Music and the national mood

The enduring memory of the 80s for much of the world is mullets, pop socks live aid and fame But in Ireland the memory is queues. Queues outside the American embassy for visas, queues for the bus to London, queues at the airport for the flights to Boston. Ireland in 1980s was dying. Money was tight and people struggled for every penny. Young people had no option but to leave, RTE had shows like Giz a job to teach the 20% of the population without a job, usually how to find a job. Ireland was nearly bankrupt. We were the disappearing Irish, many predicted that Ireland would be no more in a decade or 2 as everyone would have left to look for work. A joke at the time was the last person out would have to remember to turn off the lights. It was a miserable time. .

Our music always reflected this like “Missing you” by Christy Moore In Christy Moors song the chorus had the line “I give all for the price of a flight” the desire to return was all ways a strong message in the music. Shane McGowens tearful poetry about the Irish in Foreign shores, Fairytale of New York, Rainy day in Soho, Misty morning Albert Bridge. Songs about alcohol, depression and America. That music was of its time.

But now our country is booming. Instead of emigration we have immigration. As we are in dire need of the labour. Irish is no longer the second language Polish is. We are no longer an economic case study about how not to run a country we are now a case study about how to run one.

The music now is also of its time. We have the Celtic tiger cubs singing about why a girl does not like them and how they can spend their SSIA’s. We have come a nation that seems to have rebelled utterly from the sheer horror that was the 80s. Spending our money like there is no tomorrow thinking that if we stop the dream will end and we will no longer have Damian Rice whining on about how he can’t take his eyes off someone our music will be like the Pogues and Christy Moore of it’s time and truly tragic.

Whatever Richard thinks of the melodic properties of traditional music compared to Classic. There is two things that classical cannot do as well. Poetry

(you can see a poor quality version of Rainy night in Soho here)and capturing the time.