AChairde,

I was hoping to start a discussion on why we play/sing/enjoy the rebel songs...

What are peoples' thoughts on the place and role of the Irish rebel song in the current context?

All the best,

Matt Kavanah

Hi Matt,
Personally i think rebel music is still as important as when the first tunes were played! The songs remind us all of the heroic struggle people endured and are STILL enduring to this very day!! I must admit though i'm only a listener, dont have a musical bone in my body! I' m a fan of the "oldies" but a few of my mates like the "new" tunes, but they're all good regardles of who sings them. I'm new to this site but hopefully this will get this thread going. Good luck and all the best C.

I like them so much becouse they're a part of a romantic legend of IRA and its fight for freedom.
Of course, I know that those legends have nothing to do with real life in warzone of any kind. And while listening to them we should remember about the dark side if IRA's activity.
But, from the other side, these songs are an important part of Irish national identity, it helped to maintain it through the times.

I think Fionn has hit the nail on the head! It is a method of the Irish to retain their identity under a government who is trying its hardest to sacrifice this to the European Union. Don't get me wrong i think a strategic alliance among European states has its benefits but we must be carefull to not allow it to progress in the manner it is, where Irish people are losing their right to determine their own future which brave men have struggled for over 800 years for!

Anyway sorry bout the ramblings and back to the point! I think rebel songs gave ordinary Irish people a peacefull way to protest and in the dark old days it gave them some sort of hope for the future. Thats how I would view therole of Irish music anyway, others may feel differently.

I know that for myself, listening to these songs opens up endless threads of new (new to me anyway) events in Irish history. Each new name or battle or whatever compels me to go and learn the history surrounding the song. This started at an early age, the songs were sung and if you asked, then someone (usually my gran) would tell the story behind it. No point singing Skibbereen if it's just another song, find out whats behind it, ask someone or read a book, personally i feel that The Great Hunger by Cecil Woodham-Smith should be compulsory reading in all Irish and British schools.

One of the first things i asked on this forum was if the 17 year old mentioned in "terrorist or dreamer" was an actuall person, never did get a reply though.

if a song leads someone to read about Robert Emmet, or to ask who Billy Reid was or what happened at Burntollet bridge then what more can we ask.

one of the reasons that I use the name Napper Tandy on the internet is simply because every now and then someone will ask if it's because of the song, well of course it is, no one should ever forget that the British did indeed hang people for "wearing of the green".

We should never forget our history, songs are the living link to all the wrongs done to our people down the centuries. "I'll tell you a story that happened one day, to a fair Irish colleen, her age was 16 and it's proudly she carried White Orange and Green." this song lead me to read about Tom Ashe, his life and death, do you know what force feeding actually entails? this then opens your eyes to a short time ago when the same was done to Frank Stagg and his comrades, Cromwells men are still here.

Listen to "the blood stained bandage" then tell those interested about Con Colbert's last hours without shedding a tear........not an easy thing to do.

203 years have passed yet still no epitaph can be written for Emmet. 25 years after the deaths of ten brave volunteers, what have we done with their legacy? Only ten short years until the centenary of the Easter rising, have we achieved what the men and women of '16 would have hoped? We have to keep singing so that the young continue to question why the British are still occupying the 6 counties, they want out of Iraq A.S.A.P. but they've hung onto this Island for nearly 900 years.

Sl�n.

Heya,

I agree with you, napper tandy... I think the main reason why I like those song so much is that they open doors to parts of history. I've always been quite bad at learning History, I love to read it but I keep messing dates and names and everything up, but when I listen to songs, things just kind of make more sense and are easier to remember (much to the despair of some of my friends, who complain that whenever they want to learn Irish history, they will google for it, thank you very much (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif) )

Somehow these songs reminds me of the ancient bards in Celtic society... telling news and stories across the land so that people would listen and learn, when most people couldn't read or write... Even in these days, when information is readily available on books or the internet, some of us still find songs an easier way to transmit stories... and also history.

Some people keep telling me that rebel songs are never an accurate telling of the event they talk about, that they are clearly biased and such. I always reply the same: history is written by the winners, history books are never an accurate description either, they depend on the writer, on many things. At least I know what side the storyteller leans to when I listen to this songs...

Anyway, just my two cents of thought...

Wish you all the best,
Banshee

Answering to Oglaigh's post - I think that this alliance between European countries can be very creative, it can help to exchange experiences and close down the prejudices. But it depends on the people if they wolud forget where they are from.
But many of them are hurrying for a job, money and have no time to think about it. Earning for a living is more important. It is the worst scenario, that some of them would forger about their origin not becouse they want to another country and ake anotner lifestyle, but they are forced to do it, when in their own ones they cannot live and work for their living.
I think that arists are the ones to remind the past and origins. Not politicians or journalists, but artists and their songs, poems or paintings.
But in some countries nationalism has very bad assotiations or reminds things that people don't like to remember. But does that mean that they are going to forget their history, origins? Of course not.