1. The Island - PAUL BRADY
Paul Brady is a singer songwriter from Strabane, Northern Ireland. This is actually the first song of his i've heard, i heard the end of it on a show on BBC radio 2 and had to track it down.
The song is half observation about the violence in Northern Ireland and beyond, and the other half, a love song. The mix between the two made me smile. I can imagine the guy going off on a rant about the state of things, then catching himself on:
"but hey don't listen to me,
cuse this wasnt meant to be no sad song,
we've heard too much of that before,
right now i only want to be here with you,
till the morning dew comes falling."
cuse this wasnt meant to be no sad song,
we've heard too much of that before,
right now i only want to be here with you,
till the morning dew comes falling."
After the main verses being quite heavy in content the chorus lifts the mood away from the subject matter at hand.
They're raising banners over by the markets,
Whitewashing slogans on the shipyard walls,
Witchdoctors praying for a mighty showdown,
No way our holy flag is gonna fall,
Up here we sacrifice our children,
To feed the worn-out dreams of yesterday,
And teach them dying will lead us into glory...
But Hey! Don't listen to me!
This wasn't meant to be no sad song
We've heard too much of that before
Right now I only want to be here with you
Till the morning dew comes falling
I want to take you to the island
And trace your footprints in the sand
And in the evening when the sun goes down
We'll make love to the sound of the ocean
Whitewashing slogans on the shipyard walls,
Witchdoctors praying for a mighty showdown,
No way our holy flag is gonna fall,
Up here we sacrifice our children,
To feed the worn-out dreams of yesterday,
And teach them dying will lead us into glory...
But Hey! Don't listen to me!
This wasn't meant to be no sad song
We've heard too much of that before
Right now I only want to be here with you
Till the morning dew comes falling
I want to take you to the island
And trace your footprints in the sand
And in the evening when the sun goes down
We'll make love to the sound of the ocean
I'll be off to find his album then...!
2. Good hearted man - TIFT MERRIT
Sounding, in my opinion a little like Norah Jones, Tift Merrit has an easy feel to her music. "Good hearted man" is taken from her album "Tambourine" Which has had a lot of play on Radio 2, especially Bob Harris's friday night / saturday night shows, where she is a regular.
3. One Voice - THE WAILIN' JENNYS
Wonderful harmonies and minimal guitar make this track really appeal to me. The song starts off with, well, one voice:
this is the sound of one voice,
one sprit one voice,
the sound of one who makes a choice,
this is the sound of one voice...
one sprit one voice,
the sound of one who makes a choice,
this is the sound of one voice...
The next verse brings in another voice, the next verse another and so on. The song builds.
this is the sound of voices two,
the sound of me singing with you
helping each other to make it through
this is the sound of voices two
this is the sound of voices three
singing together in harmony
surrendering to the mystery
this is the sound of voices three
this is the sound of all of us
singing with love and the will to trust
leave the rest behind, it will turn to dust
this is the sound of all of us
the sound of me singing with you
helping each other to make it through
this is the sound of voices two
this is the sound of voices three
singing together in harmony
surrendering to the mystery
this is the sound of voices three
this is the sound of all of us
singing with love and the will to trust
leave the rest behind, it will turn to dust
this is the sound of all of us
When all the harmonies are in the sound is beautiful. This song has been in my mind a lot recently with the G8 summit, live 8, the bombings in London, even the thought of friends of mine who are starting to build a church in Newtownards. There is a need now more than ever for us to work together in harmony, trust and love. This song, to me, is a great dipiction of what can happen when we work together, bring all our individual strengths together.
this is the sound of one voice
one people one voice
a song for everyone of us
this is the sound of one voice
one people one voice
a song for everyone of us
this is the sound of one voice
4. Glory of true love - JOHN PRINE
My friend raj recently introduced me to John Prine. He is an ageing singer songwriter that mixes simple, straightforward, uncomplicated music and lyrics that range from deep and meaningfull to plainly ridiculous.
This song is a bouncy, foot tappin' declaration of how good love fells. Taken from his new album "Fair and Square" his first offering for about 20 years? He hasn't lost any of his 3 chord, country charm.
5. Heyday - MIC CHRISTOPHER
You might know this song from a Guinness ad that has been on for a while now, the one where a guy jumps off the cliffs of Moore and swims to New York just to say sorry to his brother.... then eyes up his bird! I found myself humming this once it had been on and decided to dig around for it.
Mic Christopher was a dublin based singer songwriter who, unfortunately, passed in 2001. He was born in the Bronx, New York in 1969 and moved to dublin with his parents in 1972. He started a band called the "MaryJanes" in the 90's after being a busker, released a few albums then went solo in 1999. He recorded a solo album "Skylarkin" that i think must have been released after his death, and got Best Album at the 2003 Meteor Awards. "Heyday" was released as a single in 2004.
The song is a bit rough around the edges, but, for me that just adds to its charm. I'm going to track down the album if it is still on release.
And this is our heyday baby
and we're not gonna be afraid to shout
cuse we can make our heyday last forever
and ain't that what its all about
Oh living, in our own terrible way..
and we're not gonna be afraid to shout
cuse we can make our heyday last forever
and ain't that what its all about
Oh living, in our own terrible way..
6. Superman - LAZLO BANE
The theme tune to the medical comedy "Scrubs". A cheery little number that they have speeded up to use on the show. The original track is great, got a little banjo plinking away in the background.
"I can't do this all on my own, no,
I know, I'm no superman"
I know, I'm no superman"
7. Carry me home - HEM
Hem realax me. full stop.
8. Run - SNOW PATROL
I've liked these boys for a while now, but this track stands out above all the rest. A little depressing, but bizzarrely that cheers me up.
9. Somewhere over the rainbow / what a wonderful world - ISRAEL KAMAKAWIWO'OLE
The dude is a giant. He's about 7 times the size of me, and now unfortunately dead. For being a huge huge hawian his voice is angelic and soft.
Lovely 'sitting on the back porch drinking rum strumming a mondolin' music.
10. Not so far to go - KELLY JOE PHELPS
I can't make out a word this guy says, and i can't find the lyrics online, so i'm destined to just like his music and the sound of his voice mumbling along.
The only line i can make out: (probably)
"long sleeves outdoor to keep the kids from crying,
its not so far to go to find trouble"
11. Fix you - COLDPLAY (site does not work on apple macs)
I did buy their album, but the first time i heard this song properly - and took notice - was at live 8. I'm a bit of a sucker for coldplay, even though they are a bit trendy.
Chris Martin does overuse the old falseto and as a result sounds like a young choirboy, but i don't mind.
Their website doesn't work with apple macs, which is odd, isn't chris martin's daughter named apple? Doen't he care?
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