"I have fallen for another, she can make her own way home..."*

In the spirit of the holiday, I give you my personal St Pat’s playlist, in no particular order (I was going to write an ode to Shane MacGowan, but maybe later...):

Traditional tunes, sung by any number of Irish (and not) performers:

“Fields of Athenry” (I have probably scarred my boys for life by singing this dismally sad and heartwrenching song to them as a lullaby.)

“Finnegan’s Wake” (my favorite part is yelling “Lunch!”)

“The Orange and the Green” (I love the slapstick-y humor of this song.)

“Danny Boy” (H is named for this song. We had an oboeist friend play this last year at our party, and I am sure there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.)

“Farewell to Nova Scotia” (Not technically Irish but the permutation of RHP (before they morphed into an Irish rock band) used to play this, as the fiddle player was a sailor.)

“Sonny Don’t Go Away” (Ditto. And the reverse Oedipal overtones of this song make me laugh.)

“Black Velvet Band”

“Cockles and Mussels” (Hate hate HATE this song but apparently am only one of the face of the earth.)

“Jolly Beggar” (You can’t hear this and not want to dance.)

“Wild Rover” (Same sailor of “Sonny” fame sang an insanely ribald alternate version of this that made me howl with laughter.)

“Long Black Veil” (Also sing this to the boys – therapy awaits! And I know it’s not remotely Irish except for the Chieftains (with Mick Jagger) having recorded it.)


“If I Should Fall from Grace with God”
“Turkish Song of the Damned”
“Fairytale of New York”
“South Australia”
“Fiesta”
(If I Should Fall from Grace with God - The Pogues)

“I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Everyday”
“Sally Mac Lennane”
“Dirty Old Town”
“The Band Played Waltzing Matilda”
(Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash – The Pogues)

“I’ll Tell Me Ma”
“Marie’s Wedding”
(Irish Heartbeat – Chieftains with Van Morrison)

“I Useta Lover”
“Red Cortina”
“Presentation Boarder”
“N17”
“Only One Girl”
“Irish Post”
(If This Is Rock ‘n’ Roll, I Want My Old Job Back - The Saw Doctors)

“When I’m Up I Can’t Get Down”
“Here’s To You”
“Blood Wedding”
(Holy Bandits - Oyster Band)

“Jamie Across the Water”
“House Husband’s Lament”
“Fisher’s Hornpipe”
“The Galtee Set”
(Old Lead – Boiled in Lead)

“My Son John” (From the Ladle to the Grave – Boiled in Lead)

“Dearg Doom” (Straight From the Horse’s Mouth - The Horslips)

“Nancy Whiskey” (The Snake – Shane MacGowan & the Popes)

“Whiskey in the Jar” (Vagabonds of the Western World – Thin Lizzy)

“Rocky Road to Dublin”
“Sadam’s Reel/Kulsko Horo”
“William Taylor”
“Hanter Droiou”
(Another Setting – The House Band)

“Rocky Road to Dublin”
“Follow Me Up to Carlow”
“Foggy Dew”
(Rocky Road – Young Dubliners)

“Bullet the Blue Sky”
“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”
(Joshua Tree – U2)

“I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)”
(Sunshine on Leith – The Proclaimers)

“Step It Out Mary”
“John O’Hara”
“Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye”
“Drunken Sailor”
“Irish Rover”
“Johnny’s Lament”
“Black and Tans”
(Something’ Close to Sinnin’ – Red Hand Paddy (in other words, the entire album but for a few tracks in the middle))


Now I am off to decant (if that's the word) the beer bread from its pans, peel ten pounds of potatoes, and peruse the recipe for oatmeal stout cake that I am considering making for the party.

And buy another case of Guinness (and a bottle of rum for me).

Slainte!
***************

* "I Useta Lover," The Saw Doctors