Thursday, March 17, 2011

"Lord, I ain't ne'er seen nothin' like a Galway girl"

Top o' the mornin' t'ye! May the blessed winds of the Emerald Isle be at your back on this most celebrated and venerated of days, pushing you ever on towards the horizon of endless tomorrows.

OK, enough of that poetic crap. Happy St. Patty's!

Considering I've been getting kinda heavy the past couple of days, I figure it's probably in the best interest - of both my sanity and my readers - that I ease off the pedal a bit today and mellow out. And it is in that vein that I present today's musical offering.


Steve Earle - Galway Girl

Now some of you may already know this as the famous tune from that movie P.S. I Love You with Gerard Butler and Hilary Swank (though maybe not, I had never heard of it before I started looking for this clip on YouTube, apparently it was a hit though), but for those of you who are not familiar with the work of Mr. Earle, I recommend you look into it if you have any love of folk music.

Those of you who are not yet familiar with Steve Earle's work are probably looking in askance at why I would highlight an American artist on St. Patrick's Day, when there are so many original Irish musicians out there. Well, if you were to look into it, Steve Earle is often regarded as the American who helped to establish Irish folk as a genre. It's beyond difficult to find an Irish musician without at least one Earle cover in their repertoire.

For those of you familiar with the track, enjoy this old classic. For those who have yet to hear it, enjoy the new favorite. And for all of you, enjoy the debauchery of the day.

And in closing, before I leave you to your pints and whiskeys, a brief poem from one of Ireland's most revered poets and favorite sons.


Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

----Yeats

So get out there and have fun. And remember, everything you see around you today, all of it, every last bit, started out as a feeble dream. Seize yours.

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