Monday Music: Sea Image (The Chieftains at the Movies)

One of my favorite songs by the Chieftains was used as the main theme on the soundtrack for the movie The Grey Fox. It is also known as "Sea Image" on The Chieftains 8 album.

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Monday Music: The Foggey Dew

Monday, April 24, 1916 was the beginning of the Easter Rising, an armed resistance by the Irish against oppressive British rule. The movement was quickly squashed by the British, but in the aftermath support for an independent Republic of Ireland became more solidified. An article in Wikipedia states: “A few months after the Easter Rising, W. B. Yeats commemorated some of the fallen figures of the Irish Republican movement, as well as expressed his torn emotions regarding these events, in the poem Easter, 1916. Some survivors of the Rising went on to become leaders of the independent Irish state and those who died were venerated by many as martyrs.” (You can read Yeats' poem here)

“The Foggy Dew,” an Irish ballad commemorating the Easter Rising, was written in 1919 by Canon Charles O’Neill, a parish priest from County Down. The song is performed her by Sinead O’Connor with The Chieftains for their album The Long Black Veil.

    

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Monday Music: Hard Times Come Again No More

Here is a perfect blending of traditional American music and traditional Celtic music. Stephen Foster was a prolific song writer in nineteenth century America whose songs were quickly embedded into the culture. "Hard Times Come Again No More," is perhaps one of his most enduring compositions. On this recording, it is performed by Scottish singer Paolo Nutini along with the traditional Irish band, The Chieftains. Nutini's voice gives the recording the pure earnestness of an ancient folk song. Near the end of the piece, the bagpipes and drums give the song a quintessentially Scottish flavor.

The song is from the Chieftains' 2012 album, Voice of Ages.

Monday Music: Sea Image (The Chieftains)

"Sea Image" is one of my favorite songs performed by the Chieftains. It appeared on The Chieftains 8 album and was also used as the main theme on the soundtrack for the movie The Grey Fox.