Hi Christy. This is a big ask but on the 2nd of May in the NCH could you please sing Don’t Forget Your Shovel for my daughter Lisa Kenny. The reason I ask is because on 9th Oct 2019 at the age of 36 Lisa suffered a stroke and if that wasn’t bad enough it was 4 days after having my grandson Alfie. They gave very little hope of her coming home and if she did she would be in Locked in Syndrome. Roll on to 2026 and Lisa has bought 2 tickets for Christy for her and Daddy as she has done since 2021. My Christmas prezzie is a ticket and she buys one for herself for a daddy and daughter night. I fully understand if this does not happen and Lisa will continue to buy 2 tickets for as long as you keep playing. Thank for all the entertainment throughout the years. Dave Kenny.
Christy's reply
Hi Dave…happy to read that Lisa has recovered from such a traumatic setback….hopefully we will all gather again in May ..I’ll try and have The Shovel sharpened…we’ll “dig deep and throw well back”
Hi Christy, even from the slight impression I got, I can easily imagine that the Curragh is a perfect playground.
I strolled around only at the eastern side of the Curragh near the R413.
Every now and then I enjoy to be guided around with the help of the geocaching and adventure lab app, which are digital/mobile versions of the traditional treasure hunt/paper chase. To me this is a good alternative to traditional tour/guide books.
That being said, that’s why I explored the statue of Fionn Mac Cumhaill at the roundabout M7/R413. I went on to the Curragh Military Cemetery, the Dan Donnelly monument with what seems to be his famous footsteps and the remnants of an old bunker in the plains. In that app you can get some really interesting background information to these sites.
From little hills near the monument and the bunker I had a pleasant view around, with furze and over the plains to what I think is the main stand of the race course.
BTW, last year before your Naas gig, I did such an adventure lab stroll in Prosperous. You are mentioned in the explanation of the Dowling pub and house with info about the music, recordings etc – with this returning to the main topic of this guestbook 😉
Birgit
Christy's reply
its a long time since that”Dowling”pub had any association with the Dowling Family…The late Pat Dowling and brothers created an oasis for Music….all but a memory now
The Curragh is such a special place… millions drive thru it every year… a gifted few stop and linger to absorb the beauty and tranquility thqat can be experienced on foot
Was doing a bit of a nixer in town today Christy and parked on the corner of Windmill Lane and John Rogersons Quay. When I got outta the car I was greeted by this mural of “The most iconic albums recorded in Windmill Lane”. Don’t know if you’re aware of it but certainly was a nice surprise! Its well done and looks like its a permanent fixture on a proper billboard type of thing of perspex glass and its also illuminated for nighttime viewing. This is the best picture I could find online. “After the Break” being one of the 3 larger images, “Words and Music” and “Ride On” also being there. The picture doesn’t do it justice, needs to be seen in the flesh to be properly appreciated.
Windmill Lane was a regular destination over a number of years…some outstanding session.Very clear memories of Planxty recordings….Liam Óg shivering the timbers, hilarity too as we sought to harmonise on Napoleon Bonaparte, many late nights around the corner in “The Dockers”pub where music and porter sometimes became inextricably linked… “Ride On” was not recorded in Windmill… that was recorded below in Killarney adout in Muckross on a very dodgy mobile studio… 40 years ago we gathered in a rented cottage…Donal Lunny, Declan Sinnott and myself ….long long nights beneath Mangerton Mountain, listening to Torc
Hi C. Go raibh mile maith agat don ceolchoirm iontach areir sa Short Grass. It was fascinating to hear the welcome as you arrived on stage and then the beautiful Cill Dara choir singing along the entire gig. What a treat for the young people hearing Reel and the returned Dub from Oz getting a mention too ! Your influence is so obvious and far reaching in so many ways from the many young kids at gigs to the likes of Kevin in the HSP following on in your footsteps with their UK tour ! Bain sult as do sos beag. Beir bua agus beannacht, An Daingean Abu !! H
Christy's reply
such a wonderful sight to see…
youngsters coming to hear the songs…
singing their hearts out….
others, almost as aged as myself, heads back,singing”Sail On Jimmy”
I have a special connection with that room in Kilashee,
one that goes back a hundred years
Hi Christy,
Hope you are well.
Just to let you know that we made it into the Irish Post.
Still hoping to see you soon.
Take care. All the very best to you.
Dave and Giles (More Christy)
Had to pass on last night, Christy ……other commitments .
Great reports coming through on another Fab home town Gig.Thanks for posting the set list, I love reading them and noticing the changes from one show to the next. All goes to show the spontaneity of it all…. It’s Super.
I often wonder how it must feel for you when the writer of a song or the person who the song is about is in the room e.g. Ted or Pete ?
Great to see Kevin and the boys getting huge support across the Pond….. long may it continue.
Best regards
Ride on.
Patsy.
Christy's reply
Knowing the writer of a song is in the audience always brings an added dimension to a performance,…it has happened on many occasions and usually with positive consequence…most writers really appreciate their songs being recorded…over the years I can only recall one negative reaction, but I still sing the song and, thankfully, he came around and belatedly appreciated the slight amendment I had made to one line. of his great song…other writers have allowed me freedom to adjust their cloth to fit my shape….on other occasions I was delighted to hear a songwriter perform their songs incorpoating my variations.
its great to hear that Kevin Meehan is making good headway across the water…we wish “The High Stool Prophets” every success and look forward to hearing them …
Thoughts of Rory’s and Birgit’s words asI sit in a favourite cafe.iIry to have a walk most days..good for body and mind. The route here took me near a hotel used by asylum seekers. On the adjacent main road,bigots hae placed Union Jack flags on a line of lamp posts…it’s a depressing sight…I’ll soon be emailing the local council to request removal …
I’m fortunate to have German friends…as worried/fed up as many of us. I also love to visit Berlin…with that in mind,here’s a link to a wonderful institution… http://www.topographie.de
Chilling and uplifting to visit…website worth perusing.
Recently,a Jewish friend told me about the music of a Canadian singer…Lenka Lichtenberg and her grandmother’s bleak Holocaust times…’Thieves of Dreams’ has such sorrowful power,I’d urge all here to check it out.
Myself and my brothers Paul and Tomás completed our annual pilgrimage to see you perform last night in Naas. We normally go to Vicar St and I had actually organised tickets for us to see you there last November on the 9th. I realised very late in the day that I’d double-booked myself to see Bell X1 in the National Concert Hall on the same night with my son. There were still tickets available for you in Naas at that point, so I was able to sell our Vicar St tickets (they were gone in a flash) and book Naas, and everyone was happy.
You were in flying form last night, and as you commented yourself there was a lovely buzz in the room. The Curragh of Kildare was lovely. Pete Kavanagh’s song about the terrible event at the NAAFI in Newbridge really hit home. They’re just a couple of highlights that stand out for me from what the three of us agreed was a great show.
Good luck on the road this year.
Ciaran
Christy's reply
Thanks Ciaran,
last night’s set
Chicago
Quinta Brigada
Curragh of Kildare
Cabaret
Patrick Murphy
Smoke & Strong Whiskey
Johnn Boy
Ride On
Black & Amber
Delerium Tremens
Reel in Flickering Light
Ruby Walsh
Veronica
Lingo Politico
Palestinee
Yellow Triangle
Sonny’s Dream
Joxer
Voyage
Irish Pagan Ritual (Sail On Jimmy)
Amsterdam
Time has come
Back Home in Derry
Bright Blue Rose
Lisdoonvarna
Spancilhill
Ordinary man
1 hour 50 minutes……….fantastic audience
from the very young to some nearly as old as myself ….
what a privilige it is to have such listeners
Hi Christy, what a great short trip to Ireland!
A beautiful walk in the sun to the Poolbeg Lighthouse as well as strolling around the Curragh under a perfect blue sky.
A session and a pub gig with friends and the your gig as the perfect ending😊. Couldn’t have been any better!
Hot and buzzing room, a huge variety of songs from Lisdoon and Joxer to Veronica, Palestine and Yellow Triangle. Good to see that quite few youngsters attended and sang along.
Thank you so much and and thanks to all your friendly and helpful crew members and again to Hilary, who is just marvellous.
Enjoy the break!
@Rory: unfortunately you’re right. Seems like we haven’t learnt anything 😒. So frightening to see that the right wing extremist party in Germany is according to current surveys the strongest party in the country with approx 25%, in some parts of the country even up to 40%…When will we ever learn? Just while I write this my mp3 player in random mode played December 1942!!!
Birgit
Christy's reply
Thank you Birgit..
you certainly made good use of your brief visit…
I’m curios…where did you walk on The Curragh…there are so many walks and trails…in boyhood days we spent happy days gambolling across the Plains….Mitching from school, gathering mushrooms, chasing around the Sandhills and dunes, hiding in Furze bush, discovering courting techniques, fearful of sins , the excitement of Horse Racing, Motor Car and Motor Cycle Racing…the Curragh was our Disneyland……
[Verse 1]
They tried to keep him down
Told him what he had to say
He drew a line right in that ground
Said
“I won’t talk your way today”
They rolled their eyes and laughed
Called him every name they knew
But he just stared ‘em in the face
Said
“I’ll speak my truth
That’s what I do”
[Chorus]
Enoch Bucks
Heart is true
He won’t bend to that woke-up crew
He’s got my love and sympathy
He’s standin’ up for you and me
Enoch Bucks
I see you
In a world that tells you what to do
You held that line so stubbornly
You’re standin’ up for you and me
[Verse 2]
They took his work
They took his name
Tried to scrub him from the room
All ‘cause he refused to play
By rules they wrote last afternoon
But some things can’t be burned
Honor doesn’t fade that fast
You can chain a body down
But you can’t rewrite the past
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
Maybe he’s tired
Maybe he’s gone
But that kind of courage
Keeps marchin’ on
In every small town
At some old barstool
Someone’s sayin’
“I won’t bow
I won’t be your fool”
[Chorus]
Christy's reply
in Ainm Dé Marty
thats surely a shot in the dark….
You’ve lobbed a curved ball into the lobby
my first response was to take it down but then I thought…. No!
let people make up their own minds about Enoch Burke
I assume that is whom you eulogise…(I’m not aware of any Enoch Buck)
I’m on my way home now from a Concert in Naas County Kildare..
I threw out a bit of a new last verse in Delerium Tremens
“I dreamt I was up in a Rocket
on a one way trip to Mars
with the bully boy Conor McGregor
and all the Burkes from Castlebar
Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein
were grabbin Marie Le Pen
I saids to myself if I ever come down
I’ll Never Drink Again”
Just back in from the cinema seeing ‘Nuremberg’.
As i watched the film’s conclusion it reminded me of a quote from a book i read in High School , that i was so struck by that i wrote out on card and pinned to the noticeboard at the end of my teenage bed, as exactly as i can remember it said
‘The Nazis did not fall from the sky, they were voted into power by the German people’.
That evil is among us, it stalks the back streets of Islington, Malahide, Rutherglen, Salford, Leith, Salthill, Stockport, Bangor, Pontypool and every town in our lands where good people do nothing and, in consequence thereof, the devil is rolling up his sleeve.
I mean no disrespect to our German friends like Pat D etc by quoting that, but it is illustrative that the world has not changed, it has happened in many nations since.
We have the power of freedom songs, long may they be sung, Yellow Triangle to start us off.
Christy's reply
just finished here in Naas
very good gig
listeners from 9 to 90
the songs have gained a great spread
Thanks for sharing this Rory
I’m gonna be looking at it carefully
A bit of online foraging and I’ve found the answer to one of my questions.. from The Abbey Tavern..https://shorturl.at/GTcEE
A friend sent me a link to your singing of Cricklewood ahead of this weekends gigs. We’ll be practicing back stage…
The Irish word for foraging is sealgaireacht..
Christy's reply
it reminds me of a line from a Willie Clancy song “The Taylor Bawn”
“He was very fond of Black Porter
twas bulgin out both his eyes”
poor old Jimmy , RIP
he might have seen Clapton with a ciggie in his mouth as he played.
great tours with Jimmy in the 1970s.UK,Germany,Brittany,France..
we were huge in Lichtenstein !!
I agree with Rory about the power of Burning Times…
The duende between artis,song and listener is magical…I always enjoy ‘ Boy in the wild’…you and Andy in perfect sync. Recently,I gave it a few spins,thinking about ageing,family etc…in an uplifting way,not gloomy…that’s some power
Have a great gig…and enjoy travels,all.
Dave
Christy's reply
had a happy time making that album with Declan…..sadly, it was the last time I got to sing with Mandy Murphy….most beautiful voice and harmonies that arrived unaided, unscripted, Mandy could harmonise instantly and naturally….
Hi Christy, prompted by son Charlie i’ve been digging back into the Burning Times album. What a gem.
Today i was caught out by Butterfly (so much wine), it just thumped me in the chest. I had listened to it dozens of times before, but walking through the dark streets early today, its sadness ( and yet beauty) just took my breath away.
Thanks Rory
Christy's reply
its a lovely thing when an album from the past is referenced here… precious memories revived bringing good feelings to the surface on a day when they are needed…
hearing that song (So Much Wine) was purely by chance….we saw a small hand written poster in the window of Connolly’s bar in Leap County Cork….”Live Music Tonight” we were on our holidays, footloose and fancy free…so in we went…and we got to hear The Handsome Family for the first time….they were wonderful….thus I recorded 2 of their songs the following year…
their song “So Much Wine” ( which I mistakenly called “Butterfly”) paints a picture that many can inhabit….such heartbreak and disfunction described in a beautiful manner…
the other song of theirs “Peace In The Valley” is always calling me back..,I did gig it a few times but it slipped away from the set… its a fuckin killer of a song, with every passing year its verses start to come true..
fair play to Charlie
Seventy years ago…skiffle boom hit the charts…Lonnie Donegan – Rock Island Line…thousands of teenagers playing like hell…great history,well related by Billy Bragg
My name is Ciarán Mullin, and I am an Australian musician. As I’m sure my name lets you know, I am of Irish roots. I was born in Dublin in 1987, and my family and I moved out to Australia to find work just 6 weeks after I was born.
I am here because I am coming to the show at Killashee Hotel tomorrow (Thursday 15th January). I am also a musician because my dad was a musician, and he was a musician because of you.
A funny little side note; my Dad played gigs on the weekends in Australia to earn some extra money and feed the four of his children. He would practice in his bedroom and perform at our family barbecues to the other Irish folk in our area. He would play songs of yours just, like you, all the time. The influence of you and your music was always clear. So much so, when we did eventually hear you on the radio in the car, my sisters innocently remarked, “Dad, this guy is singing your song!!”. Of course, we were so young we didn’t know it was the other way around.
Sadly, my Dad passed away in December of 2024. And even worse, it was just 23 days before I married my wife. He had a serious stroke in 2018 that he survived, but he lost the use of his left side and could no longer play the guitar. Heartbreaking for him, but also for those at the barbecues. It was a tough 6 years and he had been through enough. One of the many things that helped me get through my wedding without him.
At his funeral, I said the greatest gift he gave me was the ability to play and sing. I always feel most safe, or most comfortable in this world when I am playing and singing. Not at 1am when I am getting requests for rebel songs, but when I am on my own and just passing the time. Realising who I am and how lucky I have been. It is really difficult to explain, but as a fellow musician, I’m sure you understand.
I wanted to pass this story on because I think he wanted to give to me what music gave to him, and he found that largely because of you. I think at the moments he missed home, you and the guitar were there for him. He was a great man. A really, really great man. I am a school teacher as well and I see firsthand how lucky my mum, my family and I were to have him. How lucky we were to have a passionate, Irishman and musician in our world.
I’ve kept an eye on the dates of your shows, and as soon as I found a window, I knew I had to go. So I’m here, and I just wanted to say thanks. Thanks for all of it, for everything.
Hi Christy. This is a big ask but on the 2nd of May in the NCH could you please sing Don’t Forget Your Shovel for my daughter Lisa Kenny. The reason I ask is because on 9th Oct 2019 at the age of 36 Lisa suffered a stroke and if that wasn’t bad enough it was 4 days after having my grandson Alfie. They gave very little hope of her coming home and if she did she would be in Locked in Syndrome. Roll on to 2026 and Lisa has bought 2 tickets for Christy for her and Daddy as she has done since 2021. My Christmas prezzie is a ticket and she buys one for herself for a daddy and daughter night. I fully understand if this does not happen and Lisa will continue to buy 2 tickets for as long as you keep playing. Thank for all the entertainment throughout the years. Dave Kenny.
Hi Dave…happy to read that Lisa has recovered from such a traumatic setback….hopefully we will all gather again in May ..I’ll try and have The Shovel sharpened…we’ll “dig deep and throw well back”
Hi Christy, even from the slight impression I got, I can easily imagine that the Curragh is a perfect playground.
I strolled around only at the eastern side of the Curragh near the R413.
Every now and then I enjoy to be guided around with the help of the geocaching and adventure lab app, which are digital/mobile versions of the traditional treasure hunt/paper chase. To me this is a good alternative to traditional tour/guide books.
That being said, that’s why I explored the statue of Fionn Mac Cumhaill at the roundabout M7/R413. I went on to the Curragh Military Cemetery, the Dan Donnelly monument with what seems to be his famous footsteps and the remnants of an old bunker in the plains. In that app you can get some really interesting background information to these sites.
From little hills near the monument and the bunker I had a pleasant view around, with furze and over the plains to what I think is the main stand of the race course.
BTW, last year before your Naas gig, I did such an adventure lab stroll in Prosperous. You are mentioned in the explanation of the Dowling pub and house with info about the music, recordings etc – with this returning to the main topic of this guestbook 😉
Birgit
its a long time since that”Dowling”pub had any association with the Dowling Family…The late Pat Dowling and brothers created an oasis for Music….all but a memory now
The Curragh is such a special place… millions drive thru it every year… a gifted few stop and linger to absorb the beauty and tranquility thqat can be experienced on foot
Was doing a bit of a nixer in town today Christy and parked on the corner of Windmill Lane and John Rogersons Quay. When I got outta the car I was greeted by this mural of “The most iconic albums recorded in Windmill Lane”. Don’t know if you’re aware of it but certainly was a nice surprise! Its well done and looks like its a permanent fixture on a proper billboard type of thing of perspex glass and its also illuminated for nighttime viewing. This is the best picture I could find online. “After the Break” being one of the 3 larger images, “Words and Music” and “Ride On” also being there. The picture doesn’t do it justice, needs to be seen in the flesh to be properly appreciated.
https://m.facebook.com/a.d.design.ireland/photos/addesign-have-recently-installed-a-new-landmark-mural-celebrating-25-famous-albu/10161008163222783/?set=a.10159551371657783
Windmill Lane was a regular destination over a number of years…some outstanding session.Very clear memories of Planxty recordings….Liam Óg shivering the timbers, hilarity too as we sought to harmonise on Napoleon Bonaparte, many late nights around the corner in “The Dockers”pub where music and porter sometimes became inextricably linked… “Ride On” was not recorded in Windmill… that was recorded below in Killarney adout in Muckross on a very dodgy mobile studio… 40 years ago we gathered in a rented cottage…Donal Lunny, Declan Sinnott and myself ….long long nights beneath Mangerton Mountain, listening to Torc
Hi C. Go raibh mile maith agat don ceolchoirm iontach areir sa Short Grass. It was fascinating to hear the welcome as you arrived on stage and then the beautiful Cill Dara choir singing along the entire gig. What a treat for the young people hearing Reel and the returned Dub from Oz getting a mention too ! Your influence is so obvious and far reaching in so many ways from the many young kids at gigs to the likes of Kevin in the HSP following on in your footsteps with their UK tour ! Bain sult as do sos beag. Beir bua agus beannacht, An Daingean Abu !! H
such a wonderful sight to see…
youngsters coming to hear the songs…
singing their hearts out….
others, almost as aged as myself, heads back,singing”Sail On Jimmy”
I have a special connection with that room in Kilashee,
one that goes back a hundred years
Hi Christy,
Hope you are well.
Just to let you know that we made it into the Irish Post.
Still hoping to see you soon.
Take care. All the very best to you.
Dave and Giles (More Christy)
Ride On More
Had to pass on last night, Christy ……other commitments .
Great reports coming through on another Fab home town Gig.Thanks for posting the set list, I love reading them and noticing the changes from one show to the next. All goes to show the spontaneity of it all…. It’s Super.
I often wonder how it must feel for you when the writer of a song or the person who the song is about is in the room e.g. Ted or Pete ?
Great to see Kevin and the boys getting huge support across the Pond….. long may it continue.
Best regards
Ride on.
Patsy.
Knowing the writer of a song is in the audience always brings an added dimension to a performance,…it has happened on many occasions and usually with positive consequence…most writers really appreciate their songs being recorded…over the years I can only recall one negative reaction, but I still sing the song and, thankfully, he came around and belatedly appreciated the slight amendment I had made to one line. of his great song…other writers have allowed me freedom to adjust their cloth to fit my shape….on other occasions I was delighted to hear a songwriter perform their songs incorpoating my variations.
its great to hear that Kevin Meehan is making good headway across the water…we wish “The High Stool Prophets” every success and look forward to hearing them …
http://www.lenkalichtenberg.com
Just signed up to her newsletter
D
Christy…just read your new verse of Delirium Tremens…
Genius…thanks for a laugh…D
Hi Christy
Thoughts of Rory’s and Birgit’s words asI sit in a favourite cafe.iIry to have a walk most days..good for body and mind. The route here took me near a hotel used by asylum seekers. On the adjacent main road,bigots hae placed Union Jack flags on a line of lamp posts…it’s a depressing sight…I’ll soon be emailing the local council to request removal …
I’m fortunate to have German friends…as worried/fed up as many of us. I also love to visit Berlin…with that in mind,here’s a link to a wonderful institution…
http://www.topographie.de
Chilling and uplifting to visit…website worth perusing.
Recently,a Jewish friend told me about the music of a Canadian singer…Lenka Lichtenberg and her grandmother’s bleak Holocaust times…’Thieves of Dreams’ has such sorrowful power,I’d urge all here to check it out.
Thanks and respect.
Dave
Thanks Birgit, stay strong.
Burke by name, burke by nature for the teacher fella.
Hi Christy,
Myself and my brothers Paul and Tomás completed our annual pilgrimage to see you perform last night in Naas. We normally go to Vicar St and I had actually organised tickets for us to see you there last November on the 9th. I realised very late in the day that I’d double-booked myself to see Bell X1 in the National Concert Hall on the same night with my son. There were still tickets available for you in Naas at that point, so I was able to sell our Vicar St tickets (they were gone in a flash) and book Naas, and everyone was happy.
You were in flying form last night, and as you commented yourself there was a lovely buzz in the room. The Curragh of Kildare was lovely. Pete Kavanagh’s song about the terrible event at the NAAFI in Newbridge really hit home. They’re just a couple of highlights that stand out for me from what the three of us agreed was a great show.
Good luck on the road this year.
Ciaran
Thanks Ciaran,
last night’s set
Chicago
Quinta Brigada
Curragh of Kildare
Cabaret
Patrick Murphy
Smoke & Strong Whiskey
Johnn Boy
Ride On
Black & Amber
Delerium Tremens
Reel in Flickering Light
Ruby Walsh
Veronica
Lingo Politico
Palestinee
Yellow Triangle
Sonny’s Dream
Joxer
Voyage
Irish Pagan Ritual (Sail On Jimmy)
Amsterdam
Time has come
Back Home in Derry
Bright Blue Rose
Lisdoonvarna
Spancilhill
Ordinary man
1 hour 50 minutes……….fantastic audience
from the very young to some nearly as old as myself ….
what a privilige it is to have such listeners
Hi Christy, what a great short trip to Ireland!
A beautiful walk in the sun to the Poolbeg Lighthouse as well as strolling around the Curragh under a perfect blue sky.
A session and a pub gig with friends and the your gig as the perfect ending😊. Couldn’t have been any better!
Hot and buzzing room, a huge variety of songs from Lisdoon and Joxer to Veronica, Palestine and Yellow Triangle. Good to see that quite few youngsters attended and sang along.
Thank you so much and and thanks to all your friendly and helpful crew members and again to Hilary, who is just marvellous.
Enjoy the break!
@Rory: unfortunately you’re right. Seems like we haven’t learnt anything 😒. So frightening to see that the right wing extremist party in Germany is according to current surveys the strongest party in the country with approx 25%, in some parts of the country even up to 40%…When will we ever learn? Just while I write this my mp3 player in random mode played December 1942!!!
Birgit
Thank you Birgit..
you certainly made good use of your brief visit…
I’m curios…where did you walk on The Curragh…there are so many walks and trails…in boyhood days we spent happy days gambolling across the Plains….Mitching from school, gathering mushrooms, chasing around the Sandhills and dunes, hiding in Furze bush, discovering courting techniques, fearful of sins , the excitement of Horse Racing, Motor Car and Motor Cycle Racing…the Curragh was our Disneyland……
[Verse 1]
They tried to keep him down
Told him what he had to say
He drew a line right in that ground
Said
“I won’t talk your way today”
They rolled their eyes and laughed
Called him every name they knew
But he just stared ‘em in the face
Said
“I’ll speak my truth
That’s what I do”
[Chorus]
Enoch Bucks
Heart is true
He won’t bend to that woke-up crew
He’s got my love and sympathy
He’s standin’ up for you and me
Enoch Bucks
I see you
In a world that tells you what to do
You held that line so stubbornly
You’re standin’ up for you and me
[Verse 2]
They took his work
They took his name
Tried to scrub him from the room
All ‘cause he refused to play
By rules they wrote last afternoon
But some things can’t be burned
Honor doesn’t fade that fast
You can chain a body down
But you can’t rewrite the past
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
Maybe he’s tired
Maybe he’s gone
But that kind of courage
Keeps marchin’ on
In every small town
At some old barstool
Someone’s sayin’
“I won’t bow
I won’t be your fool”
[Chorus]
in Ainm Dé Marty
thats surely a shot in the dark….
You’ve lobbed a curved ball into the lobby
my first response was to take it down but then I thought…. No!
let people make up their own minds about Enoch Burke
I assume that is whom you eulogise…(I’m not aware of any Enoch Buck)
I’m on my way home now from a Concert in Naas County Kildare..
I threw out a bit of a new last verse in Delerium Tremens
“I dreamt I was up in a Rocket
on a one way trip to Mars
with the bully boy Conor McGregor
and all the Burkes from Castlebar
Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein
were grabbin Marie Le Pen
I saids to myself if I ever come down
I’ll Never Drink Again”
Just back in from the cinema seeing ‘Nuremberg’.
As i watched the film’s conclusion it reminded me of a quote from a book i read in High School , that i was so struck by that i wrote out on card and pinned to the noticeboard at the end of my teenage bed, as exactly as i can remember it said
‘The Nazis did not fall from the sky, they were voted into power by the German people’.
That evil is among us, it stalks the back streets of Islington, Malahide, Rutherglen, Salford, Leith, Salthill, Stockport, Bangor, Pontypool and every town in our lands where good people do nothing and, in consequence thereof, the devil is rolling up his sleeve.
I mean no disrespect to our German friends like Pat D etc by quoting that, but it is illustrative that the world has not changed, it has happened in many nations since.
We have the power of freedom songs, long may they be sung, Yellow Triangle to start us off.
just finished here in Naas
very good gig
listeners from 9 to 90
the songs have gained a great spread
Thanks for sharing this Rory
I’m gonna be looking at it carefully
A bit of online foraging and I’ve found the answer to one of my questions.. from The Abbey Tavern..https://shorturl.at/GTcEE
A friend sent me a link to your singing of Cricklewood ahead of this weekends gigs. We’ll be practicing back stage…
The Irish word for foraging is sealgaireacht..
it reminds me of a line from a Willie Clancy song “The Taylor Bawn”
“He was very fond of Black Porter
twas bulgin out both his eyes”
poor old Jimmy , RIP
he might have seen Clapton with a ciggie in his mouth as he played.
great tours with Jimmy in the 1970s.UK,Germany,Brittany,France..
we were huge in Lichtenstein !!
Hi Christy
I agree with Rory about the power of Burning Times…
The duende between artis,song and listener is magical…I always enjoy ‘ Boy in the wild’…you and Andy in perfect sync. Recently,I gave it a few spins,thinking about ageing,family etc…in an uplifting way,not gloomy…that’s some power
Have a great gig…and enjoy travels,all.
Dave
had a happy time making that album with Declan…..sadly, it was the last time I got to sing with Mandy Murphy….most beautiful voice and harmonies that arrived unaided, unscripted, Mandy could harmonise instantly and naturally….
Hi Christy, prompted by son Charlie i’ve been digging back into the Burning Times album. What a gem.
Today i was caught out by Butterfly (so much wine), it just thumped me in the chest. I had listened to it dozens of times before, but walking through the dark streets early today, its sadness ( and yet beauty) just took my breath away.
Thanks Rory
its a lovely thing when an album from the past is referenced here… precious memories revived bringing good feelings to the surface on a day when they are needed…
hearing that song (So Much Wine) was purely by chance….we saw a small hand written poster in the window of Connolly’s bar in Leap County Cork….”Live Music Tonight” we were on our holidays, footloose and fancy free…so in we went…and we got to hear The Handsome Family for the first time….they were wonderful….thus I recorded 2 of their songs the following year…
their song “So Much Wine” ( which I mistakenly called “Butterfly”) paints a picture that many can inhabit….such heartbreak and disfunction described in a beautiful manner…
the other song of theirs “Peace In The Valley” is always calling me back..,I did gig it a few times but it slipped away from the set… its a fuckin killer of a song, with every passing year its verses start to come true..
fair play to Charlie
Predictive text….bah…
Boom and Donegan!!
D
it could happel to a Pishob
Hi Christy
Seventy years ago…skiffle boom hit the charts…Lonnie Donegan – Rock Island Line…thousands of teenagers playing like hell…great history,well related by Billy Bragg
Viva Leadbelly’s music.
Sail away lady…or daddy o
Dave
Hi Christy,
My name is Ciarán Mullin, and I am an Australian musician. As I’m sure my name lets you know, I am of Irish roots. I was born in Dublin in 1987, and my family and I moved out to Australia to find work just 6 weeks after I was born.
I am here because I am coming to the show at Killashee Hotel tomorrow (Thursday 15th January). I am also a musician because my dad was a musician, and he was a musician because of you.
A funny little side note; my Dad played gigs on the weekends in Australia to earn some extra money and feed the four of his children. He would practice in his bedroom and perform at our family barbecues to the other Irish folk in our area. He would play songs of yours just, like you, all the time. The influence of you and your music was always clear. So much so, when we did eventually hear you on the radio in the car, my sisters innocently remarked, “Dad, this guy is singing your song!!”. Of course, we were so young we didn’t know it was the other way around.
Sadly, my Dad passed away in December of 2024. And even worse, it was just 23 days before I married my wife. He had a serious stroke in 2018 that he survived, but he lost the use of his left side and could no longer play the guitar. Heartbreaking for him, but also for those at the barbecues. It was a tough 6 years and he had been through enough. One of the many things that helped me get through my wedding without him.
At his funeral, I said the greatest gift he gave me was the ability to play and sing. I always feel most safe, or most comfortable in this world when I am playing and singing. Not at 1am when I am getting requests for rebel songs, but when I am on my own and just passing the time. Realising who I am and how lucky I have been. It is really difficult to explain, but as a fellow musician, I’m sure you understand.
I wanted to pass this story on because I think he wanted to give to me what music gave to him, and he found that largely because of you. I think at the moments he missed home, you and the guitar were there for him. He was a great man. A really, really great man. I am a school teacher as well and I see firsthand how lucky my mum, my family and I were to have him. How lucky we were to have a passionate, Irishman and musician in our world.
I’ve kept an eye on the dates of your shows, and as soon as I found a window, I knew I had to go. So I’m here, and I just wanted to say thanks. Thanks for all of it, for everything.