The Dogs Bollix… on the corner of Abby Street and Newtown Road… it’s a small world we live in… I have been there many a time… well at least as many times as I have been in Auckland… mind you, if you have ever travelled to that city… and are of our denomination… chances are you have prayed at that old church… good spot… I saw the White Stripes there back in early 2002… my ears are still ringing… 2002… Jeasus I’m old… sadly I don’t think it made it made it to the other side of the plague… I was in Auckland a few weeks back and rocked up of a Friday evening for a little R&R… sadly it was closed… I was forced to frequent my backup den of disrepute… The Thirsty Dog… around the corner on Karangahape Road… No music… there was a comedy open mic on that night… enough said… and no Bulmers… I had to settle for a craft artesian cider… it looked and tasted like, I was at best, the second person to have drunk it… but any port in a storm… and it is a cracking venue… and it was open for business
Thank you for taking to time to read my scribble… and although it seems completely random – I’m guessing a guy from Coolock… hanging in Australia… sending you a song and a fable is not an everyday event – but this for me was a remarkable if not bizarre episode – a testament to your influence and talent that is recognized around the world… and so it prompted me to track you down and write… with no expectations of reply might I add…
Rolling back to that night in Scruffy’s … I sang my ditty – Pierced the Heart of My Soul… I pray no one caught that on video… but for some inexplicable reason… nostalgia, melancholy, drunkenness, insanity… take your pick… a pub full of people, who were absolutely pissed off that they could not sing their party karaoke pieces… listened to my dreary elegy and added acapella to Irish ballad… and got the answer Christy Moore…
My humblest apologies… but the patrons of that pub… that night… absolutely battered and butcher some of the finest songs in your repertoire… and they enjoyed every minute
The call outs were… a lady who hailed from Mumbai… India… she sang and interesting interpretation of Back Home In Derry…. unexpected choice I thought… and by the way… that song takes on a whole different connotation when sung in a thick Indian accent… with a more than a subtle twist of Bollywood… anyway… turns out this lady had spent 18-months incarcerated in Killybegs (on secondment for work)… fell in with the wrong crowd who dragged her against her will to one of your gigs at the Great Northern in Bundoran… a fan ever since… pick a song… she will sing it for you in Hindi… fantastic
And the kicker… the one that tipped me over the edge… so many of your fine songs had been slain that evening that when an African American Lady from Gonzales… a town between Baton Rouge and New Orleans in the deep south… a gospel singer in her Baptist church choir… took the staged… she apologized for not knowing a Christy Moore song… I kid you not… and then proceeded to sing a spectacular haunting rendition of Clannad’s In a Lifetime (she sang both side of the duet… impressive as)
Anyway… all this to say… It was a ripper of a night… unknowns to you, in a non-descript pub in the middle of the Sydney CBD… the spontaneous fun and joy that your music and talent created was nothing short of mighty… thank you
Delving into The Box Set this eve and love the flow of the song “Changes”. Some beautiful lines adin.. “Scenes of my young years are warm in my mind..”
Oh rock on Rockall, you’ll never fall to Britain’s greedy hands/Or you’ll meet the same resistance that you did in many lands/May the seagulls rise and pluck your eyes and the water crush your shell/And the natural gas will burn your ass and blow you all to hell.
Another british ‘explorer’ failed trying to ‘claim’ Rockall today, Fionn’s pebble defeated him too.
Have you sang the song much Christy, and having played just about every other venue in Ireland when will you be pitching the tent and stage there?
Rory
Old Mother Hubbard she lived in a cupboard
Where there were no stories or maps
Weak coffee and whiskey kept the customers frisky
Bugger! There go me bra straps
She also did a very good veggie breakfast
I didn’t know about this
I love a good veggie fry up
Just reading the interview in d’examiner Christy. “A West Cork tour with Jimmy Crowley in 1976”. What a beautiful little tour that must have been. Was it just yourself with Jimmy or was the CM Band with you? Out of interest, where did you play in Glengarriff, my auld stomping ground outside of the Capital!
Christy's reply
The Brown Pub in Kealkill
The White House in Kilcrohane
The Courtyard in Schull
Ross’s in Durrus
The Tin Pub in Ahakista
Ma Murphy’s in Bantry
…….by the time we hit Glengariff the schedule was awry…..it was a two hander, myself and Jimmy…..we took it in turns to he headliner and support
Hi Christy, it’s great to hear that you’r stil going out to support lesser known acts and events. I just wondered if any one ‘down the pecking order’ caught your eye (or ear) at Glastonbury? I thought Christine and the Queens and The Gabrials were both great and went straight on line to check their tour schedules. I remember fondly talking to you and Declan at the Phil’ back in 2008 about Manu Chow following his Glastonbury appearance earlier that year. Stay safe John
Christy's reply
Glastonbury has mushroomed since I first got to play there…played the old main stage twice way back….one Sunday afternoon in the 80s got a nice recording which we subsequently included on an album called “Traveller”….played after The Housemartins one year….before Robert Cray another time….last time was a tent…went on between The Proclaimers and Nick Lowe….met Michael Eavis on the earlier visits…
Only caught one Band on TV this year..”War on Drugs”…good sound,great Bass player….
Plenty of Music happening here in Bognia….”A Lazarus Soul” “John Spillane” “Kneecap” “Luka Bloom” “Lisa O’Neill” “MacDara Yates”played gigs I’ve heard recently…
I have great memories from The Phil….jammed there with Jackson Brown, Ian Prowse,Bruce Scott….still cherish the memory of my first Liverpool Gig…Jackie & Bridie’s Club in 1967…I learned the Ballad of Seth Davy that night
Hi Christy, on my journey up the M74 today i passed a trucker with the back of his lorry painted….not with a baying wolf, or a national flag, no ill-clad lady nor a soccer team.
This one had a painting of Billy Bragg, his name and some other words that i was too quick to read.
It brought me to mind of the lorries leaking lines of slurry, and of the swarm of truckers heading for a full fried irish breakfast , i wonder did the king of the road ever paint CM onto his wagon, or did they go for Mary Black or Freddie White?
I can vouch for the fine all day veggie cooked breakfast at Mother Hubbard’s in Cashel, truckers delight i’d say….soon to be named The Welcome to the Cabaret Brunch.
Rory
Christy's reply
Sang on the back of many lorries at various protests and gatherings…once with Billy Bragg at a Builders Strike in Perth WA in the 1990s..
the original Mother Hubbard’s was a wonderful joint..run by Barry out of a Caravan in a lay by….the subsequent chain had none of the charm of Barry’s wagon…nor the toasted rasher sandwich….Barry always provided strong hot tea plus he appreciated, welcomed and respected his customers…
on your recommendation I might try the Cashel Breakfast
A sunny evening in the suffragette suburbs…listening to the purity of Odetta.
On a city centre wander today,I visited a regular haunt,full of second hand CDs. Some kind soul had parted with ‘ Odetta sings ballads and blues’. Now having repeated plays here as well as finding treasures of her gigs on YouTube.
Superb quality recordings from mid 1950s. No wonder she was soon to be such an influence on the repertoire of new kids on the block in Greenwich Village…and,closer to home, a youthful Fairport Convention.
To me,it’s ‘soul music’ in its purest form and always great to track influences of well known artists.
Mr Spillane’s gig sounded mighty. Great name of the venue too.
All the best
Dave
Christy's reply
I heard Odetta and Pete Seeger in Carnegie Hall 40years ago…that was somethin
Christy, just wanted to say thank you for the outstanding Slieve Russel gig. The night was an absolute banger! Many the times I wish the boys and girls back home could see what’s it all about and how it is done. Lemon 7s stopped me and will not leave her grip. I can still feel “The Well” coming…
Christy's reply
Eric..Thanks for feedback…twas a banger alright…I love to see those chandeliers shaking
Hi C. I recall on this day 2021 I did the Lotto as I was feeling especially lucky ! I was one of a few hundred people in the huge, but socially distanced, INEC arena to witness your return to post C19 gigging !! If I recall correctly when you came on stage you announced that in your “55 years of gigging that this is the most important gig of my career !! ” It certainly was a hugely emotional gig, I cried when you sang Boys of Barr na Sraide, a shortened version ! The INEC choir sang along to Ride On so sweetly, although it felt like an anthem . It was a beautiful gig. I did n’t win the Lotto, but who needs it when I am so, so fortunate to see you perform on a very regular basis ? It’s some timing that you are back in INEC this week to yet another Sold Out gig, this time to 1,000s of listeners. Beir bua agus beannacht.H
Christy's reply
in serious training for Killarney….best foot forward for The Kingdom…then up to the Ladies View for a look into The Black Valley
Something to honour Phil Callery https://youtu.be/rAaAfhLcAfI
This is the 3rd track on a play list that we often listen to in the car. And bawl loudly along to…
Hello Christy,
I haven’t really explored John Spillane’s performing work, but it’s about time I did. https://youtu.be/pmzpmy2pkEk
I think this is the one Rory recommended. Beautiful.
I beat Google yesterday with “empirocating”. It means explaining with conviction. It only works for a day. The next day Google picks it up from the guestbook, a new word is born and inscribed into the ether.
Love your work… I’m sure you get many a lunatic sending you the ramblings of their demanded minds, believing them to be the next great Irish ballad… and suggesting that it should go straight to the top of your play list… this is not that… well except for the demented mind bit…
This is the ending to a story that started a ways back… before the outbreak and lockdown of the plague… on a cold December night… in Washington DC I think it was… when myself, from North Dublin, and 3 reprobates, from the South Boston decided we had not caused enough trouble at the company Christmas party and headed out into the city in search of a hangover… the exploits of that evening inspired this song that resulted in these people taking your name in vain… my apologies in advance…
Roll on to the present day… last Wednesday evening, I was in Scruffy Murphy’s… in Haymarket, in Sydney Australia… Karaoke Night… very original… now I have to admit… I was getting PTSD flashbacks to a sweat stenched pit at the Baggot on a Monday night in 1981… ah yeah… large rowdy crowd, although the BO aroma in Scruff’s that night was notably more eclectic… herbs and spices from India, the Middle East, and the Orient… mixed with the undeniable fragrance of cheap perfume, sweat and beer from us Europeans and Americans
Full disclosure… I was not there for the music… or the singing… not a big fan of people butchering perfectly good songs in public… that carry on is for the comfort of your own bathroom and should not be inflicted on poor innocents out for the evening… I was there because that pub is within walking distance… and, most importantly… they have Bulmers on tap…
So… I’m a couple in… I’m sitting near the sound equipment setup… and the crowd started getting a little agitated… the guys could not the karaoke machine to work… the sound system was up… mics were working… but the music was not coming through… I bought the boys a drink… cos beer always helps resolve electrical engineering problem… right?… eh… No… so I suggested “Why not… let them sing acapella” …mother of divine… what was I thinking… nobody responded… the stunned silence was dramatically shattered by a flamboyant diva from New Zealand screaming… “How can I be expected to perform in these conditions… I came here tonight to sing… to entertain… to be… the Rocket Man… soooooo disappointing… I’m leaving” …pity… he seemed like a nice enough bloke…
Anyway… to make a long story even longer… given I was feeling guilty at suggesting acapella… and I was partially under the influence… I took to the stage… took a deep breath… asked for ‘a touch of 4’ … still have no idea what that means… but it sounds fantastic… and sang… went to that place where the music lives… and got pulled back when I finished by the crowd cheering… unexpected… and a line had formed by the sound desk… people signing up to sing…
A young lady at the front of the small crowd that had formed at the stage yelled… “sing another Christy Moore song… Sing Raggle Taggle Gypsy “ … Ok maybe she was not that young… a voice from the middle of the crowd countered… ‘that’s not by Christy Moore… its by Shane MacGown and the Pogues… Sing a pair of Brown Eyes’… I thought they were taking the piss… associating my scribble with two of the most outrageously talented song writers to have ever donned a quill… I laughed… and retired gracefully… making way for the now eager gaggle of ballad bashers… I hope this fable it brings a smile to your face too…
Heart of my Soul
Verse 1
We leaned on the car
near the 18th street bar
and fought about where we might eat
the man on the door
said try the fourth floor
say I sent you
you’ll get a good seat
We sat in that room
walls painted maroon
watched ol’ones kiss friends of their sons
a girl in a black vest
with the double D chest
served us peanuts, malt whiskey and rum
Chorus
And still to this day
I can’t really say
how we met that night in the cold
I shouldn’t feel like this
Sure, it was only one kiss
But it pierced that heart of my soul
Verse 2
The pole dancer boobs
and her glass high heel shoes
turned you turned as white as a sheet
the old men on the horn
drooled and stared at the porn
as a drunkard was tossed in the street
A 18-year-old
with a vape for a toy
was drunk on spritzer and wine
trying hard to impress
the girl in the tight dress
who refused to give him the time
Chorus
Verse 3
Up on the stage
a rap gospel band played
about Jesus, redemption, and glory
you stroked my cheek
and said ok freak
tell me your secrets and stories
you gazed, enthralled
as I stumbled and stalled
and caught myself in a lie
about places I’d been
and people I’d seen
and a kiss on the steps Versailles
Chorus
Verse 4
We fell out of that place
with a smile on our face
alone again in the night
in a drunken state
stayed out far too late
and checked in on a 6:00am flight
We walked in the cold
watched the drama unfold
on the corner of Connecticut and Strand
I found your hotel
rang the elevator bell
and kissed the palm of your hand
Chorus
Verse 4
You said your goodbyes
with tears in your eyes
turned slowly and drifted away
I stared at the fire
and fought the desire
to ask you if you would stay
I wish you were here
In the bar drinking beer
talking shite, and stealing my food
laughing in my face
at my fall from grace
and yelling at me for being rude
Chorus
Christy's reply
Well MPA Cleary…thats some trip you’re on…from The Baggot to South Boston, Versailles to Sydney, Bulmers and Karaoke at every turn….
always uplifting to hear from a survivor from those Mon/Tue/Wed nights in The Baggot….£3 in, half price for dole cards…Moving Hearts in their hay day….thanks for sharing your mighty ballad….there was a pub in Wellington NZ, The Dogs Bollocks, they had good karaoke sessions in the 90s (and loose Bulmers)…..
Christy you are a lucky man, seeing John Spillane in full flight, such a brilliant songsmith.
Have you seen his video of ‘the streets of Ballyphehane’ on you tube?
I adore his Gortatogart, the cherry trees, johnny dont go…….
However it is in the stories like Ballyphehane he excells for me even more, the magic of River Lee, Passage West ( rule britannia, rule in hell), beautiful Ballincolig ( and the dog running after the boys adventure), Patrick Murphy, 100 snow white horses……
I must get up off my behind and get over to see him , in the lobby bar or up some other boreen’s shack.
Thanks for bringing JS to a wider audience, i suppose i may never have heard of him if it were not for your covers.
Rory
Can you play in Zurich tomorrow please please please 😊
Can’t wait for tomorrow! Can you play in Zurich please please please! 🙂
The Dogs Bollix… on the corner of Abby Street and Newtown Road… it’s a small world we live in… I have been there many a time… well at least as many times as I have been in Auckland… mind you, if you have ever travelled to that city… and are of our denomination… chances are you have prayed at that old church… good spot… I saw the White Stripes there back in early 2002… my ears are still ringing… 2002… Jeasus I’m old… sadly I don’t think it made it made it to the other side of the plague… I was in Auckland a few weeks back and rocked up of a Friday evening for a little R&R… sadly it was closed… I was forced to frequent my backup den of disrepute… The Thirsty Dog… around the corner on Karangahape Road… No music… there was a comedy open mic on that night… enough said… and no Bulmers… I had to settle for a craft artesian cider… it looked and tasted like, I was at best, the second person to have drunk it… but any port in a storm… and it is a cracking venue… and it was open for business
Thank you for taking to time to read my scribble… and although it seems completely random – I’m guessing a guy from Coolock… hanging in Australia… sending you a song and a fable is not an everyday event – but this for me was a remarkable if not bizarre episode – a testament to your influence and talent that is recognized around the world… and so it prompted me to track you down and write… with no expectations of reply might I add…
Rolling back to that night in Scruffy’s … I sang my ditty – Pierced the Heart of My Soul… I pray no one caught that on video… but for some inexplicable reason… nostalgia, melancholy, drunkenness, insanity… take your pick… a pub full of people, who were absolutely pissed off that they could not sing their party karaoke pieces… listened to my dreary elegy and added acapella to Irish ballad… and got the answer Christy Moore…
My humblest apologies… but the patrons of that pub… that night… absolutely battered and butcher some of the finest songs in your repertoire… and they enjoyed every minute
The call outs were… a lady who hailed from Mumbai… India… she sang and interesting interpretation of Back Home In Derry…. unexpected choice I thought… and by the way… that song takes on a whole different connotation when sung in a thick Indian accent… with a more than a subtle twist of Bollywood… anyway… turns out this lady had spent 18-months incarcerated in Killybegs (on secondment for work)… fell in with the wrong crowd who dragged her against her will to one of your gigs at the Great Northern in Bundoran… a fan ever since… pick a song… she will sing it for you in Hindi… fantastic
And the kicker… the one that tipped me over the edge… so many of your fine songs had been slain that evening that when an African American Lady from Gonzales… a town between Baton Rouge and New Orleans in the deep south… a gospel singer in her Baptist church choir… took the staged… she apologized for not knowing a Christy Moore song… I kid you not… and then proceeded to sing a spectacular haunting rendition of Clannad’s In a Lifetime (she sang both side of the duet… impressive as)
Anyway… all this to say… It was a ripper of a night… unknowns to you, in a non-descript pub in the middle of the Sydney CBD… the spontaneous fun and joy that your music and talent created was nothing short of mighty… thank you
With chinks of light showing through the curtain here, I’d usually allow Rebeccah be in first – I’ll be back.
Delving into The Box Set this eve and love the flow of the song “Changes”. Some beautiful lines adin.. “Scenes of my young years are warm in my mind..”
Oh rock on Rockall, you’ll never fall to Britain’s greedy hands/Or you’ll meet the same resistance that you did in many lands/May the seagulls rise and pluck your eyes and the water crush your shell/And the natural gas will burn your ass and blow you all to hell.
Another british ‘explorer’ failed trying to ‘claim’ Rockall today, Fionn’s pebble defeated him too.
Have you sang the song much Christy, and having played just about every other venue in Ireland when will you be pitching the tent and stage there?
Rory
Old Mother Hubbard she lived in a cupboard
Where there were no stories or maps
Weak coffee and whiskey kept the customers frisky
Bugger! There go me bra straps
She also did a very good veggie breakfast
I didn’t know about this
I love a good veggie fry up
Hello Christy,
“o the roars of her and the bawls of him”
It made me think of
“All in a hot and copper sky,
The bloody Sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the Moon.”
I think this is where your albatross came from in St Brendan’s Voyage?
I feel like it should have a name.
There’s a touch of Back Home in Derry too.
Our ship danced like a moth in the firelight.
Rebecca
Just reading the interview in d’examiner Christy. “A West Cork tour with Jimmy Crowley in 1976”. What a beautiful little tour that must have been. Was it just yourself with Jimmy or was the CM Band with you? Out of interest, where did you play in Glengarriff, my auld stomping ground outside of the Capital!
The Brown Pub in Kealkill
The White House in Kilcrohane
The Courtyard in Schull
Ross’s in Durrus
The Tin Pub in Ahakista
Ma Murphy’s in Bantry
…….by the time we hit Glengariff the schedule was awry…..it was a two hander, myself and Jimmy…..we took it in turns to he headliner and support
ps and Ballydehob
Hi Christy, it’s great to hear that you’r stil going out to support lesser known acts and events. I just wondered if any one ‘down the pecking order’ caught your eye (or ear) at Glastonbury? I thought Christine and the Queens and The Gabrials were both great and went straight on line to check their tour schedules. I remember fondly talking to you and Declan at the Phil’ back in 2008 about Manu Chow following his Glastonbury appearance earlier that year. Stay safe John
Glastonbury has mushroomed since I first got to play there…played the old main stage twice way back….one Sunday afternoon in the 80s got a nice recording which we subsequently included on an album called “Traveller”….played after The Housemartins one year….before Robert Cray another time….last time was a tent…went on between The Proclaimers and Nick Lowe….met Michael Eavis on the earlier visits…
Only caught one Band on TV this year..”War on Drugs”…good sound,great Bass player….
Plenty of Music happening here in Bognia….”A Lazarus Soul” “John Spillane” “Kneecap” “Luka Bloom” “Lisa O’Neill” “MacDara Yates”played gigs I’ve heard recently…
I have great memories from The Phil….jammed there with Jackson Brown, Ian Prowse,Bruce Scott….still cherish the memory of my first Liverpool Gig…Jackie & Bridie’s Club in 1967…I learned the Ballad of Seth Davy that night
Hi Christy, on my journey up the M74 today i passed a trucker with the back of his lorry painted….not with a baying wolf, or a national flag, no ill-clad lady nor a soccer team.
This one had a painting of Billy Bragg, his name and some other words that i was too quick to read.
It brought me to mind of the lorries leaking lines of slurry, and of the swarm of truckers heading for a full fried irish breakfast , i wonder did the king of the road ever paint CM onto his wagon, or did they go for Mary Black or Freddie White?
I can vouch for the fine all day veggie cooked breakfast at Mother Hubbard’s in Cashel, truckers delight i’d say….soon to be named The Welcome to the Cabaret Brunch.
Rory
Sang on the back of many lorries at various protests and gatherings…once with Billy Bragg at a Builders Strike in Perth WA in the 1990s..
the original Mother Hubbard’s was a wonderful joint..run by Barry out of a Caravan in a lay by….the subsequent chain had none of the charm of Barry’s wagon…nor the toasted rasher sandwich….Barry always provided strong hot tea plus he appreciated, welcomed and respected his customers…
on your recommendation I might try the Cashel Breakfast
Hi. New Rebel song predicted to endure like Lisdoonvarna according to De Paper ! https://twitter.com/IEArtsCulture/status/1673598771278540802?s=20 Beir bua agus beannacht. H
Theres an Eagle down in Skibbereen
theres a Kerryman in Tralee
but twas the man from the Cork Examiner
who interrogated me……
Hi Christy
A sunny evening in the suffragette suburbs…listening to the purity of Odetta.
On a city centre wander today,I visited a regular haunt,full of second hand CDs. Some kind soul had parted with ‘ Odetta sings ballads and blues’. Now having repeated plays here as well as finding treasures of her gigs on YouTube.
Superb quality recordings from mid 1950s. No wonder she was soon to be such an influence on the repertoire of new kids on the block in Greenwich Village…and,closer to home, a youthful Fairport Convention.
To me,it’s ‘soul music’ in its purest form and always great to track influences of well known artists.
Mr Spillane’s gig sounded mighty. Great name of the venue too.
All the best
Dave
I heard Odetta and Pete Seeger in Carnegie Hall 40years ago…that was somethin
Christy, just wanted to say thank you for the outstanding Slieve Russel gig. The night was an absolute banger! Many the times I wish the boys and girls back home could see what’s it all about and how it is done. Lemon 7s stopped me and will not leave her grip. I can still feel “The Well” coming…
Eric..Thanks for feedback…twas a banger alright…I love to see those chandeliers shaking
Hi All.Also, but tragically, on this day in 1996 ..https://youtu.be/RbboN_CoPw0 Beir bua agus beannacht..H
Hi C. I recall on this day 2021 I did the Lotto as I was feeling especially lucky ! I was one of a few hundred people in the huge, but socially distanced, INEC arena to witness your return to post C19 gigging !! If I recall correctly when you came on stage you announced that in your “55 years of gigging that this is the most important gig of my career !! ” It certainly was a hugely emotional gig, I cried when you sang Boys of Barr na Sraide, a shortened version ! The INEC choir sang along to Ride On so sweetly, although it felt like an anthem . It was a beautiful gig. I did n’t win the Lotto, but who needs it when I am so, so fortunate to see you perform on a very regular basis ? It’s some timing that you are back in INEC this week to yet another Sold Out gig, this time to 1,000s of listeners. Beir bua agus beannacht.H
in serious training for Killarney….best foot forward for The Kingdom…then up to the Ladies View for a look into The Black Valley
Something to honour Phil Callery
https://youtu.be/rAaAfhLcAfI
This is the 3rd track on a play list that we often listen to in the car. And bawl loudly along to…
O the roars of her and the bawls of him
Hello Christy,
I haven’t really explored John Spillane’s performing work, but it’s about time I did.
https://youtu.be/pmzpmy2pkEk
I think this is the one Rory recommended. Beautiful.
I beat Google yesterday with “empirocating”. It means explaining with conviction. It only works for a day. The next day Google picks it up from the guestbook, a new word is born and inscribed into the ether.
Is that last post the longest ever? Respect!
Rebecca
Mister Moore, (or web maintenance person)
Love your work… I’m sure you get many a lunatic sending you the ramblings of their demanded minds, believing them to be the next great Irish ballad… and suggesting that it should go straight to the top of your play list… this is not that… well except for the demented mind bit…
This is the ending to a story that started a ways back… before the outbreak and lockdown of the plague… on a cold December night… in Washington DC I think it was… when myself, from North Dublin, and 3 reprobates, from the South Boston decided we had not caused enough trouble at the company Christmas party and headed out into the city in search of a hangover… the exploits of that evening inspired this song that resulted in these people taking your name in vain… my apologies in advance…
Roll on to the present day… last Wednesday evening, I was in Scruffy Murphy’s… in Haymarket, in Sydney Australia… Karaoke Night… very original… now I have to admit… I was getting PTSD flashbacks to a sweat stenched pit at the Baggot on a Monday night in 1981… ah yeah… large rowdy crowd, although the BO aroma in Scruff’s that night was notably more eclectic… herbs and spices from India, the Middle East, and the Orient… mixed with the undeniable fragrance of cheap perfume, sweat and beer from us Europeans and Americans
Full disclosure… I was not there for the music… or the singing… not a big fan of people butchering perfectly good songs in public… that carry on is for the comfort of your own bathroom and should not be inflicted on poor innocents out for the evening… I was there because that pub is within walking distance… and, most importantly… they have Bulmers on tap…
So… I’m a couple in… I’m sitting near the sound equipment setup… and the crowd started getting a little agitated… the guys could not the karaoke machine to work… the sound system was up… mics were working… but the music was not coming through… I bought the boys a drink… cos beer always helps resolve electrical engineering problem… right?… eh… No… so I suggested “Why not… let them sing acapella” …mother of divine… what was I thinking… nobody responded… the stunned silence was dramatically shattered by a flamboyant diva from New Zealand screaming… “How can I be expected to perform in these conditions… I came here tonight to sing… to entertain… to be… the Rocket Man… soooooo disappointing… I’m leaving” …pity… he seemed like a nice enough bloke…
Anyway… to make a long story even longer… given I was feeling guilty at suggesting acapella… and I was partially under the influence… I took to the stage… took a deep breath… asked for ‘a touch of 4’ … still have no idea what that means… but it sounds fantastic… and sang… went to that place where the music lives… and got pulled back when I finished by the crowd cheering… unexpected… and a line had formed by the sound desk… people signing up to sing…
A young lady at the front of the small crowd that had formed at the stage yelled… “sing another Christy Moore song… Sing Raggle Taggle Gypsy “ … Ok maybe she was not that young… a voice from the middle of the crowd countered… ‘that’s not by Christy Moore… its by Shane MacGown and the Pogues… Sing a pair of Brown Eyes’… I thought they were taking the piss… associating my scribble with two of the most outrageously talented song writers to have ever donned a quill… I laughed… and retired gracefully… making way for the now eager gaggle of ballad bashers… I hope this fable it brings a smile to your face too…
Heart of my Soul
Verse 1
We leaned on the car
near the 18th street bar
and fought about where we might eat
the man on the door
said try the fourth floor
say I sent you
you’ll get a good seat
We sat in that room
walls painted maroon
watched ol’ones kiss friends of their sons
a girl in a black vest
with the double D chest
served us peanuts, malt whiskey and rum
Chorus
And still to this day
I can’t really say
how we met that night in the cold
I shouldn’t feel like this
Sure, it was only one kiss
But it pierced that heart of my soul
Verse 2
The pole dancer boobs
and her glass high heel shoes
turned you turned as white as a sheet
the old men on the horn
drooled and stared at the porn
as a drunkard was tossed in the street
A 18-year-old
with a vape for a toy
was drunk on spritzer and wine
trying hard to impress
the girl in the tight dress
who refused to give him the time
Chorus
Verse 3
Up on the stage
a rap gospel band played
about Jesus, redemption, and glory
you stroked my cheek
and said ok freak
tell me your secrets and stories
you gazed, enthralled
as I stumbled and stalled
and caught myself in a lie
about places I’d been
and people I’d seen
and a kiss on the steps Versailles
Chorus
Verse 4
We fell out of that place
with a smile on our face
alone again in the night
in a drunken state
stayed out far too late
and checked in on a 6:00am flight
We walked in the cold
watched the drama unfold
on the corner of Connecticut and Strand
I found your hotel
rang the elevator bell
and kissed the palm of your hand
Chorus
Verse 4
You said your goodbyes
with tears in your eyes
turned slowly and drifted away
I stared at the fire
and fought the desire
to ask you if you would stay
I wish you were here
In the bar drinking beer
talking shite, and stealing my food
laughing in my face
at my fall from grace
and yelling at me for being rude
Chorus
Well MPA Cleary…thats some trip you’re on…from The Baggot to South Boston, Versailles to Sydney, Bulmers and Karaoke at every turn….
always uplifting to hear from a survivor from those Mon/Tue/Wed nights in The Baggot….£3 in, half price for dole cards…Moving Hearts in their hay day….thanks for sharing your mighty ballad….there was a pub in Wellington NZ, The Dogs Bollocks, they had good karaoke sessions in the 90s (and loose Bulmers)…..
Christy you are a lucky man, seeing John Spillane in full flight, such a brilliant songsmith.
Have you seen his video of ‘the streets of Ballyphehane’ on you tube?
I adore his Gortatogart, the cherry trees, johnny dont go…….
However it is in the stories like Ballyphehane he excells for me even more, the magic of River Lee, Passage West ( rule britannia, rule in hell), beautiful Ballincolig ( and the dog running after the boys adventure), Patrick Murphy, 100 snow white horses……
I must get up off my behind and get over to see him , in the lobby bar or up some other boreen’s shack.
Thanks for bringing JS to a wider audience, i suppose i may never have heard of him if it were not for your covers.
Rory