Saturday, March 17, 2007
Kiss Me I'm Cliched
You guessed it, the obligatory St. Patrick's Day post.
I must admit that I have a complex relationship with the Irish people.
Growing up, I was always told that my ancestors came from Ireland. But all we could confirm historically was that their ship departed from Ireland. Our last name is one of those bland, generic anglo-saxon names that could be from anywhere in the British Isles. Our family culture is entirely Canadian and preserves nothing of our alleged Irish roots.
I happen to know this because for a time, as a teen and a young man, I rejected my Irish roots and took every excuse to distance myself from them. When I backpacked through Britain as a college student, I was swift to conclude that my real heritage must be Scottish, since I developed such an instant affinity for that nation.
The reason I had come to feel averse to my Irish roots is that I had come to see the Irish people, like the Quebecois, as examples of supremely bad karma, of unquenchable desire destroying one's soul.
It seemed, from my reading of Irish history, that the Irish people had turned their backs on any number of reasonable solutions that would have brought them peace and prosperity with honour (the great sad history of Michael Collins, the Anglo-Irish Treaty and the resulting Irish Free State being only one example). I concluded that I could not respect a nation that would deliberately choose to suffer rather than accept the smallest compromise.
Aw, but that was when I was all young and principled and shit. I just really don't care so much about such things anymore. Besides, as the years have gone on, I have felt a gradual, perhaps genetic gravitational pull to all things Irish: the music, the personalities, the literature and even the brogue.
Besides, I confess, my real personality has a strong dose of Irish pugnacity and mendacity to it, in case you hadn't noticed.
These days, I must admit, when I look at people like Elvis Costello or Samual Beckett, a small voice very deep inside seems to say: "There is my countryman."
So today I'd like to honour the great, wonderful and perpetually screwed-up Irish nation with a selection of tunes I feel convey the real soul of Ireland:
Elvis Costello - No Action
The Clancy Brothers - Minstrel Boy
Declan Hunt - Come Out Ye Black and Tans
The Chieftans - Whiskey in the Jar
The Chieftans - O'Sullivan's March
The Pogues - Streets of Sorrow / Birmingham Six
The Pogues - Recruiting Sargeant / Medley
The Pogues with Sinead O'Connor - I'm a Man You Don't Meet Every Day (this was the departing waltz for me and Mrs. Mentok at our wedding)
Tonight, we're off to O'Hanlon's to drink Guinness and curse out the English. How about you folks? Doing anything special for St. Patty's?
posted by Mentok @ 12:15 p.m.,
2 Comments:
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At 7:58 p.m.,
Rachel said...
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Weeeeeeeeeeeeee Happy St. Patty's day! And what a magical post to enjoy a Guinness to. I really didn't do anything special. How sad I know, pathetic really...I have no life.
But at least I've got music and Irish music thanks to you. ;-) -
At 9:35 a.m.,
Grumps said...
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I was going to write something sooner but I've been too busy making pasta and sauce while bouncing a soccer ball with one foot and listening to an opera. Plus, whenever I think, I gesture wildly with my hands and it makes it really hard to type.
