Posted by admin on Mar 07 2008 | Tagged as: meanings, news
I can’t say that I was disappointed to hear that the song “Danny Boy” has been banned from an Irish pub in new York for the month of March in the run-up to St. Patrick’s Day. Despite having a reputation as one of the quintessential Irish ballads, it’s another pure product of Tin Pan Alley.
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Posted by admin on Feb 04 2008 | Tagged as: events, news
Visitors from Northern Ireland might want to check out the upcoming Belfast Nashville Songwriters Festival when US and Irish writers will be hooking up between February 20 ad 24. Nashville’s Don Schlitz will perform several of his 24 #1 hit songs including, “When You Say Nothing At All”, “The Gambler” and “Forever and Ever Amen”. Pat Alger performs his hit songs and Kevin Gordon, Ralph Murphy, Victoria Banks, Eliza Lynn and Tony Kerr all make the journey from America. “Heart On My Sleeve” and “Breakaway” writer Benny Gallagher is coming as is Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue, Chris Difford of Squeeze, Swedish songwriter Tobias Froberg, John Power and Dougie Maclean (’Caledonia’). Visiting American artists will join local writers on stage to perform solo and ‘In The Round’ concerts. Ben Glover, Bap Kennedy, Cat Malojian, Anthony Toner, The Delawares, Charlie McGettigan, Wally Page, Janet Holmes, Kevin Doherty and Paul Casey are all taking part. For details, visit Belfast-Nashville.
Posted by admin on Feb 02 2008 | Tagged as: meanings, news
I had to sympathise with Beck’s record label. While preparing the layout of a deluxe edition of his album “Odelay”, someone pasted in lyrics to the track “The New Pollution” that they found on a website. So the line “she’s alone in the new pollution” was actually printed as “she’s alone in the new delusion”. As mistakes go, that one’s not too bad. But then they forgot to replace them with the real lyrics.
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Posted by admin on Jan 16 2008 | Tagged as: news, plagiarism
I mentioned some time back that Avril Lavigne’s “I Wanna be Your Girlfriend” was the subject of a lawsuit by eighties band The Rubinoos who felt it was too close to a song of theirs with almost the exact same chorus, “I Wanna be Your Boyfriend”. At the time, people were claiming she “ripped them off”. But the writers recently “exonerated” Lavigne and her co-writer. So did she or did she not rip them off?
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Posted by admin on Dec 21 2007 | Tagged as: news, politics, protest
I’ve always been a little uncomfortable with the campaign against dancehall, as it has echoes of the thought police in action. But I’ve always been very uncomfortable with some of the extremely violent anti-gay lyrics as well. Now the British resort Brighton has become the first UK town to officially ban licensed venues from playing anti-gay or hate lyrics. Is this a good or a bad thing?
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Posted by admin on Dec 19 2007 | Tagged as: anthems, meanings, news, politics
I always thought that national anthems were ancient texts passed down from generation to generation and sung with pride. As the recent news in the UK has shown, they can still be works in progress. And now Spain is at it, struggling to find lyrics that fit the national psyche. There is a simple reason for this: until now, the Spanish national anthem had no words. Continue Reading »
Posted by admin on Dec 12 2007 | Tagged as: gadgets, news
UK band Massive Attack produced the music for the upcoming PlayStation game “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune”. The title refers to a mythical treasure stashed away by Sir Francis Drake.
Posted by admin on Dec 06 2007 | Tagged as: anthems, meanings, news
Maybe I should start a tag just for national anthems. They seem to be be regularly in the news. The BBC reports that there are moves to rewrite some of the lyrics to the UK’s “God Save the Queen”. I must admit that I don’t sing it much myself, so I never noticed that there was a sixth verse. And that verse is a trifle, uh, controversial for a national anthem. I don’t know any other anthem that call for the defeat of one of its own peoples! Continue Reading »
Posted by admin on Nov 25 2007 | Tagged as: meanings, news
Ever tried to guess what Bono’s lyrics mean and how he writes them? An interesting clip on their website gives a fascinating glimpse into the singer’s creative process. The group U2 has been re-visiting tracks from “The Joshua Tree”, and in particular an unfinished demo called “Wave of Sorrow”, a song “that was trying to describe experiences that myself and Ali had when we were working in Ethiopia during the famine,” according to Bono. In the extract, he explains what motivated him to write the lyrics, the symbolism he uses - in particular the contrast between the heritage of Ethopia (Queen of Sheba) and the stark reality today. He then sings along to the track, adding more asides. It’s interesting both for fans of U2 and anyone interested in songwriting, even if U2 are not your favourite band.
Check it out here on the U2 website.
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Posted by admin on Nov 22 2007 | Tagged as: Eurovision, news, politics
So the unthinkable has happened: a country has decided to NOT take part in the Eurovision Song Contest. I remember hearing comments in Dublin after multiple wins that it was costing too much and that Ireland couldn’t afford to win again. But to not take part at all is quite dramatic. Why the fuss?
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