De titel van de CD is Blackbirds & Thrushes oftewel merels en lijsters. Er staan traditionele Ierse ballades op.
Ze staat al een keer in het Zwijmeloverzicht, ik plaatste in ZOZ 110, 20 december 2014 haar lied "Fear a Bhata". Ze zong het bij Han Reiziger, en ik kocht prompt de CD. Ik kies nu iets anders, want ze heeft genoeg moois gemaakt. Dit bivoorbeeld.
Niamh Parsons-The water is wide:
Op de website van Niamh Parsons & Graham Dunne kun je lezen hoe ze ooit de beslissing nam om "solo" verder te gaan, maar dan met begeleiding van haar vriend en gitarist Graham Dunne. Uit dat repertoire koos ik een lied dat je kunt beschouwen als een anti-oorlogsballade. Eerst de tekst, om eventueel mee te lezen.
The Men That God Made Mad
© Ron Kavanagh, Arr. N. Parsons and G. Dunne
Far far from Clifden's rocky shore
O'er the broad Atlantic sea
The Battalion of St. Patrick
Tired of harsh brutality
No more abuse or bigotry,
Their angry cry wholehearted
Near Matamoras lives were lost
That's when the fighting started
Chorus:
Who were those men, what was the crime
For which their lives were wasted
Did they rob or rape, or was their fate
As the poet once related
Were those great Gaels of Ireland
The men that God made mad
Their wars were never merry
And/But all their songs were sad
Land of the Free meant liberty
To the U.S. Army's Irish
Till James K. Polk he sent them south
To civilize the Spanish
In a war to extend slavery
And unjust exploittation
They'd not repeat what Cromwell did
To their poor Irish Nation
Chorus
At L'Angustura, Irish blood
Drenched the sun-baked clay
And Mexico still honours
Those brave men who died that day
But the worst was yet to come
In the hour that war was ended
When General Scott hung the Irishmen
To celebrate with vengeance
Chorus
© Ron Kavanagh, Arr. N. Parsons and G. Dunne
Far far from Clifden's rocky shore
O'er the broad Atlantic sea
The Battalion of St. Patrick
Tired of harsh brutality
No more abuse or bigotry,
Their angry cry wholehearted
Near Matamoras lives were lost
That's when the fighting started
Chorus:
Who were those men, what was the crime
For which their lives were wasted
Did they rob or rape, or was their fate
As the poet once related
Were those great Gaels of Ireland
The men that God made mad
Their wars were never merry
And/But all their songs were sad
Land of the Free meant liberty
To the U.S. Army's Irish
Till James K. Polk he sent them south
To civilize the Spanish
In a war to extend slavery
And unjust exploittation
They'd not repeat what Cromwell did
To their poor Irish Nation
Chorus
At L'Angustura, Irish blood
Drenched the sun-baked clay
And Mexico still honours
Those brave men who died that day
But the worst was yet to come
In the hour that war was ended
When General Scott hung the Irishmen
To celebrate with vengeance
Chorus
Niamh Parsons & Graham Dunne - The Men that God made Mad:
Voor de gitaaracoorden, zie de site: Irish Folk Songs.
Wie mee wil doen met (of luisteren/kijken/lezen bij andere deelnemers) ZOZ: Zwijmelen op Zaterdag, vindt de links bij Trees.
Afleveringen t/m ZOZ260 vind je bij Marja.