Because of its title, Whiskey in the Jar is often seen as a drinking song, celebrating the wild life. That doesn’t really do it justice though. Whiskey in the Jar isn’t really about drinking at all; it’s about rebellion against authority and has a sub-plot involving betrayal by a lover.
Category: Songs
Fields of Athenry – Irish song and football anthem
Video of The Dubliners performing Fields of Athenry It’s strange how songs can suddenly develop a life of their own and go off in directions never expected by the people who wrote them. The Fields of Athenry is a good example. When I first heard it back in the 1970s I thought it was a… Continue reading Fields of Athenry – Irish song and football anthem
How Raglan Road came to be written
The story behind the writing of a song can often be as interesting as the song itself. Raglan Road is a good example. It was written, of course, by Patrick Kavanagh, and given the lofty themes and the subtlety of the emotions it conveys, it would be natural to assume that it was born out… Continue reading How Raglan Road came to be written
