I have the impression that An Air From County Derry, a.k.a. Danny Boy, seems to be avoided by musicians native to Ireland. Are there any other songs that are, at least currently, considered to be cliches by the Irish, or the Scottish for that matter?
I was wondering about Minstrel Boy particularly, as one doesn’t find it commonly on CDs. I only know of one published instance of it, played by James Galway with the Chieftans. It’s rather popular with audiences on this side of the water, but I’m curious what the Irish opinion of it is.
[ This Message was edited by: ndjr on 2002-02-15 10:01 ]
I can't speak for anybody else on the board, but as far as I'm concerned, "Amazing Grace" is to Scots music what "Danny Boy" is to Irish - an absolutely beautiful tune that has been hopelessly ruined by countless artists' shall we say...creative...renderings.
I wish more people would learn to leave this one alone, instead of trying to interpret the heck out of it, ultimately loosing the simple beauty of the tune in the first place. (I inherited some of this ire from my father, a bagpiper, who swears that some people he's met think it's the only song capable of being played on the pipes!)
Anything you hear on St. Paddy’s day in NYC.
But, as has been said before, every genre has their own overplayed songs.
I once heard that “The Macerena” was revenge for “Achy Breaky Heart”
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is done to death on classical stations.
Cheers,
jb
Thanks to all for their responses, and thanks in advance to those who may yet jump in!
Firefly wrote about people over-interpreting Amazing Grace, and I quite agree with him. The Star Spangled Banner, as rendered at professional athletic contests, is another familiar and particularly hideous example.
A related pet peeve of mine is when some group or another records a song that becomes very popular, and everybody, but everybody, tries to play it exactly the way it is on the record. They usually fail, which is a good part of the irritation. Ashokan Farewell comes to mind in this regard.
In the world of reenacting, a request for Battle Hymn of the Republic will usually cause any musician within earshot to run and hide.
Brownja mentioned The Macarena. If I never hear that one again, it will be too soon.
So, do I correctly conclude that Minstrel Boy has not attained the status of a cliche in Ireland, or elsewhere?
On 2002-02-15 10:19, ndjr wrote:
Brownja mentioned The Macarena. If I never hear that one again, it will be too soon.
YOU HAVE NO IDEA. I lived in South Texas for 6 months after the Macerena came out on the Tejano stations (I had two musical choices there Country stations or Tejano stations. I felt more comfortable when I could not understand half of the words). That song came out on Tejano stations about 7 months before it broke onto the pop sceen and got into every wedding and baseball game, along with most pop radio stations 14 times a day.
Why is most pop music such meaningless drivvel?
Graphics Guy Posted: 2002-02-15 05:45
Swallowtail Jig
Inisheer
Dan
Must be a local thing. I rarely hear the Swallowtail Jig (can’t find in in O’Neill’s or McCullough). The only people I know that play Inisheer are Joanie Madden fans. I don’t play it myself.
In a public library’s CD section I once saw “The Danny Boy Album”. The CD had nothing but about twenty different recordings of Danny Boy. I didn’t take it out.
Another one is “An Poc Ar Bhuile”. However, I do like Gaelic Storm’s interpretation and its seething-with-attitude English verse! LOL!
It’s funnier if you hear it for yourself, but here it is:
“The Garda came from the town of Ballyroche
for to catch that goat with sticks and switches. The goat gave the Captain a kick up his ar** and its horns made rags of his brand new britches.”
