Saint Patrick's Day

So, I'm half English - my mom is a full blood Englishwoman, complete with accent and interest in all things to do with the royal family. Growing up, Saint Patrick's Day was never a big holiday in my family. I recall asking my mom "Hey mom, why aren't you wearing green today?" And she would blatantly answer "Because I am not Irish." I asked her this every year, always knowing the response I was going to get, but asking anyway because I loved doing it.

Now, I knew the English and Irish haven't really gotten along much in the past. Since 9/11 though, things have been a bit calm between the two countries. But, I'm sure there is still some strife in some areas. I never really delved much into the "fightin' Irish" mentality, that is, why were/are they so angry at the English, and it seems, angry at everyone for that matter? What is this all about?

So today, while I worked at home, I played all the Irish music I could find in our CD collection. No Irish drinking songs today - I'm talking U2, the Cranberries, and my favorite, Sinead O'Connor.

Each of these bands/singers have some pretty signicant Irish culture behind them - they're not only from there, but some of their most successful songs have been written about Irish events; specifically, not so nice events that deal with their hardships experienced as a country over the centuries.

So, I'm going to share three songs from these three artists.
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Sinead O'Connor singing Irish Ways and Irish Laws...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02bpR4D4laU&feature=related

And the lyrics:
Once upon a time there were
Irish Ways and Irish Laws
Villages of Irish blood
Waking to the morning
Waking to the morning

Then the Vikings came around (1)
Turned us up and turned us down
Started building boats and towns
They tried to change our living
Tried to change our living

Cromwell and his soldiers came (2)
Started centuries of shame
But they could not make us turn (3)
We are a river flowing
We're a river flowing

Again, again the soldiers came
Burnt our houses stole our grain
Shot the farmers in their fields
Working for livings
Working for a living

800 years we have been down (4)
The secret of the water sound
Has kept the spirit of a man
Above the pain descending
Above the pain descending

Today the struggle carries on
I wonder will I live so long
To see the gates being opened up (5)
To a people and their freedom
A people and their freedom

Once upon a time there was
Irish Ways and Irish Laws
Villages of Irish blood
Waking to the morning
Waking to the morning

Notes about this song:
(1)The first documented Viking landing took place in 795. Until the Anglo-Norman invasion in 1170 the Vikings would play an important Role in Ireland, both politically and economically. They created trade Routes, founded kingdoms, and built the first towns in Ireland, Including Dublin, Cork and Limerick.
(2) Oliver Cromwell landed in Ireland in August 1649 at the head of a Huge army, by May 1650 he had crushed opposition in all but the West.(By 1652 the Irish population had fallen to .7 m. In 1641 it had Been 1.5 m. By 1660 .5 m cattle were being exported annually to England.)
(3)Both Cromwell's and subsequent colonisation campaigns used the twin Techniques of "planting" English and Scotish settlers and forcing Some locals to change or "Turn" their religion to the Protestant Faith. So here he uses the ambiguity of the term "turn" to echo both The image of the unbowed Irish peasant and a metaphor for Irish History flowing like a un-turnable river.
(4)Since the first English invasion in 1170
(5) "Gates" here evokes both images of the be-sieged walled cities of the 17th century and also of the present day prison camps in the North Of Ireland which at the time the song was being written (in the late 1970's early 1980's) were the subject of much political campaigning Including Hunger Strikes by the inmates.

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And here we have U2 with Sunday, Bloody Sunday:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFM7Ty1EEvs -- I didn't realize this all went down in 1972 by the way... that doesn't seem very long ago.

The Lyrics:
I cant believe the news today
Oh, I cant close my eyes and make it go away
How long...How long must we sing this song?
How long? how long...cause tonight...we can be as one

Tonight...

Broken bottles under childrens feet
Bodies strewn across the dead end street
But I wont heed the battle call
It puts my back up
Puts my back up against the wall

Sunday, bloody sunday
Sunday, bloody sunday
Sunday, bloody sunday (sunday bloody sunday...)(allright lets go!)

And the battles just begun
Theres many lost, but tell me who has won
The trench is dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart
Sunday, bloody sundaySunday, bloody sunday
How long...How long must we sing this song?
How long? how long...cause tonight...we can be as one

Tonight...Tonight...Sunday, bloody sunday (tonight)
Tonight
Sunday, bloody sunday (tonight)(come get some!)

Wipe the tears from your eyes
Wipe your tears away
Wipe your tears away
I wipe your tears away(sunday, bloody sunday)
I wipe your blood shot eyes(sunday, bloody sunday)

Sunday, bloody sunday (sunday, bloody sunday)
Sunday, bloody sunday (sunday, bloody sunday)(here I come!)

And its true we are immune
When fact is fiction and tv reality
And today the millions cry
We eat and drink while tomorrow they die

The real battle yet begun (sunday, bloody sunday)
To claim the victory jesus won (sunday, bloody sunday)
On...Sunday bloody sunday
Sunday bloody sunday...

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And, The Cranberries singing Zombie...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y68m23x4Nc

The Lyrics:
Another head hangs lowly,
Child is slowly taken.
And the violence caused such silence,
Who are we mistaken?

But you see, it's not me,
it's not my family.
In your head, in your head they are fighting,
With their tanks and their bombs,
And their bombs and their guns.
In your head, in your head, they are crying...

In your head, in your head,
Zombie, zombie, zombie,
Hey, hey, hey.
What's in your head,
In your head,
Zombie, zombie, zombie?
Hey, hey, hey, hey, oh, dou, dou, dou, dou, dou...

Another mother's breakin',
Heart is taking over.
When the vi'lence causes silence,
We must be mistaken.
It's the same old theme since nineteen-sixteen.

In your head, in your head they're still fighting,
With their tanks and their bombs,
And their bombs and their guns.
In your head, in your head, they are dying...

In your head, in your head, Zombie, zombie, zombie, Hey, hey, hey.
What's in your head,
In your head,
Zombie, zombie, zombie?
Hey, hey, hey, hey, oh, oh, oh, Oh, oh, oh, oh, hey, oh, ya, ya-a..

Notes from Wikipedia...
"Zombie" is a protest song by the Irish band The Cranberries from the 1994 album No Need to Argue. The song, which laments The Troubles in Northern Ireland, features a heavy guitar riff which is uncharacteristic of the band's usual sound, more akin to heavy metal than their usual alternative rock style. This song met great success in many countries, including France, Belgium, Australia and Germany where it topped the charts.