The Day The Music Died

By AM Wednesday, July 6, 2022

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Charlie Kerr ♮ It is safe to say that the tradition of Irish Republican - or rebel - folk music is a long time dead, being flogged by a collection of opportunists and self-seekers who have recognised the potential in the nostalgia and romanticism of a dying dialectic. 

Extortionists exploit this market using limited musical skill to execute torturous versions of songs long since played out and now lacking in any substance or meaning. With no longevity in a very niche market, the real victim of this vagabondery will, undoubtedly, be the music and the songs, certainly not the bar trade or the unprincipled. The sheer fact that on any given night the Republican favourites will be rattled out several times, each one less meaningful than the last, highlights the finite staying power that these songs have outside of an ever decreasing circle, stagnant as life moves on without it.

To start, it would be inappropriate to label these usurpers as “artists” or “musicians”. Terms such as these should be left to those who study their music and evolve their skills and who can produce a performance. These Musical imposters masquerading as Republicans and hiding behind three chords and a few notes in their head have quite clearly found a niche market open for exploitation. Those who still attend “Rebel” evenings do so to drink heavily, loose talk, and belt out a party piece like “Boys of the Old Brigade” or “Grace”, which is their song, undoubtedly. Musical talent and skill would be wasted in such an environment, and more often than not, streaming a Youtube playlist would be both a cheaper and preferable option if not just economically. As well as that, the pub-goers associate the musicians with memories of a great evening as opposed to remembering them for their musical ability, although in the case of a few of these Musical Imposters, that’s probably for the best.

What has become cliché now amongst this cadre is to whack the Gaeilge on their name. People without a word of the language feel it appropriate to exploit not only the Republican tradition, but also the Gaeilge tradition. As they slowly murder all cultural facets of the Republican dialectic, they understand the attraction that the “uniqueness” of a name “As Gaeilge” gives a “talent” amidst the soaring levels of Irish language growth among the children of former Irish Republican activists. Being the populists that they are, they recognise the benefit of appearing as “so Irish my name is in Irish” while they speak in English, promote the forwarding of our culture and history through a foreign language and charge exorbitant amounts of the Queen’s pound to sing songs about Revolution against the very state of which she is head. That being said, it would be remiss to avoid the conclusion that “Stiofán” has a better ring to it than “Big Stevie from the flats”.

The truth of the matter is that the level of exploitation currently ongoing will ultimately lead to the destruction of the cultural form of expression, but is that a bad thing? We all love a rebel song and we are naturally a rebellious people. We love the history of revolution here on the part of our proud people. However, a cultural expression that does not evolve will die. The epitome of this comes through the traditional Irish form of music, which has had no problem adapting and evolving, taking in other cultural expressions to continue its development. 

Republican culture is now destined to follow the path of the Orange Order, although they are two explicitly different cultural realms. The development they share is the lack thereof, moreover the stagnation of both cultural identities. Both are currently stuck in a time bubble of the late eighties and early nineties when both reached a pinnacle, and neither can escape. The numbers drawn in culturally will naturally decline and the cultural identities will gradually become subsections of other cultural identities before dwindling out, mainly because neither is the natural cultural expression of either national identity.

The biggest problem that Republicanism faces is the fact that it has been replaced by the Irish language as the current mass movement in the North, one which has universal appeal across the island, and is growing concurrently. This development would be worth studying more thoroughly but in the context of this analysis, the shift from revolution armed with weapons to revolution armed with words has been gradual and took a generation. As such, the Gaeltacht has replaced the Jailtacht as the Republican University and the struggle has evolved. From The Boys of Wexford, to Sean South, to the Loughgall Martyrs, the tradition has always had reasons to write new songs, creative expression of the grief and sorrow felt, capturing the revolutionary ethos of the era in word. Singers now either regurgitate the same songs, or write absolute meaningless guff, because there is a lack of subject matter. 

In comparison to the geopolitical work of Ciaran Murphy (long since retired) in the 00’s, we now have Damien Quinn writing songs about his residencies. The last of the real revolutionary song writers, Pól MacAdaim, has long since peaked in terms of popularity, nowhere near the current scene. Instead, singers are more worried about creating merchandise to bolster their revolutionary image as opposed to creating revolutionary imagery to bolster the Republican dialectic.

Whilst some Republicans wish to cling on to the musical days of yesteryear, it will not be a startling revelation that the vast majority have very little time for the Rebel folk scene in Ireland. The current crop is woefully inept and focussed on their careers leaving listeners longing for the days of the Barleycorn, the Flying Column and even Eire Óg. Ireland may well long to be free, but not just physically. Spiritually and culturally we long to be free, but whilst we are culturally tied to appeasing the “Glasgow Celtic” Irish, there is no development and there is marginalisation of the dialectic. 

The days when proper singers like “Geek” Ó Halloran or Terry Ó Neill would play for a pittance to support the cause are long gone. The ex-POW’s have been replaced by the upwardly mobile, entrepreneurial young go-getters in the chambers of parliament, the coistí of Republican organisations and on the stage singing Republican songs and it “makes me sick, Motherfucker, how far we done fell”.

⏩Charlie Kerr Hails from Derry's Bogside.