The Irish boys down at the 'Well

here

 

Not really sure of the connection mate other than irish.
As I struggle to be able to tell the lyrics.(as in nearly every song) I looked em up. Very poignant. So if I may add. Songs about the troubles. Hope they never return to the days of old. Regardless of some tension still.

Up there with

U2 - Sunday bloody Sunday. Imo One of the best of a catalogue of great music/songs
.
Simple minds - Belfast Child. Long version. One of the most haunting songs about the troubles. Made my hair stand 1st time I heard it on the radio. I bought the Album on the strength of that alone. (Street fighting yrs)

 

yes, nothing deep on my mind here... Just a great concert and great band. I'm on youtube a lot and this clip is always pushed at me and I always watch it. And I like the Irish and Ireland.

 

Loved Delores, great artist

 

See also Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six by the Pogues. Banned for several years despite both the Guildford 4 and Birmingham 6 being exonerated shortly after it was recorded.

 

Bit further back in history but 'Grace' is a beauty. Story of one of the architects of the Easter uprising and his execution at Kilmainham Gaol.

 

'Grace' is a reference to Grace Gifford who married Joseph Plunkett, one of the leaders of the 1916 uprising, just before his execution. She died in 1955.

It's odd indeed to here this extraordinary song sung at a football match. Does get the hairs on the back of your neck standing.

 

"71" was on Film Four last week and I watched it. Awful story about a soldier getting separated from his Unit in the streets of Belfast and being hunted by the IRA gunmen. The Harvey Andrews song "Soldier" is never far from my mind, being a searing indictment of those times, where a soldier throws himself on a railway station bomb to save the lives of Irish men, women and children close by. I'll copy and paste the lyrics here - I hope Harvey won't mind. Anyone who hasn't heard it should look it up on YouTube and hear it brilliantly sung.

In the station in the city a British soldier stood
Talking to the people there if the people would
Some just stared in hatred and others turned in pain
And the lonely British soldier wished he was back home again
"Come join the British army" Said the posters in his town
"See the world and have your fun, come serve before the crown"
The jobs were hard to come by and he could not face the dole
So he took his country's shilling and enlisted on the roll
But there was no fear of fighting, the Empire long was lost
Just ten years in the army, getting paid for being bossed
Then leave a man experienced, a man who's made the grade
A medal and a pension, some memories and a trade
Then came the call to Ireland as the call had come before
Another bloody chapter in an endless civil war
The priests they stood on both sides, the priests they stood behind
Another fight in Jesus' name, the blind against the blind
The soldier stood between them, between the whistling stones
And then the broken bottles that led to broken bones
The petrol bombs that burned his hands, the nails that pierced his skin
And wished that he had stayed at home surrounded by his kin
The station filled with people, the soldier soon was bored
But better in the station than where the people warred
The room filled up with mothers, with daughters and with sons
Who stared with itchy fingers at the soldier and his guns
A yell of fear, a screech of brakes, a shattering of glass
The window of the station broke to let the package pass
A scream came from the mothers as they ran towards the door
Dragging children crying from the bomb upon the floor
The soldier stood and could not move, his gun he could not use
He knew the bomb had seconds and not minutes on the fuse
He could not run to pick it up and throw it in the street
There were far too many people there, too many running feet
"Take cover!" Yelled the soldier, "Take cover for your lives!"
And the Irishmen threw down their young and stood before their wives
They turned towards the soldier, their eyes alive with fear
"For God's sake, save our children, or they'll end their short lives here"
The soldier moved towards the bomb, his stomach like a stone
Why was this his battle, God, why was he alone?
He laid down on the package and he murmured one farewell
To those at home in England, to those he loved so well
He saw the sights of summer, felt the wind upon his brow
The young girls in the city parks, how precious were they now?
The soaring of the swallow, the beauty of the swan
The music of the turning earth so soon would it be gone
A muffled soft explosion and the room began to quake
The soldier blown across the floor, his blood a crimson lake
They never heard him cry or shout, they never heard him moan
And they turned their children's faces from the blood and from the bone
The crowd outside soon gathered and the ambulances came
To carry off the body of a pawn lost to the game
And the crowd they clapped and jeered, and they sang their rebel songs
"One soldier less to interfere where he did not belong"
And will the children growing up learn at their mother's knee
The story of the soldier who bought their liberty?
Who used his youthful body as the means towards the end
Who gave his life to those who called him murderer not friend

 

I think the British Private (Jack O Connell) was also being hunted by the British Security Services (MRF who were feeding Loyalists with weapons/bombs and information) who caught him and who tried to kill him; but were prevented from doing so by the Young IRA Volunteer who was then shot by the Army.

The IRA man was played by the excellent Barry Keoghan - has since gone onto fame and fortune. The British Security serviceman who tried to kill O Connell was the amazing actor, Paul Anderson. Best know for his portrayal of Arthur Shelby in Peaky Blinders.

 

There's a live version on Youtube of Simple Minds performing Belfast Child with Sinead O'Connor - well worth checking out

 

Ding dong dell

Who pulled them out btw?

 

Yes he was in deep trouble with both sides after him and it was a very tense finish when his life was saved by a young would-be gunman. It was certainly a hard watch but it (not for the first time) reminded me how lucky I was joining the RAF in 1970 but not getting the dreaded posting notice to Aldergrove.

It wasn’t until the early 90s that I had to worry about Irish bombs and bullets during my three years in Germany. Two lads were shot shortly after I arrived when they stopped at traffic lights in Roermond, just inside the Dutch border. This was close enough to my location at Rheindahlen to make me very aware of the danger.

 

Yeah exactly. The extra verse in original adds a lot more to it than the Rod Stewart more popular version but either way, pulls at the heart strings.

 

Cheers. Great version.

 

Great actor is Barry.

 

I highly recommend season 6 of a podcast called “the spy who” it’s all about a double agent Willie Carlin during the troubles.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1wje8ImKv6CqSqhvHcfJy2?si=JAKfBDJQRQmqWhiEupE5oA

 

Interesting band / rap group these. Massively political.