Irish folk songs about missing Ireland?

Question

I need Irish folk music about missing Ireland for a book report, any suggestions?

Answer 1

1. Carrigfergus



I wish I was in Carrigfergus

Only for nights in Ballygrant

I would swim over the deepest ocean

For my love to find

But the sea is wide and I cannot cross over

And neither have I the wings to fly

I wish I could meet a handsome boatsman

To ferry me over, to my love and die.

My childhood days bring back sad reflections

Of happy times I spent so long ago

My boyhood friends and my own relations

Have all passed on now like melting snow.

But I'll spend my days in endless roaming

Soft is the grass, my bed is free.

Ah, to be back now in Carrigfergus

On that long road down to the sea.



But in Kilkenny, it is reported

On marble stones there as black as ink

With gold and silver I would support her

But I'll sing no more 'till I get a drink.

For I'm drunk today, and I'm seldom sober

A handsome rover from town to town

Ah, but I'm sick now, my days are numbered

Come all you young men and lay me down.



2. Spancil Hill



Last night as I lay dreaming of pleasant days gone by

My mind being bent on rambling to Ireland I did fly

I stepped on board a vision and I followed with the wind

And I shortly came to anchor at the cross of Spancil Hill



It being the 23rd June the day before the fair

When lreland's sons and daughters in crowds assembled there

The young and the old, the brave and the bold their journey to fulfill

There were jovial conversations at the fair of Spancil Hill



I went to see my neighbors to hear what they might say

The old ones were all dead and gone and the young one's turning grey

I met with the tailor Quigley, he's a bould as ever still

Sure he used to make my britches when I lived in Spancil Hill



I paid a flying visit to my first and only love

She's as white as any lily and as gentle as a dove

She threw her arms around me saying "Johnny I love you still

" Oh she's Ned the farmers daughter and the flower of Spancil HiII



I dreamt I held and kissed her as in the days of yore

She said, "Johnny you're only joking like many's the time before"

The **** he crew in the morning he crew both loud and shrill

And I awoke in California, many miles from Spancil Hill.



3. The Wearin' O' the Green



O Paddy dear, and did ye hear the news that's goin' round?

The shamrock is by law forbid to grow on Irish ground!

No more Saint Patrick's Day we'll keep, his color can't be seen

For there's a cruel law ag'in the Wearin' o' the Green."

I met with Napper Tandy, and he took me by the hand

And he said, "How's poor old Ireland, and how does she stand?"

"She's the most distressful country that ever yet was seen

For they're hanging men and women there for the Wearin' o' the Green."



"So if the color we must wear be England's cruel red

Let it remind us of the blood that Irishmen have shed

And pull the shamrock from your hat, and throw it on the sod

But never fear, 'twill take root there, though underfoot 'tis trod.



When laws can stop the blades of grass from growin' as they grow

And when the leaves in summer-time their color dare not show

Then I will change the color too I wear in my caubeen

But till that day, please God, I'll stick to the Wearin' o' the Green.

Answer 2

I'm not adding a traditional Irish folk song to the list. There are a lot of great traditional Irish folk songs that you will find though. I do have one that you can add as a twist to your list by an American artist that touched me as a former soldier and current Irish dancer. It is Ireland by Garth Brooks. I do not listen to country music but was exposed to this song in our performances. If you listen to the lyrics, this is an awesome song about missing Ireland in some of the bloodiest days of American/Irish-American history.

Answer 3

There are probably several sites that have Irish folk music.

"The Wild Geese" is one such song

"It's a long way to Tipperary" is another

Many songs written in America by Irish composers are songs longing for Ireland.

Answer 4

It is not really a folk song but one that comes to mind is Van Morrison "Got To Go Back" from his No Method, No Guru, No Teacher album....



When I was a young boy

Back in Orangefield

I used to gaze out

My classroom window and dream

And then go home and listen to Ray sing

"I believe to my soul" after school,

Oh that love that was within me

You know it carried me through

Well it lifted me up and it filled me

Meditation contemplation too



Chorus:

Oh we've got to go back

Got to go back

Got to go back

Got to go back

For the healing go on with the dreaming



Well there's people in the street

And the summer's almost here

We've got to go outside in the fresh air

And breathe while it's still clear

Breathe it in all the way down

To your stomach too

And breathe it out with a radiance

into the nightime air



We've got to go back etc. etc...



Got my ticket at the airport

Well I guess I've been marking time

I've been living in another country

That operates along entirely different lines

Keep me away from porter or whiskey

Don't play anything sentimental it'll make me cry

I've got to go back my friend

Is there really any need to ask why



We've got to go back etc. etc.



Or "The Town I Loved So Well" by The Dubliners .... :)

Answer 5

"Hard To Say Goodbye" written by Robbie O'Connell. It has been recorded by Sean Keane as "Home Away From Home" on the CD "All Hearts, No Roses".



I'd been back home in Ireland just to visit some old friends

But the days had gone by quickly, it was time to leave again

And I'd had so many wild nights in the week or two that passed

I was almost glad that this would be the last.

But I didn't sleep at all that night, I stayed up til the dawn

Singing songs and playing tunes til everyone was gone

By then it was too late for me to go back home to bed

So I opened up another beer instead



CHORUS

Back across the ocean to my home away from home

Glad to be returning but sad to have to go

I'd like to find a way to be two places at one time

It's easy going back again but it's hard to say goodbye



And I had one bag too many just as I was set to leave

I was loaded down with bacon and with sausages and tea

And I couldn't find my ticket as I'm walking out the door

Til I emptied all my bags out on the floor.

On board the plane I sip a drink while waiting for the meal

Just trying to keep my head from knowing how my stomach feels

There's a baby right behind me making sure that I won't sleep

And the flight's too full to find another seat



And I'm trying to fill out customs forms but I can't find a pen

I'm swearing softly to myself I'll never fly again

There's a woman right in front of me keeps playing with the seat

And someone nearby never washed their feet

But I fall asleep at last just as the plane is touching down

And I age ten years just waiting for the bags to come around

But finally I make it home and I'm barely settled when

I'm already making plans to go again





I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen:



I'll take you home again, Kathleen,

Across the ocean wild and wide

To where your heart has ever been

Since first you were my bonny bride.

The roses all have left your cheek;

I've watched them fade away and die.

Your voice is sad when e'er you speak

And tears be-dim your loving eyes.



Oh, I will take you back, Kathleen,

To where your heart will feel no pain.

And when the fields are fresh and green

I'll take you to your home again.





Um, isn't a "book report" supposed to be a review with your thoughts about a particular book?

Answer 6

This read to me terribly. I got bored during the first stanza though unlike most dense "poetry enthusiasts" I read on hoping to find something interesting in it, but unfortunately, a source of my interest was not located. Don't take it personally.

Answer 7

The flight of Earls,a song about economic migration.

The streets of Baltimore,a song about a young man migrating to America and having to return to bury his father,then have to leave again.

The old bog road,a song about a man who has not the money to return home when his mother dies.

Skibbereen,a son asking his father why he left his native land,the father tells him of the beauty of the land and the terror and murders brought about by British rule.

Answer 8

I was going to say Carrickfergus and the Wearing of the green but someone said it already. Look here for Carrickfergus by Celtic Woman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV-kvqCqwVw