Great swathes of the world turn green on March 17th as people anywhere that have some ancestral roots to theEmerald Isle nosily celebrate St. Patrick's Day, the great festival of the Irish.Yet, as with St. Patrick himself, so many of the traditions associated with our national holiday owe their existence to people and places far beyond our green shamrock shores.
Click here to find out more about this startling revelation from one of my previous and hopefully very interesting articles!
For instance....
Famous Ballad 'Dirty Old Town' - Not an Irish Song!
Dirty Old Town is a song synonymous with Irish Pub Ballads, with most people believing that its title refers to Dublin.
Actually, it was written by Ewan MacColl, an Englishman of Scottish ancestry, about the grimy old industrial town of Salford near Manchester!
Click here to hear Pogues' brilliant version of Dirty Old Town.
Ireland's Forty Shades of Green - Invented by an American Rock 'n' Roller!
Forty Shades of Green has all the hallmarks of a story penned by an Irish emigrant fondly reminiscing about memories of the lover, the landscapes and the people that he left behind in rural Ireland.
In fact it was written by the Man in Black- Johnny Cash, the legendary American Rock 'n' Roll & Country star. Though every line in the song feels like part of an authentic television documentary on Ireland as it would have looked in 1961 when it was written, Johnny had at that stage never set foot on the 'old sod'!
In fact it was written by the Man in Black- Johnny Cash, the legendary American Rock 'n' Roll & Country star. Though every line in the song feels like part of an authentic television documentary on Ireland as it would have looked in 1961 when it was written, Johnny had at that stage never set foot on the 'old sod'!
So I have nothing but admiration for the man who could write such beautiful emotional lyrics about a country that he had yet to visit. Who cares if it is sentimental. As an emigrant myself in times gone past, I can empathise with the feelings expressed.
Johnny obviously listened avidly to tales of Ireland from emigrants living in the United States.
Johnny obviously listened avidly to tales of Ireland from emigrants living in the United States.
Click here to hear a fine version song by his daughter Rosanne Cash
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