Wow. I hate Inisheer. And the Skye Boat song. Two of the most boring dirges ever to slouch across the Atlantic IMHO. I didn't realize boredom was such a powerful emotion.
There's this Quebecois tune called "les Larmes" (the tears) which really lives up to its name. That tune is so gut-wrenchingly sad it's almost hilarious.
"The Ladie's Pantalettes" ( also known as "The Duke of Leinsters Wife ") It stirs something within me...... i.e. d'oul skinflute .... on a serious note ! listen to a recording of Andy McGann playing it ,, but then again 98% of ye are missing the big picture ( what am I doing here? is there anybody out there? hello ! HELLOOOO!!!!!!
My second favour would be "Oh the days of the Kerri Dances " ( but would she gyrate in her buttRess chaps ... or should that be buttless chaps ? ... I doubt it hmmm.... her butty chaps .. her buttfull chaps ... her butt minus chaps ?.... lead me away please !! i PROMISE TO TAKE ALL MY MEDICATION !!!
Kerri, if you think Skye Boat Song and Inisheer is boring it must be the way you're playing it. Try listening to some recordings, Johnny Cunningham does a wonderful Skye Boat Song on one of the Celtic Fiddle Festival CD's.
Mary, I LIVED on Inis Oirr for three months, heard every wandering Irish musician who passed through give it a shot, both great musicians and bad, and I never once liked it, even a little. No offence to anyone who thinks it's really special. I just can't stand it. Maybe it's overexposure.
Me: "There's this Quebecois tune called "les Larmes" (the tears) which really lives up to its name. That tune is so gut-wrenchingly sad it's almost hilarious."
Cammy: "You sound really bored Kerri. So tell us what's a really emotional tune then?"
"Don't Throw any more slack ( i.e. coal ) On the Fire Granny, There's enough in your Knickers already" ( Honest !! It's a Welsh Bard dance .. a subtle ditty ... somewhere between Leonard Cohen and Daniel O Donnell..... "HEY ! WHERE THE F**K ARE THOSE PILLS?"
Its spelled " Inis Siar" "siar "means "back " in Irish . I don.t know what Oirr means ( it sounds suspiciously like a walrus breaking wind) Hey Kerri ! how can you take the "pizz" out of Cammi ( what a dorky identity ) if you can't spell prupurly "" MO naoire thu! Caithfidhn tu ceachtanna a fhoghlaim sar a insionn tu duinn gach uile rud a tharlaionn ar nr na hOileain
Yeah, I might...h...? You being an old Inis Oirr regular will know what I mean...or are you telling wee fibs there? In fact are you Irish at all?
I might ...h....wink wink, you know what I mean Kerri - sure you do!
Anyways, thanks to those who posted honest answers to the question without trying to be smart arsed comedians or loud mouths. It's interesting to hear what really moves other people, even if it isn't our own taste.
Cammi ...... hmmmm..it's a very weird "identity " for a male living in Germany ... have you contacted Mel Brooks about the possibility of starring in any of his musicals?
Nope, no fibs. But the only Irish I learned was "Give me a whiskey" and "Where's my bed?" and "Those pipes are out of tune" (Along with my please and thankyous.) So I'm afraid I can't understand your Irish. I can't understand your english either, so I'm sure it's no great loss.
Looks like BOB AND Cammi are " Bonding " Want to hear something really EMOTIONAL?... Looks like the barrel ran dry .....and Maurice Trintignant died yesterday
Cuilin, Roisin Dubh, Bean an Fir Rua, Limerick's lament, For Ireland I won't tell her name, mermaid, my lagan love, Owen Roe O'Neill's lament, there are quite a few. If pressed I still like Roisin Dubh the best.
If you were to put it to a poll among punters, Skye Boat song would feature well among Scots. Without a Doubt Danny Boy would fill first place. Just because a tune or song has been played to death, doesn't mean it's not still a good song or air.
That's a good point bliss. Among others, Danny Boy has certainly suffered at the hands of many an insensitive performer to the extent that it is hard to take it seriously. There is an Italian guitar player called Franco Morone who has recorded an excellent version, revealing it to be what it is - a beautiful composition.
I don't speak Irish, but in Kerri's defence I have it on very good authority that Inis Oirr means Eastern Isle - or can mean Western Isle, or maybe Northern Isle.
It has nothing to do with walruses.
I've never heard it called 'Back Isle' before, or Inis Siar, though maybe I don't move in the right circles.
Inisheer being a Saxon corruption, of course...
As far as emotional tunes go, I cried a bit hearing Andy Irvine singing As I roved Out (the 'And I wish The Queen Would Call back Her Armies' one), the other week. And on the whole, it's performances, not tunes, that affect me.
Mark
The lyrics are 20th century English, but the tune was first published in Ireland over 50 years prior their compostion, and is most likely a mistranscription of a harp tune dating back to about the Cromwellian invasion ( there much for harpers to lament in those times).
The tune is old, and more Irish than the Italian and English instruments we are now most likely to play it on.
I don't know where erconwald gets his info, but "Inisheer" is just the anglicized spelling of Inis Oirthir. "Oir" refers to east as Gaelige (in Irish), as in "oirthear," and "iar" refers to west, as in "iarthar." Inis Oirthir (Inisheer) is the eastern-most of the three Oileáin Arain (Aran Islands) in Galway Bay. The other two ar Inis Meáinn (Middle Island, anglicized as Inishmaan) and Inish Mor (Big Island, anglicized as Inishmore). A glance at any decent Irish map confirms this.
Gah, I just so happen to like Inisheer... But that's all I say -_-;
When we were playing it at my session about two or three sessions ago, I was smiling so much because it was so beautiful... GAH. It made me very quiet for the rest of the night because I could only think of the damn tune!
Isn't it interesting that when people talk of emotional tunes they so often are referring to sad tunes. I like my entertainment, TV & Music to be happy. There's enough sadness in this world already without adding to it.
Hi Cammy - we meet again. I'm afraid I also have some problems with your cyber ID name. Not quite sure it fits. Where did you get it from - presumably Cameron??
I like to play Inisheer. I also like The White Blanket. Southwind can be pretty effective if you really put some feeling into it. My listeners at local restaurants and bars seem to respond. Any tune can be effective emotionally if you really try.
Sarah, Archibald MacDonald is one of my all-time favorite pieces. If--when--we get a chance to play together, we have to play that one--I worked up a properly haunting counterpoint to it for two fiddles.
The sunset is a cracker. I only know it from the amazing guitar player Tony McManus. I wouldn't call it a real tear jerker though but it is melancholic and sombre..
I've skimmed through most of the above and everyone seems to assume that by "most emotional tune" Cammy means something that makes you feel like crying.
Let's hear it for the other emotions.
What tunes make you feel: Happiness : Anger : Hatred : Envy : etc.
The rainy day
is a saddish tune (for me - maybe cause its a minor) But along what Dave suggested, sometimes it just makes me feel good - its such a powerful tune....If Im walking and thats on the Ipod I find my self striding with a purpose!!!
A recent poll suggested that tunes like Bluebell Hornpipe, Harvest Home, Jimmy Allen, Salmon Tails, Dingle Regatta, Kesh Jig etc. all generate a lot of emotion.
Invariably along the lines of "not again .... hurry up and finish".
[quote -geoffwright]I like the popular tunes... harvest home etc.... Just because I.ve played them before lots of times, doesnt mean i get sick of them....quote]
I tend to agree stefanpaz but, to me it's sort fo like your favorite meal. I love a good steak, but, if I ate one every time I sat down to the table, well that would be not only tired but unhealthy ... on the other hand, go a reasonable amount of time without one and nothing is tastier!
As for the most emotional tune, as showaddydadito points out, depends on which emotion you're talking about. Me, I prefer that high enery - good time emotion from a tune like Navvy on the Line or Swinging on the Gate. But, if I'm looking to feel a little sentimental, something like The Snowy Path sounds very sweet. All depends I guess...
Niel Gows Farewell to whisky in B flat must be up there, written in 1799 when the use of barley for whisky was prohibited because of crop failure thus starving scots of their favourite snifter
I like Inisheer and Skye Boat Song myself--but they do have to be done right--not everyone can really play the heck out of a slow aire. Loch Tae Boat Song is also a tear-jerker, although I think that is more because of the words than the tune itself. No one has mentioned my own current personal favorite, Ned of the Hill (unless they slipped it in under its Gaelic name)--I have been working on it on the accordion for months, with the full left hand chords and stuff, and I love it.
Al Brown
I get "tingly" when listening to Kevin Burke play Laington's Reel. That tune for what ever reason, gets my blood pumping, and I really love the way he plays it.
Welcome to Skye is one we are currently learning in our whistle class and it is a lovely slow air. A Night in That Land by Johnny Cunningham is also one of the most lovely tunes ever written.
In terms of more upbeat tunes then the first three tracks on Lunasa's Redwood album (Creggs Pipes set, Welcome Home Grainne Set and the Harp and the Shamrock set) are outstanding - they are warm, often jolly and the guitar work is exceptional.
About not getting sick of old tunes: My attitude about this has been changing a lot in the last few weeks. I've met some people who will play anything at all, as many times as they feel the urge, no matter how cheesy, boring, old, standard, simple, or overplayed, but they never fail to bring something fresh out of a stale tune. They are a joy to listen to no matter what they are playing.
Kerri, I'd like to appologize to you for any offense. I didn't mean to suggest that you don't play well. I should have worded that in a different way. It didn't realize how mean it sounded until I re-read my post.
I never meant any disrespect, after all we're all here for the same reason....love of the music.
Hmm!,
I like a few slow airs - and I would have thought that the box player Tony MacMahon really has a great way with getting every last note out of this type of ITM. Myself, I'd currently go for 'An Buachaillin Bán' or 'A Stór mo Chroí' but there's loads of 'em. The book and CD 'The Traditional Slow Airs of Ireland' by Tomas O'Canainn is a great resource if your interested in this type of stuff.
Yeah, I really don't have any great cadidates for "most emotional tune" (as a banjo player, I generally steer clear of those slow airs, or anything that requires a sustain, really, for obvious reasons). But one tune that I recently learned, under the name "Farewell Reel", seriously nearly brings me to tears every time I play it. It's not necessarily because of anything overtly sad in the tune (it's a major reel), but because of the context in which (I'm told) it was traditionally played--at the "American wakes" to send loved ones to a distant land, most likely never to be seen or heard from again. Which, I suppose, in some ways is even more bitter (and sweet) than death. I can't help but be mindful of this tradition when I play it, and imagine all the departures to which the tune bore witness.
However, I can definitely comment about tunes in the form of *songs*. 'A Stor mo Chroi' is just timelessly sorrowful and I never get tired of singing it or hearing it sung.
I just though of a few others I love .. - "the geese in the bog"
OK its really popular and alot of people know it, but its such a great tune - haunting, and i love the way it drives through..
Great for peacticing jig rythms!
Like a good steak - ive seen this massacred - but with the right instruments - treatment - its a beautiful haunting tune.
Also Johnny Cope.....King of the Fairies....hmm All minor....
"I've met some people who will play anything at all, as many times as they feel the urge, no matter how cheesy, boring, old, standard, simple, or overplayed. . ."
I definately fall into this camp. The "urge" has been known take hours to fade. Bored at the third time through a tune or song? Hell, even if you've already been playing it for decades at any particular sitting you don't really start to grok it until you're about 15 minutes into it. It'll start to get sweet at the half hour mark.
The reason people are bored the third time through a tune is because they haven't been playing it *long enough.*
Old, cheesy, overplayed?
Well, I've already defended the Air From Derry at every opportunity and mentioned that I spent the evening awhile ago just sawing away at Golden Slippers.
Last night was. . .Yellow Rose of Texas. Why? I don't know. I just got the "urge" from somewhere. And it's a great tune.
Oh, and a bit of some other tune snuck in as well. I was listening to some mp3s of various cellos (I love cello) and one of them was playing a tune that was simply so lovely I had to pick up the fiddle and give it a go.
Edelweiss.
And if people wish to groan and moan my granny gave me some immortal words to deal with 'em.
". . .but they never fail to bring something fresh out of a stale tune. They are a joy to listen to no matter what they are playing."
I've only been at this music stuff for 40 years or so (counting from the first time I was pushed on stage to sing in front of other people). I have hopes that in another decade or two I can fall into this catagory as well, but I've got to pay my dues first.
In light of the above I'll add a few emotional tunes to the list:
Scotland the Brave, The Atholl Highlanders, The Dark Isle, Down in the Valley and Bright Mohawk Valley (that would be Red River Valley to most folks, but that's a revision, and my backyard is the Mohawk River).
Doesn't it depend how you play it? Or who plays it? (...not to mention how little you've slept, how much you've had to drink or how recently your hamster died).
Countless tunes have done things to me at various times. What really saddens me is when a tune that once stirred something up inside me no longer has any effect.
MacRimmon's Lament. Lovely tune but I heard it and, as such, associate it with the late Martyn Bennett. I heard him play it beautifully on the small pipes. Touching tune before he passed away, but now it's right up there. He'll be missed.
O'Carolan's farewell to music, the list is endless. I agree about the Wolf Tones, but it would appear that the ceasefire has "decommissioned" them as there are not as many deaths to write "songs" about and make money out of.
Sorry if that sounds harsh, but I live in N.Ireland, they never did.
"The reason people are bored the third time through a tune is because they haven't been playing it *long enough.*"
I've been helping a friend teach a guitar class by providing tunes for them to accompany. All the tunes they're learning are such ancient history I hadn't played them in years, and I *never* played them well. They're also pretty common, so I don't usually start them at sessions because I know somebody else will, eventually. As it turns out, there is definitely something to be said for playing the same old tune you've known for years over and over again at a moderate tempo for a whole hour. After about 20 minutes I begin to see all kinds of possibilities that make me want to ditch the class and go figure stuff out in a stairwell, and by the end of the class I'm usually all excited about a tune I thought I hated only an hour ago.
Maybe you should try the same thing with Inisheer Kerri.
Seriously though, I think there is a lot in what you're saying there in your last post. Tunes can really "open up" when you really slow them down and have a closer look at them.
The Wolfetones cant play music, cant sing and have no idea of tradition.
One of the fellas from the band pushed his cassette on me when i was about 16 and its horrible - synths, and cruise ship vocals - awful stuff.
The lyrics are straight out of Brian McFaddens song book too - awful awful music.
Some heart-rending airs:
An Buachaill Caol Dubh (Tommy Potts, Willie Clancy, Tony MacMahon)
The Dear Irish Boy (Tommy Potts, Willie Clancy)
O'Carolan's Farewell to Music - thanks to the name and the history of it (genuinely supposed to be the last tune he wrote, dictated before he retired to his death-bed) - almost unbearably tragic.
Something sublime:
Port na pBucai, played by Ronan Browne on the Drones & the Chanters Vol 2: absolute pure magic. Mournful, but also full of some kind of limitless, spiritual essence of life... um, er... how to put it without sounding like an addle-brained mystic? I don't know - but Tommy Potts was able to express the same thing. And I find it in Bach, too, whatever it is...
For happy emotion:
Brown County Breakdown, either by Bryan Sutton or the Dreadful Snakes - for some reason one of the most life-affirmingly joyful things I've ever heard. Bryan Sutton's version moved me to tears the first time I heard it.
Something invigorating:
Pretty much all of 'Fierce Traditional' by Frankie Gavin. Invokes an energetic, confident, ready-to-face-the-world mood. I listen to it when I want to buck myself up a bit.
Something calming:
I have a compilation of Georgian and Russian male choral stuff that I put together for relaxing to. I took out all the macho shouty numbers, so that it's all very peaceful (though admittedly, melancholy), drenched with beautiful harmonies, very warm, spacious and low. Lovely.
I could go on, but I suppose I'd better do some work... eeek...
x H
I agree with stefanpaz about the Geese in the Bog but it's the Paddy Killoran version that is really melancholic and haunting. Sean Keane also plays it on a brilliant cd that accompanies his book of tunes and I love that too, but if we're talking "most emotional" there's something about the Killoran version
Cammy, I have played Inisheer until my ears bled. I have liked it once or twice, a teensy little bit, I admit it, but it was when the variations were so many and so drastic you could hardly call it the same tune. Or when everybody is harmonizing the hell out of it so you can barely hear it any more. I'm afraid there's no hope for that particular tune. Just doesn't do anything for me. Maybe because I got to read the lyrics. Thank god everyone has forgotten there are lyrics is all I have to say about that.
*blush, blush* Sincere apologies to Thomas Walsh, by the way, who it seems has popped in from time to time. If you're reading this I want to assure you it's only me that seems to dislike the tune, and that it's HUGE in Montreal. And Calgary. Everybody knows it. I think I just associate it with cleaning toilets and washing dishes because I was working so hard when I first heard it.
I was trying. I can't seem to find them. I was wondering what struck me about them as being so awful at the time. Maybe there was some irony involved because they go on about how lovely and special the place is when in actual fact it's always raining and certain hotel guests have a tendency to poop in their beds after a long night of drinking. I want a song about THAT.
I can't find those lyrics anywhere, but if you're ever on Inis Oirr, there is a framed hand-written copy of the sheet music and lyrics on the hearth in the dining room at Tigh Ruairi.
Frost on the Bowel. Clever. I should mention that as penance I am now accepting vicious, scathing criticism of my own tunes, three of which are posted here. There are also two of my songs on my personal website.
There is this old traditional tune I played at my grandma's wake. But everytime I think of it (sniffle) I get teary eyed (sob) and can't bear to (sniffle-sob) even mention it (sobble-sniff) aloud (wailing siren sound-tears flying). Sorry. I'll have to drink to that (gurgle-glug).
no, no, no, the actual one is that slow air vision poem piece (instrumental) on planxty's 'words and music" with a gaelic name, whatever it is . . .
that's the one to be reckoned with and anyone who's not ''emotionally touched'' by this thunderous track, i'm afraid, is on the wrong web site by miles . . .
i speak with a deep inner love of the music that i know, because i love it beyond any explaination known
This is entirely off the subject, but I'd like to ask--what year did you live in Inis Oirr? It sounds as if you worked in the Ostan. I worked there from '95 to '97 and in 2001. Just wondering if I might know you (though I don't remember anyone named Kerri), or if we have friends (or even enemies) in common.
2003, and I worked at Ruairi's. You probably know a bunch of people named Bridget, Bridie, or Brita who I also know, and Padraig and his family down at Ned's. Plus Ruairi and Ana and their lovely daughters (and not-so-lovely sons). Actually, you must know practically everybody I know as far as the locals are concerned. Not exactly a huge community.
I would never be insulting and rude to someone who survived 3 months on Inis Oirr (not to mention someone who slaved away in Tigh Ruairi's)--you've suffered enough! I never got to know Ruairi's daughters too well--there seemed to be some unwritten rule on the island that kept the girls that worked in the Ostan and the girls that worked in Ruairi's from mingling too much. I wish I could say the same rule applied to Ruairi's sons, one of whom was permanently glued to one of the Ostan's bar stools year after year.
And btw, I never cared much for Inisheer (the tune) either. My vote is for An Buachaill Caol Dubh.
lol. That would be Micheal. I used to pop into the Ostan once in a while myself when I felt like eating something other than curry chicken or tomato / cheese toasties. I also used to run off to the sessions at Ned's after I finished hosting the session at Ruairi's. If there were unwritten rules I broke all of them.
Well, it's good to hear Micheal Ruairi is still holding sway in the hotel, though I'm a bit saddened to hear he never mended his ways. I suppose he still gets his kicks doing the brush dance for all the tourists. I met the older brother, Eoghan, through a prank that went wrong. Myself and a couple of the other girls from the hotel took a pair of dirty knickers left behind by a tourist in one of the hotel rooms and hung it up on the Conghaile's forklift with an anonymous love note. It was meant for Micheal--but it was Eoghan who got it. He found out through the grapevine that I was involved. I was only about 2 or 3 weeks on the island at that time--I never lived it down. I didn't get to know the youngest son--he was pretty young then.
I didn't patronize Ruairi's too much--the first summer I was there, nothing, and I mean nothing, was going on up there musically or socially, so I never went there. (I know it picked up over the years, but old habits die hard.) Plus, there was something in their taps or beer or something that gave me diarrhea. Seriously. I did go to Ned's--my time was divided between the hotel and Ned's.
I have a tape made my a number of islander musicians and singers in 1993. It was recorded in the hall. It features our favorite, Inisheer, performed by the Bard of Aran himself. My favorite singer on the island, Peadar O'Domhnaill (is he still there?) isn't on it, unfortunately, don't know why. His sister, Maire, sings a few songs (The Rocks of Bawn and Anach Cuain), however, and his brother Mairtin plays a couple tunes.
LOL! I'll bet that went over great with Eoghan! Oh, my, what a classic move. Hilarious. Never underestimate the grapevine. A day after I arrived all the islanders knew who I was, where I was working, where I was staying, and where I'm from. And the day after I let a drunken ferryman sleep on my floor I had a "reputation". My landlord said to me "Jaysus, Americans have sex like it's shakin' hands!" (Most of the locals never fully grasped the concept that Canada and the US are two different countries). I met hoardes of Paeders, Mairtins and Maires, so I can't be sure I know the same ones you know. I'd love to have a copy of that tape though. I bet I'd recognice the voices even though I have their names mixed up.
I think I do know Peadar though. He had a heck of a hairdo (and impressive chops). Redhead? Kind of greying?
Some beautiful modern tunes that I find pretty affecting:
Alasdair's Tune - Charlie Mckerron
Something for Gordon - Ross Ainslie
I think these tunes are powerful and affecting for anyone, it doesn't matter whether you knew their subjects or not because they are also simply beautiful music. although as tommy_wintle has mentioned in relation to martyn bennett, certain tunes are obviously deeply associated with people and events.
For me - that's
Cumha na cloinne.
That's enough I think, everyone has their own.
What a power is music.
Most emotional tune?
Most emotional tune?
There are a few beauties, but I think Inisheer is way up there. What's yours?
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Cammy
Re: Most emotional tune?
Skye Boat Song and The Trip We Ttook Over the Mountains.
Sniff, sniff now ya went and made me cry
Mary
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Antikhntr
Re: Most emotional tune?
Lach Tay Boat Song. Nothing sadder, in my opinion.
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Ailin
Re: Most emotional tune?
Over the Sea to... Wait, is "cheese" an emotion?
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Gzeg
Re: Most emotional tune?
You can really wring a lot of emotion out of the Scottish Slow Air
"My Heart is Broken Since Thy Departure"
name says it all..
Happy Valentines Day
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Sunnybear
Re: Most emotional tune?
Wow. I hate Inisheer. And the Skye Boat song. Two of the most boring dirges ever to slouch across the Atlantic IMHO. I didn't realize boredom was such a powerful emotion.
There's this Quebecois tune called "les Larmes" (the tears) which really lives up to its name. That tune is so gut-wrenchingly sad it's almost hilarious.
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Most emotional tune?
My 3 year old son started crying while listening to the Kildevil Air on Paddy' Keenan's NaKeen Affair. He said, "Papa, this music is so sad."
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Jode
Re: Most emotional tune?
You sound really bored Kerri. So tell us what's a really emotional tune then?
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Cammy
Re: Most emotional tune?
"The Ladie's Pantalettes" ( also known as "The Duke of Leinsters Wife ") It stirs something within me...... i.e. d'oul skinflute .... on a serious note ! listen to a recording of Andy McGann playing it ,, but then again 98% of ye are missing the big picture ( what am I doing here? is there anybody out there? hello ! HELLOOOO!!!!!!
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Red Robin
Re: Most emotional tune?
My second favour would be "Oh the days of the Kerri Dances " ( but would she gyrate in her buttRess chaps ... or should that be buttless chaps ? ... I doubt it hmmm.... her butty chaps .. her buttfull chaps ... her butt minus chaps ?.... lead me away please !! i PROMISE TO TAKE ALL MY MEDICATION !!!
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Red Robin
Re: Most emotional tune?
Kerri, if you think Skye Boat Song and Inisheer is boring it must be the way you're playing it. Try listening to some recordings, Johnny Cunningham does a wonderful Skye Boat Song on one of the Celtic Fiddle Festival CD's.
Mary
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Antikhntr
Re: Most emotional tune?
Mary, I LIVED on Inis Oirr for three months, heard every wandering Irish musician who passed through give it a shot, both great musicians and bad, and I never once liked it, even a little. No offence to anyone who thinks it's really special. I just can't stand it. Maybe it's overexposure.
Me: "There's this Quebecois tune called "les Larmes" (the tears) which really lives up to its name. That tune is so gut-wrenchingly sad it's almost hilarious."
Cammy: "You sound really bored Kerri. So tell us what's a really emotional tune then?"
uuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh....
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Most emotional tune?
"Don't Throw any more slack ( i.e. coal ) On the Fire Granny, There's enough in your Knickers already" ( Honest !! It's a Welsh Bard dance .. a subtle ditty ... somewhere between Leonard Cohen and Daniel O Donnell..... "HEY ! WHERE THE F**K ARE THOSE PILLS?"
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Red Robin
Re: Most emotional tune?
The Concertina Reel always brings a tear to my eye.
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Will CPT
Re: Most emotional tune?
You might h
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Cammy
Re: Most emotional tune?
I might .... h... ?
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Most emotional tune?
"For Ireland I Won't Tell Her Name" or "Limerick's Lament"
# Posted on March 1st 2003 by dafydd
Re: Most emotional tune?
Its spelled " Inis Siar" "siar "means "back " in Irish . I don.t know what Oirr means ( it sounds suspiciously like a walrus breaking wind) Hey Kerri ! how can you take the "pizz" out of Cammi ( what a dorky identity ) if you can't spell prupurly "" MO naoire thu! Caithfidhn tu ceachtanna a fhoghlaim sar a insionn tu duinn gach uile rud a tharlaionn ar nr na hOileain
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Red Robin
Re: Most emotional tune?
Yeah, I might...h...? You being an old Inis Oirr regular will know what I mean...or are you telling wee fibs there? In fact are you Irish at all?
I might ...h....wink wink, you know what I mean Kerri - sure you do!
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Cammy
Re: Most emotional tune?
KERRI i THINK IT'S YOUR SERVE
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Red Robin
Re: Most emotional tune?
Anyways, thanks to those who posted honest answers to the question without trying to be smart arsed comedians or loud mouths. It's interesting to hear what really moves other people, even if it isn't our own taste.
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Cammy
Re: Most emotional tune?
Cammi ...... hmmmm..it's a very weird "identity " for a male living in Germany ... have you contacted Mel Brooks about the possibility of starring in any of his musicals?
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Red Robin
Re: Most emotional tune?
Cammi .. ( dearest) what really moves people is a good honest to God laxative
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Red Robin
Re: Most emotional tune?
The Lament for Limerick, with Aly Bain on fiddle.
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Bob himself
Re: Most emotional tune?
Nope, no fibs. But the only Irish I learned was "Give me a whiskey" and "Where's my bed?" and "Those pipes are out of tune" (Along with my please and thankyous.) So I'm afraid I can't understand your Irish. I can't understand your english either, so I'm sure it's no great loss.
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Most emotional tune?
Didn't know that one Bobhimself, but just had a listen to a real audio file from the Green Linnet website - sounds lovely.
# Posted on February 14th 2005 by Cammy
Re: Most emotional tune?
You can call me Bob.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Bob himself
Re: Most emotional tune?
Nice to meet you Bob
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Cammy
Re: Most emotional tune?
Looks like BOB AND Cammi are " Bonding " Want to hear something really EMOTIONAL?... Looks like the barrel ran dry .....and Maurice Trintignant died yesterday
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Red Robin
Re: Most emotional tune?
"Cape Clear " is a nice tune!
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Ani Trec-Noc
Re: Most emotional tune?
Cuilin, Roisin Dubh, Bean an Fir Rua, Limerick's lament, For Ireland I won't tell her name, mermaid, my lagan love, Owen Roe O'Neill's lament, there are quite a few. If pressed I still like Roisin Dubh the best.
If you were to put it to a poll among punters, Skye Boat song would feature well among Scots. Without a Doubt Danny Boy would fill first place. Just because a tune or song has been played to death, doesn't mean it's not still a good song or air.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by bodhran bliss
Re: Most emotional tune?
That's a good point bliss. Among others, Danny Boy has certainly suffered at the hands of many an insensitive performer to the extent that it is hard to take it seriously. There is an Italian guitar player called Franco Morone who has recorded an excellent version, revealing it to be what it is - a beautiful composition.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Cammy
Re: Most emotional tune?
I'm making myself cry with A Parting of Friends. It used to be Roisin Dubh for personal reasons.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by baglady
Re: Most emotional tune?
Danny Boy was also written by an Englishman.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by meemtp
Re: Most emotional tune?
I don't speak Irish, but in Kerri's defence I have it on very good authority that Inis Oirr means Eastern Isle - or can mean Western Isle, or maybe Northern Isle.
It has nothing to do with walruses.
I've never heard it called 'Back Isle' before, or Inis Siar, though maybe I don't move in the right circles.
Inisheer being a Saxon corruption, of course...
As far as emotional tunes go, I cried a bit hearing Andy Irvine singing As I roved Out (the 'And I wish The Queen Would Call back Her Armies' one), the other week. And on the whole, it's performances, not tunes, that affect me.
Mark
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Ottery
Re: Most emotional tune?
"Danny Boy was also written by an Englishman."
The lyrics are 20th century English, but the tune was first published in Ireland over 50 years prior their compostion, and is most likely a mistranscription of a harp tune dating back to about the Cromwellian invasion ( there much for harpers to lament in those times).
The tune is old, and more Irish than the Italian and English instruments we are now most likely to play it on.
KFG
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by KFG
Re: Most emotional tune?
elanor plunkett. very sad when played right. its a Carolan tune and he has plenty of reasons to be sad.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by irish_fiddler2
Re: Most emotional tune?
I don't know where erconwald gets his info, but "Inisheer" is just the anglicized spelling of Inis Oirthir. "Oir" refers to east as Gaelige (in Irish), as in "oirthear," and "iar" refers to west, as in "iarthar." Inis Oirthir (Inisheer) is the eastern-most of the three Oileáin Arain (Aran Islands) in Galway Bay. The other two ar Inis Meáinn (Middle Island, anglicized as Inishmaan) and Inish Mor (Big Island, anglicized as Inishmore). A glance at any decent Irish map confirms this.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Will CPT
Re: Most emotional tune?
".....and Maurice Trintignant died yesterday"
Yeah, I've spent some time watching old race tapes and remembering von Brauchitsch, Dreyfus and Bob Akins while I was about it.
KFG
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by KFG
Re: Most emotional tune?
Gah, I just so happen to like Inisheer... But that's all I say -_-;
When we were playing it at my session about two or three sessions ago, I was smiling so much because it was so beautiful... GAH. It made me very quiet for the rest of the night because I could only think of the damn tune!
Peggy's Waltz is very sad!!
Cheers,
Armand
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by fiddlinviolinin
Re: Most emotional tune?
Isn't it interesting that when people talk of emotional tunes they so often are referring to sad tunes. I like my entertainment, TV & Music to be happy. There's enough sadness in this world already without adding to it.
Hi Cammy - we meet again. I'm afraid I also have some problems with your cyber ID name. Not quite sure it fits. Where did you get it from - presumably Cameron??
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Donough
Re: Most emotional tune?
"There's enough sadness in this world already without adding to it."
You do not play blues to make yourself feel worse. You play them to make yourself feel better.
KFG
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by KFG
Re: Most emotional tune?
Archibald McDonald of Keppoch...Amhran na Leabhar a very close second (sometimes passing by a nose to take first place)..
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by sara g
Re: Most emotional tune?
I like to play Inisheer. I also like The White Blanket. Southwind can be pretty effective if you really put some feeling into it. My listeners at local restaurants and bars seem to respond. Any tune can be effective emotionally if you really try.
Larry
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Layers
Re: Most emotional tune?
Sarah, Archibald MacDonald is one of my all-time favorite pieces. If--when--we get a chance to play together, we have to play that one--I worked up a properly haunting counterpoint to it for two fiddles.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Will CPT
Re: Most emotional tune?
"the sunset". It opens my heart. Sometimes it depends on how do you feel when you learn it.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by fer
Re: Most emotional tune?
The sunset is a cracker. I only know it from the amazing guitar player Tony McManus. I wouldn't call it a real tear jerker though but it is melancholic and sombre..
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Cammy
Re: Most emotional tune?
I've skimmed through most of the above and everyone seems to assume that by "most emotional tune" Cammy means something that makes you feel like crying.
Let's hear it for the other emotions.
What tunes make you feel: Happiness : Anger : Hatred : Envy : etc.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by showaddydadito
Re: Most emotional tune?
The rainy day
is a saddish tune (for me - maybe cause its a minor) But along what Dave suggested, sometimes it just makes me feel good - its such a powerful tune....If Im walking and thats on the Ipod I find my self striding with a purpose!!!
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Hugo Chavez
Re: Most emotional tune?
Most Wolfe Tones songs make me angry.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by BegF
Re: Most emotional tune?
A recent poll suggested that tunes like Bluebell Hornpipe, Harvest Home, Jimmy Allen, Salmon Tails, Dingle Regatta, Kesh Jig etc. all generate a lot of emotion.
Invariably along the lines of "not again .... hurry up and finish".
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by geoffwright
Re: Most emotional tune?
Wolfetones - I agree.
Only cause its horrible music and not because of the lyrics...
I like the popular tunes... harvest home etc....
Just because Ive played them before lots of times, doesnt mean i get sick of them.
somebody said before - they dont play the banshee or cooleys becasue they are cheesy and commercial - now thats just plain silly.
the reaon theyre popular and over played is cause theyve lasted the test of time no?
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Hugo Chavez
Re: Most emotional tune?
[quote -geoffwright]I like the popular tunes... harvest home etc.... Just because I.ve played them before lots of times, doesnt mean i get sick of them....quote]
I tend to agree stefanpaz but, to me it's sort fo like your favorite meal. I love a good steak, but, if I ate one every time I sat down to the table, well that would be not only tired but unhealthy ... on the other hand, go a reasonable amount of time without one and nothing is tastier!
As for the most emotional tune, as showaddydadito points out, depends on which emotion you're talking about. Me, I prefer that high enery - good time emotion from a tune like Navvy on the Line or Swinging on the Gate. But, if I'm looking to feel a little sentimental, something like The Snowy Path sounds very sweet. All depends I guess...
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by RogueFiddler
Re: Most emotional tune?
oops - sorry - meant to quote stefanpaz - not geoff - pesky keyboard malfunctions!
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by RogueFiddler
Re: Most emotional tune?
Niel Gows Farewell to whisky in B flat must be up there, written in 1799 when the use of barley for whisky was prohibited because of crop failure thus starving scots of their favourite snifter
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by mikesuth
Re: Most emotional tune?
Lament for Limerick / Limerick's Lamentation with James Kelly on fiddle
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by violynnsey
Re: Most emotional tune?
I like Inisheer and Skye Boat Song myself--but they do have to be done right--not everyone can really play the heck out of a slow aire. Loch Tae Boat Song is also a tear-jerker, although I think that is more because of the words than the tune itself. No one has mentioned my own current personal favorite, Ned of the Hill (unless they slipped it in under its Gaelic name)--I have been working on it on the accordion for months, with the full left hand chords and stuff, and I love it.
Al Brown
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by AlBrown
Re: Most emotional tune?
I get "tingly" when listening to Kevin Burke play Laington's Reel. That tune for what ever reason, gets my blood pumping, and I really love the way he plays it.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Agnes Nutter
Re: Most emotional tune?
Welcome to Skye is one we are currently learning in our whistle class and it is a lovely slow air. A Night in That Land by Johnny Cunningham is also one of the most lovely tunes ever written.
In terms of more upbeat tunes then the first three tracks on Lunasa's Redwood album (Creggs Pipes set, Welcome Home Grainne Set and the Harp and the Shamrock set) are outstanding - they are warm, often jolly and the guitar work is exceptional.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by No Cause For Alarm
Re: Most emotional tune?
About not getting sick of old tunes: My attitude about this has been changing a lot in the last few weeks. I've met some people who will play anything at all, as many times as they feel the urge, no matter how cheesy, boring, old, standard, simple, or overplayed, but they never fail to bring something fresh out of a stale tune. They are a joy to listen to no matter what they are playing.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Most emotional tune?
Kerri, I'd like to appologize to you for any offense. I didn't mean to suggest that you don't play well. I should have worded that in a different way. It didn't realize how mean it sounded until I re-read my post.
I never meant any disrespect, after all we're all here for the same reason....love of the music.
Mary
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Antikhntr
Re: Most emotional tune?
Hmm!,
I like a few slow airs - and I would have thought that the box player Tony MacMahon really has a great way with getting every last note out of this type of ITM. Myself, I'd currently go for 'An Buachaillin Bán' or 'A Stór mo Chroí' but there's loads of 'em. The book and CD 'The Traditional Slow Airs of Ireland' by Tomas O'Canainn is a great resource if your interested in this type of stuff.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by the wounded hussar
Re: Most emotional tune?
Yeah, I really don't have any great cadidates for "most emotional tune" (as a banjo player, I generally steer clear of those slow airs, or anything that requires a sustain, really, for obvious reasons). But one tune that I recently learned, under the name "Farewell Reel", seriously nearly brings me to tears every time I play it. It's not necessarily because of anything overtly sad in the tune (it's a major reel), but because of the context in which (I'm told) it was traditionally played--at the "American wakes" to send loved ones to a distant land, most likely never to be seen or heard from again. Which, I suppose, in some ways is even more bitter (and sweet) than death. I can't help but be mindful of this tradition when I play it, and imagine all the departures to which the tune bore witness.
However, I can definitely comment about tunes in the form of *songs*. 'A Stor mo Chroi' is just timelessly sorrowful and I never get tired of singing it or hearing it sung.
There's my two cents.
Crystal
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by crystal_bailey
Re: Most emotional tune?
Fiddlemethis - no problem
.....
I just though of a few others I love .. - "the geese in the bog"
OK its really popular and alot of people know it, but its such a great tune - haunting, and i love the way it drives through..
Great for peacticing jig rythms!
Like a good steak - ive seen this massacred - but with the right instruments - treatment - its a beautiful haunting tune.
Also Johnny Cope.....King of the Fairies....hmm All minor....
Craigs pipes, Charlie Harris'
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Hugo Chavez
Re: Most emotional tune?
"I've met some people who will play anything at all, as many times as they feel the urge, no matter how cheesy, boring, old, standard, simple, or overplayed. . ."
I definately fall into this camp. The "urge" has been known take hours to fade. Bored at the third time through a tune or song? Hell, even if you've already been playing it for decades at any particular sitting you don't really start to grok it until you're about 15 minutes into it. It'll start to get sweet at the half hour mark.
The reason people are bored the third time through a tune is because they haven't been playing it *long enough.*
Old, cheesy, overplayed?
Well, I've already defended the Air From Derry at every opportunity and mentioned that I spent the evening awhile ago just sawing away at Golden Slippers.
Last night was. . .Yellow Rose of Texas. Why? I don't know. I just got the "urge" from somewhere. And it's a great tune.
Oh, and a bit of some other tune snuck in as well. I was listening to some mp3s of various cellos (I love cello) and one of them was playing a tune that was simply so lovely I had to pick up the fiddle and give it a go.
Edelweiss.
And if people wish to groan and moan my granny gave me some immortal words to deal with 'em.
". . .but they never fail to bring something fresh out of a stale tune. They are a joy to listen to no matter what they are playing."
I've only been at this music stuff for 40 years or so (counting from the first time I was pushed on stage to sing in front of other people). I have hopes that in another decade or two I can fall into this catagory as well, but I've got to pay my dues first.
In light of the above I'll add a few emotional tunes to the list:
Scotland the Brave, The Atholl Highlanders, The Dark Isle, Down in the Valley and Bright Mohawk Valley (that would be Red River Valley to most folks, but that's a revision, and my backyard is the Mohawk River).
KFG
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by KFG
Re: Most emotional tune?
Doesn't it depend how you play it? Or who plays it? (...not to mention how little you've slept, how much you've had to drink or how recently your hamster died).
Countless tunes have done things to me at various times. What really saddens me is when a tune that once stirred something up inside me no longer has any effect.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by ragaman
Re: Most emotional tune?
MacRimmon's Lament. Lovely tune but I heard it and, as such, associate it with the late Martyn Bennett. I heard him play it beautifully on the small pipes. Touching tune before he passed away, but now it's right up there. He'll be missed.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by tommy_wintle
Re: Most emotional tune?
O'Carolan's farewell to music, the list is endless. I agree about the Wolf Tones, but it would appear that the ceasefire has "decommissioned" them as there are not as many deaths to write "songs" about and make money out of.
Sorry if that sounds harsh, but I live in N.Ireland, they never did.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by bodhran bliss
Re: Most emotional tune?
"The reason people are bored the third time through a tune is because they haven't been playing it *long enough.*"
I've been helping a friend teach a guitar class by providing tunes for them to accompany. All the tunes they're learning are such ancient history I hadn't played them in years, and I *never* played them well. They're also pretty common, so I don't usually start them at sessions because I know somebody else will, eventually. As it turns out, there is definitely something to be said for playing the same old tune you've known for years over and over again at a moderate tempo for a whole hour. After about 20 minutes I begin to see all kinds of possibilities that make me want to ditch the class and go figure stuff out in a stairwell, and by the end of the class I'm usually all excited about a tune I thought I hated only an hour ago.
So I'd have to agree with you there.
# Posted on February 15th 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Most emotional tune?
Maybe you should try the same thing with Inisheer Kerri.
Seriously though, I think there is a lot in what you're saying there in your last post. Tunes can really "open up" when you really slow them down and have a closer look at them.
# Posted on February 16th 2005 by Cammy
Re: Most emotional tune?
The Wolfetones cant play music, cant sing and have no idea of tradition.
One of the fellas from the band pushed his cassette on me when i was about 16 and its horrible - synths, and cruise ship vocals - awful stuff.
The lyrics are straight out of Brian McFaddens song book too - awful awful music.
Theyre from Inchicore - enough said.
# Posted on February 16th 2005 by Hugo Chavez
Re: Most emotional tune?
Some heart-rending airs:
An Buachaill Caol Dubh (Tommy Potts, Willie Clancy, Tony MacMahon)
The Dear Irish Boy (Tommy Potts, Willie Clancy)
O'Carolan's Farewell to Music - thanks to the name and the history of it (genuinely supposed to be the last tune he wrote, dictated before he retired to his death-bed) - almost unbearably tragic.
Something sublime:
Port na pBucai, played by Ronan Browne on the Drones & the Chanters Vol 2: absolute pure magic. Mournful, but also full of some kind of limitless, spiritual essence of life... um, er... how to put it without sounding like an addle-brained mystic? I don't know - but Tommy Potts was able to express the same thing. And I find it in Bach, too, whatever it is...
For happy emotion:
Brown County Breakdown, either by Bryan Sutton or the Dreadful Snakes - for some reason one of the most life-affirmingly joyful things I've ever heard. Bryan Sutton's version moved me to tears the first time I heard it.
Something invigorating:
Pretty much all of 'Fierce Traditional' by Frankie Gavin. Invokes an energetic, confident, ready-to-face-the-world mood. I listen to it when I want to buck myself up a bit.
Something calming:
I have a compilation of Georgian and Russian male choral stuff that I put together for relaxing to. I took out all the macho shouty numbers, so that it's all very peaceful (though admittedly, melancholy), drenched with beautiful harmonies, very warm, spacious and low. Lovely.
I could go on, but I suppose I'd better do some work... eeek...
x H
# Posted on February 16th 2005 by Nell
Re: Most emotional tune?
I agree with stefanpaz about the Geese in the Bog but it's the Paddy Killoran version that is really melancholic and haunting. Sean Keane also plays it on a brilliant cd that accompanies his book of tunes and I love that too, but if we're talking "most emotional" there's something about the Killoran version
# Posted on February 16th 2005 by RichardB
Re: Most emotional tune?
Try the Spirit Waltz at a slow tempo...
# Posted on February 16th 2005 by bestcraic
Re: Most emotional tune?
Cammy, I have played Inisheer until my ears bled. I have liked it once or twice, a teensy little bit, I admit it, but it was when the variations were so many and so drastic you could hardly call it the same tune. Or when everybody is harmonizing the hell out of it so you can barely hear it any more. I'm afraid there's no hope for that particular tune. Just doesn't do anything for me. Maybe because I got to read the lyrics. Thank god everyone has forgotten there are lyrics is all I have to say about that.
# Posted on February 16th 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Most emotional tune?
*blush, blush* Sincere apologies to Thomas Walsh, by the way, who it seems has popped in from time to time. If you're reading this I want to assure you it's only me that seems to dislike the tune, and that it's HUGE in Montreal. And Calgary. Everybody knows it. I think I just associate it with cleaning toilets and washing dishes because I was working so hard when I first heard it.
# Posted on February 16th 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Most emotional tune?
LOL - nice back peddling there Kerri. But you have got me interested in these lyrics. Now I'll have to search them out.
# Posted on February 16th 2005 by RogueFiddler
Re: Most emotional tune?
I was trying. I can't seem to find them. I was wondering what struck me about them as being so awful at the time. Maybe there was some irony involved because they go on about how lovely and special the place is when in actual fact it's always raining and certain hotel guests have a tendency to poop in their beds after a long night of drinking. I want a song about THAT.
# Posted on February 16th 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Most emotional tune?
Oh I get it - Something like "Frost on the Bowel"?
# Posted on February 16th 2005 by RogueFiddler
Re: Most emotional tune?
I can't find those lyrics anywhere, but if you're ever on Inis Oirr, there is a framed hand-written copy of the sheet music and lyrics on the hearth in the dining room at Tigh Ruairi.
# Posted on February 16th 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Most emotional tune?
Frost on the Bowel. Clever. I should mention that as penance I am now accepting vicious, scathing criticism of my own tunes, three of which are posted here. There are also two of my songs on my personal website.
# Posted on February 16th 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Most emotional tune?
I know that this tune has been played to death, but I still love Highland Cathedral. Also Tuireadh Iain Ruaidh
# Posted on February 16th 2005 by gummidge
Re: Most emotional tune?
"The Wolfetones cant play music, cant sing and have no idea of tradition."
Sounds like number one hit material to me.
"Thank god everyone has forgotten there are lyrics is all I have to say about that."
Now if only people could do the same with that air collected in County Derry. . .
KFG
# Posted on February 16th 2005 by KFG
Re: Most emotional tune?
There is this old traditional tune I played at my grandma's wake. But everytime I think of it (sniffle) I get teary eyed (sob) and can't bear to (sniffle-sob) even mention it (sobble-sniff) aloud (wailing siren sound-tears flying). Sorry. I'll have to drink to that (gurgle-glug).
# Posted on February 19th 2005 by CeolCairdeas
Re: Most emotional tune?
That sounds like Inisheer!
# Posted on February 19th 2005 by Cammy
Re: Most emotional tune?
no, no, no, the actual one is that slow air vision poem piece (instrumental) on planxty's 'words and music" with a gaelic name, whatever it is . . .
that's the one to be reckoned with and anyone who's not ''emotionally touched'' by this thunderous track, i'm afraid, is on the wrong web site by miles . . .
i speak with a deep inner love of the music that i know, because i love it beyond any explaination known
# Posted on March 7th 2005 by lisaniska
Re: Most emotional tune?
dear me, where am i coming from?
# Posted on March 8th 2005 by lisaniska
Re: Most emotional tune?
For Kerri Brown:
This is entirely off the subject, but I'd like to ask--what year did you live in Inis Oirr? It sounds as if you worked in the Ostan. I worked there from '95 to '97 and in 2001. Just wondering if I might know you (though I don't remember anyone named Kerri), or if we have friends (or even enemies) in common.
# Posted on March 20th 2005 by Roe
Re: Most emotional tune?
2003, and I worked at Ruairi's. You probably know a bunch of people named Bridget, Bridie, or Brita who I also know, and Padraig and his family down at Ned's. Plus Ruairi and Ana and their lovely daughters (and not-so-lovely sons). Actually, you must know practically everybody I know as far as the locals are concerned. Not exactly a huge community.
# Posted on March 20th 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Most emotional tune?
Thanks for that, by the way, usually when I see a comment that starts "For Kerri Brown" it's immediately followed by something insulting and rude.
# Posted on March 20th 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Most emotional tune?
I would never be insulting and rude to someone who survived 3 months on Inis Oirr (not to mention someone who slaved away in Tigh Ruairi's)--you've suffered enough! I never got to know Ruairi's daughters too well--there seemed to be some unwritten rule on the island that kept the girls that worked in the Ostan and the girls that worked in Ruairi's from mingling too much. I wish I could say the same rule applied to Ruairi's sons, one of whom was permanently glued to one of the Ostan's bar stools year after year.
And btw, I never cared much for Inisheer (the tune) either. My vote is for An Buachaill Caol Dubh.
# Posted on March 20th 2005 by Roe
Re: Most emotional tune?
lol. That would be Micheal. I used to pop into the Ostan once in a while myself when I felt like eating something other than curry chicken or tomato / cheese toasties. I also used to run off to the sessions at Ned's after I finished hosting the session at Ruairi's. If there were unwritten rules I broke all of them.
# Posted on March 20th 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Most emotional tune?
Well, it's good to hear Micheal Ruairi is still holding sway in the hotel, though I'm a bit saddened to hear he never mended his ways. I suppose he still gets his kicks doing the brush dance for all the tourists. I met the older brother, Eoghan, through a prank that went wrong. Myself and a couple of the other girls from the hotel took a pair of dirty knickers left behind by a tourist in one of the hotel rooms and hung it up on the Conghaile's forklift with an anonymous love note. It was meant for Micheal--but it was Eoghan who got it. He found out through the grapevine that I was involved. I was only about 2 or 3 weeks on the island at that time--I never lived it down. I didn't get to know the youngest son--he was pretty young then.
I didn't patronize Ruairi's too much--the first summer I was there, nothing, and I mean nothing, was going on up there musically or socially, so I never went there. (I know it picked up over the years, but old habits die hard.) Plus, there was something in their taps or beer or something that gave me diarrhea. Seriously. I did go to Ned's--my time was divided between the hotel and Ned's.
I have a tape made my a number of islander musicians and singers in 1993. It was recorded in the hall. It features our favorite, Inisheer, performed by the Bard of Aran himself. My favorite singer on the island, Peadar O'Domhnaill (is he still there?) isn't on it, unfortunately, don't know why. His sister, Maire, sings a few songs (The Rocks of Bawn and Anach Cuain), however, and his brother Mairtin plays a couple tunes.
# Posted on March 20th 2005 by Roe
Re: Most emotional tune?
LOL! I'll bet that went over great with Eoghan! Oh, my, what a classic move. Hilarious. Never underestimate the grapevine. A day after I arrived all the islanders knew who I was, where I was working, where I was staying, and where I'm from. And the day after I let a drunken ferryman sleep on my floor I had a "reputation". My landlord said to me "Jaysus, Americans have sex like it's shakin' hands!" (Most of the locals never fully grasped the concept that Canada and the US are two different countries). I met hoardes of Paeders, Mairtins and Maires, so I can't be sure I know the same ones you know. I'd love to have a copy of that tape though. I bet I'd recognice the voices even though I have their names mixed up.
I think I do know Peadar though. He had a heck of a hairdo (and impressive chops). Redhead? Kind of greying?
# Posted on March 20th 2005 by Kerri Brown
Re: Most emotional tune?
Some beautiful modern tunes that I find pretty affecting:
Alasdair's Tune - Charlie Mckerron
Something for Gordon - Ross Ainslie
I think these tunes are powerful and affecting for anyone, it doesn't matter whether you knew their subjects or not because they are also simply beautiful music. although as tommy_wintle has mentioned in relation to martyn bennett, certain tunes are obviously deeply associated with people and events.
For me - that's
Cumha na cloinne.
That's enough I think, everyone has their own.
What a power is music.
# Posted on April 21st 2008 by morettini