose Cole Porter's "I Get a Kick Out of You" for an example, as Australian folk singer Gary Shearston had a UK and Australian hit in the 1970s singing it with his native accent. I imagine CP had a more upper class NYC accent in mind.
An unlikely concept but it worked brilliantly. He drawled out "cocaine" ("caoocaiyeeene") with emphatic relish. The album "Dingo" also included his moody take on Porter's "Without a Song"
Wow, if the Beatles or the Rolling Stones would have read this in the '60's, they would have sounded very different. Or Eric Clapton. Or ANY of the "British Invasion" groups. Or Oasis.
If Oasis had sounded different it wouldn't be better, nor could it be worse.
Some of the better-known singers of the Scottish folk revival in the 60s whose records went down well with English teenagers and students had voices (on record at least) that didn't sound Scottish at all, and that probably helped their songs get across to such: I'm thinking of Mike Heron and Robin Williamson of The Incredible String Band, Bert Jansch, and Donovan (though he left Scotland aged ten or so); while The Dubliners' "Seven Drunken Nights" in the charts just sounded like an uncouth curiosity.
If you go waaay back to skiffle, and Lonny Donegan singing The Midnight Special, etc., listeners were probably too astounded altogether to laugh out loud.
A little later, a very successful popular singer in Britain, Val Doonican, managed quite well with several styles by (in my opinion) not labouring the accent. It was always clearly Irish, but gently blended.
Ewan MacColl took a firm stand that everyone should always sing in their native voice, which of course became more and more difficult as people relocated. Come to think of it, Ewan didn't always use his Manchester voice........
It's perfectly ok to sing Irish music... or any other for that matter with a Pittsburgh brogue. In that light, it is wrong for one from Pittsburgh to sing "sum siay th' divil ees dade, th'divil ees dade, th'divil ees dade..." It's disturbing and uncomfortable...
Pete Seeger used to defend New York born and raised Rambling Jack Elliot by pointing out that no one (except maybe their mommas) ever criticized rural and southern born Americans who moved to the big cities and changed their accents and mannerisms.
Dick Van Dyke and the horrible cockney accent lent to the charm of the movie... I always thought he was pouring it on for 2 reasons: 1. He was trying to impress Julie Andrews and 2. He was pretty drunk at that period of his life.
Next, I never knew Elton John was British until I heard him interviewed on the Mike Douglas show. I also think John Lennon did a good job of singing with Americanese.
Lastly, Clevon Little did a great job of singing Cole Porter in "Blazing Saddles." ...with an urbanized, upper class white accent.
Thanks to all of the comments. Hopefully my 100 cases of "irish accent spray" arrive soon, haha.
mickray,
I have read quite a few Irish authors and I am constantly learning and know a bit of Irish history and culture, modern and past. However, the general consensus I get from this discussion is "be yourself". Now personally I feel more comfortable singing the songs with an accent. I feel like it's my own unique singing voice. I don't force it or feel like I'm doing anything unusual- and so I think I am going to stick to singing with the Irish accent. Not to mean I'm not grateful for the help!
Corey, you seem to have travelled from "put on a fake Irish accent" to "singing with the Irish accent", and that alone may indicate some resolution to your dilemma.
Perhaps you should think in terms of being comfortable with the song, and then build your interpretation accordingly.
I have just recalled one example of a Canadian singing Music Hall songs to several hundred Londoners. At first glance a presumptuous undertaking, but I found that once I was comfortable with the songs, everyone else appeared to be. If the style fits, the accent itself is not so important.
hey Corey, sorry, I think my comment did come out harsher than I intended.
I just meant to say what oldstrings (and Dick Gaughan, quoted by kennedy, above) said about doing the best job you can on the song, regardless of whether your accent sounds particularly Irish (or Scottish, or whatever). In other words, don't worry about it, either way. Learn all the song's nuances as completely as you can, and then do what comes naturally to you.
If a song is created in a particular accent, dialect or language, the tune will be in sympathy with the natural rhythm and lilt of the accent etc. This is most obvious when you try to translate a song, get something which is an accurate translation of the original, is idiomatically and grammatically correct in the target language, the line lengths etc are right - and it still doesn't work.
With songs in your own language but a different accent or dialect, somehow you have to tread the fine line between putting on a fake accent and using enough of the feel of the accent to make the song work.
Or, as a professional singer friend said when we talked about this, accept that you might have to say - this is a really good song but it's just not for me.
I don't think there is a right answer. Maybe the songs have to be looked at on a case-by-case basis?
I'm also a native Oregonian and sing everything in my normal voice, admittedly not in public. Can't stand faux accents although they are good for a yuk on the silver screen - anybody seen James Coburn in Duck you Sucker, or Tony Curtis in the Black Shield of Falworth? The latter, by the way, does not actually have the line "Yonda lies da castle of my fodda."
Was listening to an old LP, Folk Songs of the Ozarks, which starts off with Almeda Riddle singing a song called the Merry Golden Tree, which is a Child ballad about a sailor volunteering to sink a pirate ship. Real relevant stuff in Missouri. She was nasal as all get out. You think she gave two blankety blanks about whether she was "authentic"? Alan Lomax in the liner notes calls her one of the greatest singers he'd ever met - and he collected music everywhere.
Thanks for the article, Kevin. As a resident of the Pacific SOUTHwest, (from my perspective), I sometimes exchange friendly barbs with people from the nearest large city, Se-al, Warshntn. (Seattle, Washington).
It would probably not occur to a traditional singer like Almeda Riddle to question or even think about the origins of her songs, beyond the neighbour or relative she might have learned them from.
I remember living in Germany, trying to learn German and speak German at all times, and walking into a McDonalds for a relief from fattening food. (Only somewhat kidding.)
The ordering process was interesting. In my best Colonel Klink accent: "Ich moechte ein. . "
... but , "Farr" - the Beatles did use a Liverpool accent mixed with their rock'n'roll accent - "Loov, loov me do" "she told me she worked in the morning and started to laff" - not really strong, but it's there if you listen.
Similarly Oasis' Liam Gallagher with is Mancunian - it's part of their appeal (if they appeal to you at all) The way he sings "soon-sheyine" for "sunshine" in "Rock'n'Roll Star" is an oft-quoted example
There's a Pittsburgh version of "Whiskey In the Jar" entitled "Iron At This Bar" - refers to Iron City Beer. To a native Pittsburgher, it's full of hilarious Pittsburghese.
If you're singing English lyrics (Danny Boy) mar sampla, then by all means....sing in your natural accent. To do otherwise is disengenuous and to some (me) quite annoying.
However, if you are singing Irish lyrics to a song like Amhrán Mhuinse, mar sampla...then I think you owe it to the language to do your best to pronounce the words as close to native pronunciation as possible.
(those lyrics are below, by the way)
Dá mbeinn trí léig i bhfarraige
Nó ar sléibhte i bhfad ó thír
Is gan aon neach beo i mo ghaobhar ann
Ach an sneachta glas is fraoch
An sneachta dhá shéideadh anuas orm
Is an ghaoth dhá bhfuadach dhíom
Is mé a bheith ‘comhrá le mo Teaimín Bán
Is gach duilliúr glas ag fás.
A Mhuire dhílis, céard a dhéanfas mé,
Tá an geimhreadh seo ‘teacht fuar
‘S a Mhuire dhílis, céard a dhéanfas mé,
Leis an teach seo ‘s a bhfuil ann.
Nach trua mé a stór is tú ag imeacht uaim
Le linn na huaire breá’
Le linn don chuach a bheith ag seinm ceoil,
Is gach duilliúr glas ag fás.
Is gearraigí amach mo chónra dhom
Ó thogha na péine báin’,
‘S má tá Seán Ó hEidhin i Maínis
Bíodh sí déanta óna dhá láimh.
Bíodh mo chaipín is mo ribín inti,
Is iad go ródheas faoi mo cheann.
Beidh triúr ban óg ó shliabh agam,
Le mé a chaoineadh os cionn cláir.
Is ag dul siar thar Inse Ghainimh dhom
Beidh an fharraige ag éirí ard,
Is ná cuirigí i Leitir Caladh mé
Mar ní ann atá mo dhream,
Ach tugaigí siar go Maínis mé
San áit a gcaoinfear mé os ard,
Is beidh soilsí ar na dumhchannaí
Is ní bheidh aon uaigneas orm ann.
We also have singers that use a hyper national accent, that is an accent that no one uses. In Australia we have this in Pop, Folk and Country. It's called : "Jackie's Howl". (With apologys to Jackie Howe, the shearer...)
"If you laugh at an American faking a Scottish or Irish accent, you would have a seizure listening to a Norwegian Country singer faking an American accent. "
I heard a swedish girl who barely spoke any English sing at a bluegrass jam (she was visiting family in the country) and I swear I have never heard classic country singing sound so beautiful. The accent sounded real because she just sang the way she learned it from an American singer.
Singing and the fake accent.
Singing and the fake accent.
Hello,
So I have read extensively the discussions on accents and putting on a fake accent, etc, etc. while singing. Now I have always put on a fake Irish accent when I sing Irish music (or Scottish... but that's the extent of it) and everyone seems to enjoy my singing (as far as I know).
My dilemma is that I feel I will not be taken seriously by other musicians seeing as I am from southern Oregon and the closest thing to an accent I grew up with is my father's warped American-Irish accent (he's from Cork- my Aunt lived in Autralia for some time and she has a warped Aussie-Irish accent!).
So as I embark on my solo Irish singing/guitarring career I would like your opinion: is it better to fake the accent and sing well, or scrap the accent and sing poorly?
Maybe I don't sing as well as I think, and maybe my "American" singing isn't as bad as I think, but at any rate that is the question I have for you. I'm looking forward to hearing some more opinions on this matter!
Corey
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by Corey Murphy
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
What about the scrap the accent and sing well option? Faking can make you seem like a fraud and can irritate people!
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by SineadE
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Scrap the accent and sing well.
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by Dr. Dow
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
You beat me to it, Sinead
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by Dr. Dow
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
You might be interested in Dick Gaughan's opinion on this (it's from his page on the Hamish Henderson song "Freedom Come All Ye"):
http://www.dickgaughan.co.uk/songs/texts/freecaye.html
"A quick word to anyone wanting to sing this. There are two fatal mistakes non-Scots often make in singing Scots songs. The first is to try to fake a Scots accent and the second is to try to rewrite the words in English. Neither is necessary. The second is aesthetically disastrous. The first is impossible - there is no such thing as "a Scots accent", any more than there is such a thing as "an English accent"; there are several hundred "Scots accents" and trying to imitate what you might imagine to be a generic one is going to end up with you sounding like Scotty from Star Trek, guaranteed to have any Scot who hears you wetting their legs laughing.
Just sing the Scots words in your own accent. Two of the very best performances of this song I have ever heard were by non-Scots, the first by Luke Kelly who sang it in his broad Dublin accent, and the second by Pete Seeger who sang it with his own accent, quite identifiably from North America. Both were totally convincing - because they made no attempt to pretend to being Scots and they had both made the effort to understand the nuances of the meanings of the words."
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by kennedy
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
You sing in your normal voice and then you'll put your own individual stamp on the music . . which can't be bad.
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by Justintime
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
All those Presley and Sinatra clones out there ...
Taking this discussion slightly sideways, the same applies to instrumentalists who go to some lengths to sound just like [a famous name of your choice], usually not convincingly enough to be successful but close enough for the listener to recognise whom they're trying to copy.
If I want to hear a famous Name of my choice I much prefer to hear said Name in person, or at least a recording thereof.
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Get rid of the accent. Be proud of who you are and where you came from.
Mary
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by Antikhntr
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
The funniest thing I used to hear when I lived in NYC many years ago, was white native middle class or higher New Yorkers, mainly the guys, singling blues songs, trying to sound like a poor old Black cotton picker from Mississippi.
This can be much the same, esp. if laid on thick!! On the few occasssions i get talked into singing (or forced more like it) I wouldn't dare... it's just enough to get through the song intact in my native accent.... just generic USA east coast.
as for playing istruments, I'm with lazyhound, be yourself. It takes time to develop your own style though, may take years to get an ease with the instrument etc., and sometimes trying to play like someone else is a stepping stone into that. You can very often though, tell who has listened to what, and bases their playing on them.
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by irisnevins
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
This isn't an arguement for or against - just food for thought.
If you were singing a sing in French (and you're not a native speaker) would you try to use the most authentic accent you could manage? Not many would manage it so that a French person wouldn't notice, but do you think they would appreciate you trying?
Some of us suffer from that disease where if you are around people with a particular accent, after a little while you start to sound like them. I know that I am like this, and I am not trying to fool anyone - it just happens, and I'm sure the results are hilarious at times. (I'm honestly not sure what my "own" accent is anymore.) Putting your own stamp on traditional music is one side ot the coin - staying true to your source is the other. Some people put all their emphasis on one aspect or the other, so it is obvious where they would stand on this issue. If someone is a natural "accent sponge" and is also perhaps rather immersed in a particular genre of music, it is not surprising that their pronunciation etc of song lyrics is going to be pretty close to that of their source.
To me this is completely different than attempting to lay on some sort of generic stage accent, or to pretend to be something you are not. In the past many have been guilty of doing this with their own culture or dialect as well as those of others. Yeck!
When I play an Irish tune, I may or may not have a particular players rendition of it in mind, and I may or may not be particularly true to that version. However, if I am trying to play Irish music then I do generally try to play it with an "Irish accent". At times my own roots and other influences will come through - intentionally or unintentionally. I've learned to feel okay about this side of my performance, too. It's intersting to consider whether it is, or should be, any different for singers.
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by kris
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
True Kris...about natural sponges! I remember a few years back travelling south by car to a conference for work with a colleague and she grew up in GA. Lived in NYC for 40 years. As we travelled south her accent slowly came back, and the week we spent down there.... at first I thought she was goofing, but she had no idea she was doing it! I even started talking R-E-A-L S-L-O-W, like the rest of the folks down there.
Maybe if the singing accent sounds genuine, it's good, but if it sounds sort of vaudevillian, maybe that's over the top.
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by irisnevins
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
I have a very strong Boston accent. So when I sing "Cliffs of Doneen" it goes: " You may travel fah fah from yaw own native land". Sound like crap because we drop the "r" sound. So touching them up a bit helps the song sound legible. I used to sing bluegrass music and had the same problem. Can we make acceptions?
Salt
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by saltcast
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Iiiiiiris, Weee dooo not taaalk sloooow. You just listen toooo faaast.
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by Bob himself
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Perhaps there's a more fundamental issue here.
Sing songs from your local area - after all, that's what the Irish were doing when you heard the song you now wish to sing but don't know what to do about the accent.
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by showaddydadito
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Learning the music and playing tunes in the style of a tradition is not the same thing as pretending to have a particular speaking accent.The natives will immediately see either quite clearly, for what they are. If you do that at in Ireland, be sure to listen for the 'compliments' you receive.
Another thread asks about learning 'tricks' on tin whistle.
Viewing ornaments as 'tricks' and fake accents as contributing positively to good singing (unless, perhaps, in theatre) will just delay the process of maing tunes and songs your own.
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by Stevie C
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
That's why I'm not in a Planxty tribute band
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by nicholas
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
The "sponge" effect is a perfectly natural mimicry phenomenon. Live in a place for a while and you'll inevitably absorb some of the local accent and speech patterns.
My wife has lived in Bristol for a long time, but she has only to be in an Irish environment, even for a few hours, and her native Cork accent returns.
I'm told I have a natural slightly Welsh accent, even though I've spent most of my life in Bristol. But apparently that Welsh accent gets stronger without me realising it when I'm on holiday in West Wales.
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
No-one can slip into Geordie-and-related. That's why I'm not in a High Level Ranters tribute band: that, and the fact that the guys are still around, of course...
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by nicholas
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Bob...so right....we do everything too fast up here!!
Showaddydaditio.... do you know any trad music from the upper west side of Manhattan? Please don't tell me to do J-Lo songs!!!
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by irisnevins
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Go get the movie Braveheart and watch it over and over until Mel Gibson becomes part of you and study his phrasing and vocal delivery on EVERY line... the you will have the proper accent! (of course this is a joke)
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by The Merry Highlander
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Worse than that was Kevin Costner doing....was it Robin Hood... ugh...
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by irisnevins
Re: Irish, or Scots, or Welsh ? - Braveharp
On YouTube there is a beautiful rendition of the Tune
Eulaigh Liom (Elope with me). Here is the address
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWnt4a2RU18
I really like this version of Eulaigh Liom (Elope with me)
some of it is sung in Gaelic, and I'm wondering if this is
Irish, or Scots, or Welsh
How do you tell the difference ?
-- BraveHarp (aka Hank)
# Posted on December 28th 2006 by b0dhran
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
If you laugh at an American faking a Scottish or Irish accent, you would have a seizure listening to a Norwegian Country singer faking an American accent.
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by Schlongbow
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Ockers sing a song whose chorus goes something like:
"oh, oh oh wo, oi wish oi wuz back ome in dairy "
It can really bring tears to the eye ...
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by dogbox
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Remember Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins?
Dreadfully awful accent....... but he still did a good job!
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by morning star
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
My Japanese friend liked to sing along with Phil Collins!
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by irisnevins
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Being a lifetime denizen of the American South, I get to enjoy an endless parade of actors and singers faking my native accent. Sometimes it's respectful, such as when they actually come close to a real regional accent, and that doesn't bother me at all. The Hollywood stereotype is pretty awful, but the worst may be the native Southerner who, in some kind of perverted self-caricature, puts on an exaggerated accent. Makes my skin crawl.
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by Bob himself
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Once I started playing British Isles music in earnest, I went for the "Mid-Atlantic accent," i.e. my good old bland East Coast US voice with just enough subtle touches of Irish/English/Scots flavor so that it sounded less American but not really affected UKish.
It's really a judgement call, and you have to be really selective in what you enhance or don't. For instance, the lovely song "Welcome Royal Charlie" has the chorus
"Oh ye've been lang a-comin'
lang, lang, lang a-comin'"
But if I were to Americanize it -- "Oh you've been LONG a-comEEN, LONG, LONG, LONG a-comEEN..." uhm, yeah, you can see it just doesn't work.
Those of you who watch "Saturday Night Live" might remember the recurring characters -- one of them played by Will Ferrel -- of two middle-aged "music teachers" who insist on trying to play all the hit songs of modern day, including rap, hip-hop, Latino, in the most straight-arrow white middle class voices you can imagine. An anti-role model if there ever was one.
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by sts
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Oh, and re Dick Van Dyke: I was more or less forgiving of the fake Cockney accent in "Mary Poppins." What I had more trouble with was his participation in the awful alleged "morris dance" scene early on in "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang."
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by sts
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
I steer clear of accents ever since the incident at Slattery's Pub in Dublin in 1990. We were eating lunch one afternoon and I went to the bar to get some tea. I was behind three girls, and as each one approached the bar the barman would ask them what they would like. The first one said, "I'd like Tay"... and he handed her the yoke with the pot, cups and such. The second said "Tay please." And she was handed the same. The third said simply, "Tay." And he handed it to her and she went away. Then he turned to me and asked what I would like, and I said, "Tay." And he said, "What!!!???"
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by Phantom Button
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
But that's just because the rest of the world thinks American's gave up tea at some party in Boston two centuries ago and that 'cawf fee' oe coke is what they drink. He didn't not recognise the word....he could't take in the concept!
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by FiddleFancy
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
There is no way i am changing my repertoire to be sung with an english folky accent could you imagaine it
grace
green fields of france
bold donnelly
whiskey in the jar
star of the county down
when will we be married molly
I would get laughed at big time, and how could ye sing 500 miles by the proclaimers without a scottish accent I dont want to sound like ian dury, suggs, or billy bragg I would much prefer to ape eddie furey, luke kelly, tommy byrnes and tony calinan
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by Ripthecalico
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
"how could ye sing 500 miles by the proclaimers without a scottish accent"have
You can get away with anything if you do it with enough conviction. Who would ever have imagined you could sing rock 'n' roll with a Scouse accent before the Beatles came on the scene?
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Irisnevins:
Of course I don't know any music from Manhattan, my dear.
I know, and play, music local to where I live.
If there is no music local to Manhattan - hmm - tricky . . . of course if you're too narrow minded to sing JLo songs then I don't think we can help.
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by showaddydadito
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
In response to Kris's point;
Traditional music and song, by its very nature changes through time, in part based on the characteristics of the performer, which would include accent and interpretation.
"Putting your own stamp on traditional music is one side of the coin - staying true to your source is the other."
I have to say, IMHO these are not necessarily two flip sides. What if your source has put his own stamp on something he heard from his source, and then you painstakenly copy your source's version, thinking it's the original... gets mucky very quickly, doesn't it
As for Kris's other point:
"If you were singing a song in French (and you're not a native speaker) would you try to use the most authentic accent you could manage?"...
Language and accent are two different animals. You could learn a song in French (if you so chose to go to the trouble, as a non-native speaker) and work hard at getting the pronunciation right, to avoid ruining the song and insulting locals, but this does not mean you then need to 'put on an accent'. Do you go for the generic Pink Panther stereotype? Or do you do your best at imitating the accent from the wine region of your choice?! I think by attempting to ensure the meaning is clear through proper pronunciation is sufficient.
As for "Hollywood does Oirish" pet hates - it's got to be Tom Cruise in Far and Away... makes my skin crawl (actually he makes my skin crawl anyway!!)
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by ceoltoir2010
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
I love that Dick Gaughan quote. Awesome! Once at a festival someone asked me when myself and the two other girls in my band were going to learn to sing in a proper scottish accent. It was actually in reference to a song I learnt from my mum who learnt it from her scottish grandmother. I know we don't pronounce it the same way my great-granny would have but I just feel pretentious putting on an accent that I don't speak in.
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by sneetch
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
showaddydadito.... hey, I'm "Iris From The Block". A few call me I-Lo, really!
I remember the salsa growing up for sure, I was from the lower end of the upper west side, but went to school a bit higher uptown....!! That and old Rock n' roll. Great nostalgia.
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by irisnevins
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
I would never venture anywhere near a karaoke night, but sometimes pass pubs (quickly) and hear the cacophony inside - invariably with a mock-American accent as many "pop" singers do.
Why do they do it?
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by geoffwright
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
In the seventies I stayed in a village on the east coast of Scotland. There were only 10 households in the village. They had their own local songs, which they all sang together at parties - even to the extent of having a song about the road to the next village - a distance of less than half a mile.
By the way, Iris, by choice I live so completely 'out in the sticks' that although I have heard the name JLo on the radio, I have no idea who it is.
Happy new year to all our readers.
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by showaddydadito
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Remember the scene in "The Commitments" when the trumpet player was trying to get the girls to sing the backups to "Mustang Sally" without their Irish accents? I love that movie.
I think the worst Hollywood-Irish accent I've ever heard was Julia Roberts' in "Michael Collins". What do you natives think of:
Brad Pitt in "The Devil's Own"
Daniel Day-Lewis in "In the Name of the Father"
And for you Kiwis, Anthony Hopkins in "The World's Fastest Indian".
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by pbassnote
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Always a problem singing a song written in an accent not your own
"I get no kick from champagne
Mere alcohol doesnt thrill me at all . . ."
Now should that be alcoholl/ at oll
alcohorl/at orl
alcohahl/at ahl
Cos in my accent it doesn't actually rhyme (alcoholl/at orl).
And as for shom-pan-yuh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by c.g.
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Showaddydadito.... It's Jennifer Lopez! I believe from NYC, Upper West Side, or Bronx... a bit higher up. I really get a kick out of her to tell the truth, I just know the steroetype very well from going to school with many like her.
I live in the sticks myself, have for a long time. There are still sticks in NJ. I live on an old farm, still farmed, and live in the barn! It's about 1 1/2 hours from NYC, so I don't get in much.
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by irisnevins
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
lol i used to fake the accent big time, id say ditch it cus its helped me sing better actaully without it
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by S.McMullen
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Imagine Charles Aznavour singing in English with a perfect English/American accent. It just wouldn't work.
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
I believe the original was "I get no kick from cocaine" - but PC crept in, despite the fact that the words don't seem to be praising that substance - and it got changed to "champagne" (pronounced to rhyme with "cocaine"), thereby weakening the impact of the song by anticipating the second line.
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by Trevor Jennings
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Worst fake Irish accent of all time, maybe: Dennis Hopper in a mediocre movie called "Ticker." (Don't say I didn't warn you.)
Corey, I think you should forget about the accent and read a lot of Frank McCourt, James Joyce, W. B. Yeats, Seamus Heaney, etc. to learn more about Irish history and culture. Knowing what you are talking/singing about is more important than developing a fake accent.
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by John Galt
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Brad Pitt - Devil's Own. I was reasonably impressed with that accent.
Anyway, lots of payback here for years upon miserable years of Irish C&W singers trying to sound like they grew up in Oklahoma.
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by grego
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Funny c.g should choose Cole Porter's "I Get a Kick Out of You" for an example, as Australian folk singer Gary Shearston had a UK and Australian hit in the 1970s singing it with his native accent. I imagine CP had a more upper class NYC accent in mind.
An unlikely concept but it worked brilliantly. He drawled out "cocaine" ("caoocaiyeeene") with emphatic relish. The album "Dingo" also included his moody take on Porter's "Without a Song"
# Posted on December 29th 2006 by Bren
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Wow, if the Beatles or the Rolling Stones would have read this in the '60's, they would have sounded very different. Or Eric Clapton. Or ANY of the "British Invasion" groups. Or Oasis.
# Posted on December 30th 2006 by Farr
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Or Abba
# Posted on December 30th 2006 by grego
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
If Oasis had sounded different it wouldn't be better, nor could it be worse.
Some of the better-known singers of the Scottish folk revival in the 60s whose records went down well with English teenagers and students had voices (on record at least) that didn't sound Scottish at all, and that probably helped their songs get across to such: I'm thinking of Mike Heron and Robin Williamson of The Incredible String Band, Bert Jansch, and Donovan (though he left Scotland aged ten or so); while The Dubliners' "Seven Drunken Nights" in the charts just sounded like an uncouth curiosity.
# Posted on December 30th 2006 by nicholas
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Daniel Day Lewis' Belfast accent - " In the name of the father"- quite convincing, but Pete Postlethwaite's, spot on.
# Posted on December 30th 2006 by sechan
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Corey,
This might solve your problem:
http://www.pulpshop.co.uk/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=2502
# Posted on December 30th 2006 by Lurcherjohn
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
If you go waaay back to skiffle, and Lonny Donegan singing The Midnight Special, etc., listeners were probably too astounded altogether to laugh out loud.
A little later, a very successful popular singer in Britain, Val Doonican, managed quite well with several styles by (in my opinion) not labouring the accent. It was always clearly Irish, but gently blended.
Ewan MacColl took a firm stand that everyone should always sing in their native voice, which of course became more and more difficult as people relocated. Come to think of it, Ewan didn't always use his Manchester voice........
# Posted on December 30th 2006 by oldstrings
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
It's perfectly ok to sing Irish music... or any other for that matter with a Pittsburgh brogue. In that light, it is wrong for one from Pittsburgh to sing "sum siay th' divil ees dade, th'divil ees dade, th'divil ees dade..." It's disturbing and uncomfortable...
# Posted on December 30th 2006 by pastrings
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Pete Seeger used to defend New York born and raised Rambling Jack Elliot by pointing out that no one (except maybe their mommas) ever criticized rural and southern born Americans who moved to the big cities and changed their accents and mannerisms.
# Posted on December 30th 2006 by oldstrings
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
To respond to a couple more of these things:
Dick Van Dyke and the horrible cockney accent lent to the charm of the movie... I always thought he was pouring it on for 2 reasons: 1. He was trying to impress Julie Andrews and 2. He was pretty drunk at that period of his life.
Next, I never knew Elton John was British until I heard him interviewed on the Mike Douglas show. I also think John Lennon did a good job of singing with Americanese.
Lastly, Clevon Little did a great job of singing Cole Porter in "Blazing Saddles." ...with an urbanized, upper class white accent.
# Posted on December 30th 2006 by pastrings
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Thanks to all of the comments. Hopefully my 100 cases of "irish accent spray" arrive soon, haha.
mickray,
I have read quite a few Irish authors and I am constantly learning and know a bit of Irish history and culture, modern and past. However, the general consensus I get from this discussion is "be yourself". Now personally I feel more comfortable singing the songs with an accent. I feel like it's my own unique singing voice. I don't force it or feel like I'm doing anything unusual- and so I think I am going to stick to singing with the Irish accent. Not to mean I'm not grateful for the help!
# Posted on December 30th 2006 by Corey Murphy
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Corey, you seem to have travelled from "put on a fake Irish accent" to "singing with the Irish accent", and that alone may indicate some resolution to your dilemma.
Perhaps you should think in terms of being comfortable with the song, and then build your interpretation accordingly.
I have just recalled one example of a Canadian singing Music Hall songs to several hundred Londoners. At first glance a presumptuous undertaking, but I found that once I was comfortable with the songs, everyone else appeared to be. If the style fits, the accent itself is not so important.
# Posted on December 30th 2006 by oldstrings
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
hey Corey, sorry, I think my comment did come out harsher than I intended.
I just meant to say what oldstrings (and Dick Gaughan, quoted by kennedy, above) said about doing the best job you can on the song, regardless of whether your accent sounds particularly Irish (or Scottish, or whatever). In other words, don't worry about it, either way. Learn all the song's nuances as completely as you can, and then do what comes naturally to you.
# Posted on December 30th 2006 by John Galt
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
If a song is created in a particular accent, dialect or language, the tune will be in sympathy with the natural rhythm and lilt of the accent etc. This is most obvious when you try to translate a song, get something which is an accurate translation of the original, is idiomatically and grammatically correct in the target language, the line lengths etc are right - and it still doesn't work.
With songs in your own language but a different accent or dialect, somehow you have to tread the fine line between putting on a fake accent and using enough of the feel of the accent to make the song work.
Or, as a professional singer friend said when we talked about this, accept that you might have to say - this is a really good song but it's just not for me.
I don't think there is a right answer. Maybe the songs have to be looked at on a case-by-case basis?
# Posted on December 30th 2006 by c.g.
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Corey Murphy - you have an accent, you just don't know it. Read this fine article: http://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/americanvarieties/pacificnorthwest/
I'm also a native Oregonian and sing everything in my normal voice, admittedly not in public. Can't stand faux accents although they are good for a yuk on the silver screen - anybody seen James Coburn in Duck you Sucker, or Tony Curtis in the Black Shield of Falworth? The latter, by the way, does not actually have the line "Yonda lies da castle of my fodda."
Was listening to an old LP, Folk Songs of the Ozarks, which starts off with Almeda Riddle singing a song called the Merry Golden Tree, which is a Child ballad about a sailor volunteering to sink a pirate ship. Real relevant stuff in Missouri. She was nasal as all get out. You think she gave two blankety blanks about whether she was "authentic"? Alan Lomax in the liner notes calls her one of the greatest singers he'd ever met - and he collected music everywhere.
Hear a whole stew of songs from Mrs. Riddle (and others), including the Merry Golden Tree, at http://www.lyon.edu/wolfcollection/songs/alphasongs.html.
To thine own self be true, like the man says.
# Posted on December 30th 2006 by KLR
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
Thanks for the article, Kevin. As a resident of the Pacific SOUTHwest, (from my perspective), I sometimes exchange friendly barbs with people from the nearest large city, Se-al, Warshntn. (Seattle, Washington).
It would probably not occur to a traditional singer like Almeda Riddle to question or even think about the origins of her songs, beyond the neighbour or relative she might have learned them from.
# Posted on December 30th 2006 by oldstrings
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
I remember living in Germany, trying to learn German and speak German at all times, and walking into a McDonalds for a relief from fattening food. (Only somewhat kidding.)
The ordering process was interesting. In my best Colonel Klink accent: "Ich moechte ein. . "
And then. . . "Bic Mac." very odd.
# Posted on December 31st 2006 by wormdiet
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
... but , "Farr" - the Beatles did use a Liverpool accent mixed with their rock'n'roll accent - "Loov, loov me do" "she told me she worked in the morning and started to laff" - not really strong, but it's there if you listen.
Similarly Oasis' Liam Gallagher with is Mancunian - it's part of their appeal (if they appeal to you at all) The way he sings "soon-sheyine" for "sunshine" in "Rock'n'Roll Star" is an oft-quoted example
# Posted on December 31st 2006 by Bren
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
pastrings,
There's a Pittsburgh version of "Whiskey In the Jar" entitled "Iron At This Bar" - refers to Iron City Beer. To a native Pittsburgher, it's full of hilarious Pittsburghese.
# Posted on January 1st 2007 by pbassnote
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
My answer would depend on what you are singing.
If you're singing English lyrics (Danny Boy) mar sampla, then by all means....sing in your natural accent. To do otherwise is disengenuous and to some (me) quite annoying.
However, if you are singing Irish lyrics to a song like Amhrán Mhuinse, mar sampla...then I think you owe it to the language to do your best to pronounce the words as close to native pronunciation as possible.
(those lyrics are below, by the way)
Dá mbeinn trí léig i bhfarraige
Nó ar sléibhte i bhfad ó thír
Is gan aon neach beo i mo ghaobhar ann
Ach an sneachta glas is fraoch
An sneachta dhá shéideadh anuas orm
Is an ghaoth dhá bhfuadach dhíom
Is mé a bheith ‘comhrá le mo Teaimín Bán
Is gach duilliúr glas ag fás.
A Mhuire dhílis, céard a dhéanfas mé,
Tá an geimhreadh seo ‘teacht fuar
‘S a Mhuire dhílis, céard a dhéanfas mé,
Leis an teach seo ‘s a bhfuil ann.
Nach trua mé a stór is tú ag imeacht uaim
Le linn na huaire breá’
Le linn don chuach a bheith ag seinm ceoil,
Is gach duilliúr glas ag fás.
Is gearraigí amach mo chónra dhom
Ó thogha na péine báin’,
‘S má tá Seán Ó hEidhin i Maínis
Bíodh sí déanta óna dhá láimh.
Bíodh mo chaipín is mo ribín inti,
Is iad go ródheas faoi mo cheann.
Beidh triúr ban óg ó shliabh agam,
Le mé a chaoineadh os cionn cláir.
Is ag dul siar thar Inse Ghainimh dhom
Beidh an fharraige ag éirí ard,
Is ná cuirigí i Leitir Caladh mé
Mar ní ann atá mo dhream,
Ach tugaigí siar go Maínis mé
San áit a gcaoinfear mé os ard,
Is beidh soilsí ar na dumhchannaí
Is ní bheidh aon uaigneas orm ann.
mo dhá euro....is mise, James
# Posted on January 6th 2007 by ceolgaelach
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
We also have singers that use a hyper national accent, that is an accent that no one uses. In Australia we have this in Pop, Folk and Country. It's called : "Jackie's Howl". (With apologys to Jackie Howe, the shearer...)
# Posted on January 21st 2007 by way dero
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
The Irish always jump on the yanks for sounding fake
we just are polite when they make us all sound like we're from Texas
# Posted on March 13th 2012 by italian
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
"If you laugh at an American faking a Scottish or Irish accent, you would have a seizure listening to a Norwegian Country singer faking an American accent. "
I heard a swedish girl who barely spoke any English sing at a bluegrass jam (she was visiting family in the country) and I swear I have never heard classic country singing sound so beautiful. The accent sounded real because she just sang the way she learned it from an American singer.
# Posted on March 14th 2012 by Earl Cameron
Re: Singing and the fake accent.
I actually sing one song in French it goes like
derrière chez moi Il'y'a-t-un jardin
On faire l'amour On boire la vin
dans une main je tiens une verre
Et dans l'autre me bien aimée
of course this is sung like
dairy air shay mwah lyah ton jardah (french nasal thingy on last syllable)
oh and please pardon any bad French spelling I didn't bother to look it up for accuracy
# Posted on March 14th 2012 by Earl Cameron