When I was young, I started- courtesy my brother- listening to
The Chieftains. Mostly
this lovely album that I have not tired of to this day, nor do I ever expect to. Recently, I found myself with a couple of albums of
The Dubliners . They found their way onto my ipod.
More often that not, when I listen to them, I can't help but notice I am being moved or affected in some way or the other. To fall back on an unlikely cliche, it seems like they are... well, calling out to me. My desire to go to Ireland has increased many fold in recent months, in no small measure thanks to their quirky songs. Its almost like I expect to land in Dublin one day and be greeted by jolly, funny or melancholic music played by a folk band amidst red cheeked men and women and pints of beer. I know that is being cliched and silly, which is why I
almost expect it.
As if to remind me of my myopic thoughts, I saw today
an episode of Lonely Planet Six Degrees, set in Dublin. It stated at the outset its attempt would be to discover the 'new Dublin', transformed, as it has apparently been, in the last decade or so. What followed was fascinating at many levels, including one thread on the uprising of 1916 and how it was a seminal time in Irish history.
What it did not have- not one, fleeting minute of- was Irish folk music.
Oh, well. I suppose I must discover it for myself.
