15/05/2011

Mmm



As with any capital city, a visitor goes to Dublin with a mental list of what they expect or want to see. Probably the Guinness Store House; the Book of Kells; the Ha’penny Bridge over the River Liffey; Dublin castle; the Temple Bar; perhaps O’Connell Street with the General Post Office that was the HQ of the 1916 rebellion. They will probably also bring, again as with other capitals, notions drawn from a history of books, films, plays and songs about the place.

 The best known songs are probably traditional ones. The tune of Molly Malone, for example, has become part of a general consciousness and sometimes the first thing people think of when they hear the word ‘Dublin’. The lines starting ‘ She wheels her wheel barrow ...’ have become not only a ubiquitous chant at football matches, with a team name replacing the cockles and mussels bit, but have also been heard at  political demonstrations (‘ She wheels her wheel barrow through the streets broad and narrow, crying...smash the bourgeoisie’). It was one of a whole genre of songs that helped to imbue a very traditional view of the place, continued in a score of bar-room ballads and rollicking sing-a-long choruses. In 1967 folk group the Dubliners hit the UK charts with two traditional songs, Black Velvet Band and Seven Drunken Nights, (though they were only allowed to sing about five of them on TV and radio). They also, very satisfyingly, looked just like what many people imagined Dubliners would look like.


This notion of an older Dublin continued to exist like the underlay of a photograph alongside the rise of newer images, whether that of a cosmopolitan and cultured European city with the euro and an early no-smoking ban or awareness of the emaciated heroin addicts in central Dublin or the large housing estates. This notion saw cobbled streets and elegant Georgian houses, fiddlers in traditional pubs and earnest drunken discussions about Joyce and Yeats over Guinness. Some songs continued to reflect this Dublin. Loreena McKennitt’s Dickens’ Dublin (The Palace) brought back to life a city from 150 years before:” I'll huddle in this doorway here till someone comes along. If the lamp lighter comes real soon ,maybe I'll go home with him.” The 19th Century Rocky Road to Dublin, recorded by the Dubliners in the early 60’s – “Cut a stout black thorn to banish ghosts and goblins; bought a pair of brogues rattling o'er the bogs and fright'ning all the dogs on the rocky road to Dublin” - , has been covered by scores of artists, including the Pogues and the Rolling Stones.

The song that I associate most with Dublin, however, is not the Dubliners singing about Dublin nor the others mentioned. It is not actually a song about Dublin as such but one originally recorded in Dublin by a Dublin born artist who I first saw there and so, I think, counts as a personal link between listener and place. The song is Mmm by Laura Izibor, and this live version comes from a 2007 performance at the city’s Crawdaddy Club in Harcourt Street. To my mind she rates as one of the finest and most interesting soul singers of recent years – best heard solo at keyboards or piano, I feel - and some of her songs like I Dont Want You Back and Don’t Stay show a style that has echoes of artists like Carole King and Roberta Flack.

She is not, of course, the first black Dubliner in music - Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy and Samantha Mumba came before – but she follows her own path in a changing country, though with her Irish accent sometimes causing surprise overseas. In an interview in 2009 she reported a typical response in America: ‘They've got black people in Ireland? Y'all live there and shit?'. She has done later versions of this song but the audience participation gives an added dimension to this one. Plenty of songs have been recorded live and many are also done with an eye on rabble rousing anthems that would get a live audience joining in: Queen were masters at that. What is less common is a recorded song where the audience are already an integral part. One of the few was by Chuck Berry, who had his sole Number One hit in 1972 - not, surprisingly, with Johnny B Goode or Roll Over Beethoven but with My Ding A Ling, recorded live with a student audience supplying the chorus. (Given the era , the students in the clip below seem to be remarkably fresh faced and clean cut!)

Cities have their own sounds. Maybe it would be traffic and sirens in New York; church bells in parts of Paris or Rome; the distant sound of the carousel in the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. Probably it should be the sound of a fiddle or accordion in Dublin – but I will settle for ‘mmm’.

44 comments:

  1. Poor New York! I guess you're right it would be a traffic/sirens sound. I live here though and I also think that eccentric buskers and amazing music performers on the street are part of the NYC soundtrack: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZK1cABMCc4........:)

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  2. Ha ha, I wonder what happened on the 2 drunken nights that the Dubliners weren't allowed to sing about:)

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  3. Also, there you go again celebrating black women's music - thank you Geoff! I had never heard of Laura Izibor but really like her!

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  4. I am sure there will be an unexpurgated version of Seven Drunken Nights on the internet somewhere!
    I know Laura Izibor has done some concerts and tours in the USA but dont know how high profile they were.

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  5. Wow, I definitely don't think "soul" when I think Irish music, but she is clearly changing that!

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  6. Me too Geoff! - after hearing this, I settle for "mmm" too as the sound of Dublin. (loved your ending this week!).

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  7. I was in the audience for that Chuck Berry recording!!! You can see me on the left at minute 3.36 to 3.40:) It was actually recorded in England, Geoff. The full version is actually nearly 12 minutes long. It was at the Lanchester Arts Festival in Coventry, which maybe explains the clean-cut look. Because some people were there for the poetry, classical music, comedy, theatre, film (not only the rock and blues). Here's a programme I found online for 1971 (can't find the 1972 one) - and you can see there are puppets and the London Symphony Orchestra:) And then a disco. I think the most daring thing that year was Ralph McTell! -

    http://coventrymusichistory.typepad.com/.a/6a0133f436b043970b0133f436d23d970b-pi

    So anyway, I remember thinking that Chuck Berry was a bit of a shock! I loved him, but lots of people were a bit confused and kept trying to wander off to find the classical music tent........:)

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  8. Geoff, I see what you're saying about the Chuck Berry song being unique because it is entirely based on the audience interaction, but even so I think it's strange/sad that this was his only number one (because it's basically a nonsense song)!!

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  9. Remember too that by 1972, Berry was mainly doing the nostalgia circuit, so that makes the song's success even stranger!

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  10. I agree it's surprising that this was more popular than “Roll Over Beethoven,” “School Days,” “Sweet Little Sixteen,” “Rock and Roll Music,” “Johnny B. Goode,” and “Memphis”!!

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  11. Oh God, this reminds me of the debate on this blog about "Hot dog, jumping frog, Albuquerque" - when I think it was decided that this was a parody of mindless pop song lyrics.:) I HATE NONSENSE SONGS!

    Although, Berry only had one. Phil Collins has had about 12.

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  12. My favorite expedient lyric has got to be “cello, cello, cello, cello, cello, cello, cello, cello” from “A Quick One, While He’s Away,” which The Who reputedly stuck in the song to replace the string section their manager told them they couldn’t afford.

    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xhwie_the-who-a-quick-one_music

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  13. Come on people, it's not nonsense, it's euphemism! The reason it was so popular is because it is risque! He's singing about his penis of course! So radio stations banned it. So fans had to go buy the single to hear it. So it reached number one.

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  14. I had never heard of Samantha Mumba actually - I'm listening to some stuff now though, and it sounds familiar - especially "Gotta Tell You" - http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xw0xa_samantha-mumba-gotta-tell-you_music - so I think perhaps she was big a while ago and then vanished.

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  15. Cheers for the mention. I drum for Thin Lizzy. We're touring right now, to mark the 25th anniversary of Phil's death. Here's the dates: http://www.thinlizzyband.com/tour.cfm. It’s been great to play again with old Lizzy mates Scott and Darren. The whole band sounds really good.

    I was in Sugar Shack before Thin Lizzy, also a Dublin band (bluesy rock). And The Black Eagles too, in Dublin, which did soul. There are no recordings of that. But there's some footage of us on the street in Crumlin (Dublin) from 1965: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_Vbkp3bam8

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  16. Geoff, did you see the Phil Lynott statue when you were in Dublin? I would have made a bee-line for that rather than the Guiness museum:) - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Phil_Lynott_Statue_at_Bruxelles_Dublin.jpg

    It was erected there on Harry Street, off Grafton Street in Dublin, in 2005.

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  17. Thank you for mentioning us (Crawdaddy). We are a new club (only open since 2004) but we are trying to give Dublin a live venue to be truly proud of. Here are the listings for concerts coming up:
    http://www.pod.ie/index.php?s=3

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  18. Here is the song "Rocky Road to Dublin" that Geoff mentioned. Alas, another week where I struggle to translate ANY OF IT:) Wonderful though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMw7lwxRImI

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  19. I'm pretty sure this live version does all 7 drunken nights (the Dubliners): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVJK1Sl6My8

    And even in their later years (when this live recording was made), they STILL manage to look like a particular stereotype of Irishmen!

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  20. Hey there, this is interesting about the way we expect Irish music to sound (and conversely how we don't expect black singers to have Irish accents). Contrasting this disconnect that Izibor and others are bridging, Irish people like to imagine quite often that they ARE all black. I'm Irish and want to dispel some myths among my fellow countrymen: Fact # 1 Irish people are not the black people of Europe, black people are. Fact # 2 The Irish did not build America and the British empire. They were built on slavery of Africans. Fact # 3 Irish people do not have ”soul” like Black people. Fact # 4 Irish people are a white fair skinned race that easily burns when exposed to long term sunshine. Being burnt is not the same as being black. Fact # 5 Irish people feel guilty and sympathy towards African Black people, so for decades they have sent missionaries to convert them and recently Bono to annoy them, but Irish people feeling guilty because of their famine history does not make them black people. (Unless they actually are Irish and black of course!). Ok, thanks!

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  21. I visited Ireland very recently (from the States). I perform in a 2-man group (a drag queen and me in a gay-themed revue). And in Dublin I realized that I felt more acceptance, generosity and love than I ever would have expected. It felt as though I had known people for years. That is simply how socially open and accommodating the Irish are. There really are no strangers. Just slip into the nearest pub, slide into a booth and join in on the conversation. They won't wonder who you are or ask you why you are there, they'll just slap you on the shoulder and ask "What'll ye have, mate?"

    Travelers always say "I am in love with the people here." I've never really liked many people in my life. I always joke that I have a heart of stone. I sometimes tell myself that I really don't need anyone at all. I actually taught myself to believe that I would be perfectly happy if I were the last man left alive on the planet. My new Irish friends showed me that I have been lying to myself for years. I am a social person. And I do like people. That part of me has always been there inside me.

    The difference might be the fact that in Ireland, when a new person walks into a room, an Irishman will immediately slide over and make room for him, no questions asked. In our country, when a new person walks into a room, we look at him in judgement, trying to decide whether or not he belongs with us.

    I suppose, however, that the Irish have a bit of an advantage in cases such as these. They do live on an island. Odds are, when ye walk in, they're gonna know ye!

    None of this relates to your theme really. I just wanted to encourage everyone to visit Dublin whenever they have a chance.

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  22. Geoff, you're so good at making the blog well-timed! This week Dublin is all over the news because of the Queen's visit (and the effigy beheaded of her, and the bomb they disarmed). And then Obama the week after!

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  23. Oh dear, I confess this is EXACTLY how I expect Dubliners to look!!!! - http://i.ytimg.com/vi/jujqyVez2jw/0.jpg

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  24. You might enjoy my short documentary about Barney McKenna: http://vimeo.com/13440253

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  25. The post office is a bit disappointing nowadays as a site to visit in Dublin. Up until 2005 a series of paintings in the main hall depicted the events of 1916, they were taken down when the interior was repainted.

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  26. There are also protest songs sung at demonstrations to just the tune of Molly Malone (I was at one in New York where we sang to the tune of Molly Malone: "In this New York City, it’s such a damn pity, They’re taking our children, to fight in the War" in March last year - to marking the 7th anniversary of the Iraq War - and actually that song was led by the Raging Grannies, http://www.raginggrannies.com/).

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  27. Actually, like “Danny Boy,” “Molly Malone” was not written by an Irishman, but by a Scotsman, James Yorkston.

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  28. If you want to learn how to play Molly Malone, here is my easy video tutorial! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83Jw1SxzJKY

    Brian

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  29. I remember reading about that use of the Molly Malone song. It was anti-war activists in the late 1960s I think. They would also start out with "The Sound of Music" - The hills are alive with the sound of ...SMASH THE BOURGEOISIE"!:)

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  30. Re Caoilfhionn's comments, there was a line in The Commitments by Jimmy Rabbitte:"The Irish are the blacks of Europe, Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland, and the North Siders are the blacks of Dublin"

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  31. Here's the Dickens' Dublin song Geoff talked about......
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-6cvFzAdF4&
    It includes an intro by her giving the background to the song, which is kind of cool.

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  32. They are interesting quotes Geoff! My problem is just that this overlooks actual black people in Ireland. Sure, they are only about 1 percent of the Republic, but still - anytime a group is described as "the blacks of" somewhere, you have to ask: really? Was that group's experience really that of black Africans during slavery, and doesn't describing them as "blacks" erase the presence of actual black people?

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  33. This was an interesting blog. I was Ireland's first black mayor (in Portlaoise in 207). This year I'll have been in Ireland for 11 years. Over the last 11 years Ireland has changed a lot. At the beginning a land of emigration, now a land of immigration. People came here to study English, stayed for a couple of months and came back with an idyllic idea in their mind. Now the long-term immigration launches a new challenge, like going and seeing a friend who lives far away and being his guest for three days or becoming his neighbour.

    You may like my weekly radio show, Respecting Difference (http://www.midlandsradio.fm/Westmeath-Schedule.aspx), you can listen online, 7pm on Saturdays.

    Rotimi Adebari

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  34. She's apparently been called “The Soul of Ireland” - and I totally get why now.

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  35. Amazing singer - Aretha Franklin meets Alicia Keys !

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  36. I love this song - I only knew her song "Shine" but this one is so much better (and somehow the gospel theme does have an Irish/Dublin vibe!).

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  37. Here's a video of her performing it (not in Dublin I don't think, but a great performance): www.youtube.com/watch?v=y35Zxy9_cD4

    Also, Geoff, I admired how you managed the problem of this not being technically a song with lyrics about Dublin.... I agree that it is a song with the SOUND of Dublin!

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  38. Wow!! Soul with some Irish thrown in - gorgeous music!

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  39. I love the idea that a city has a soundscape - I'd love to go on a "sound walk" around various cities, listening rather than looking.

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  40. Mexico has actually started collected its sounds, archiving them as soundscapes!

    http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010-08-30-mexicosounds30_ST_N.htm

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  41. The U.S. military is also mapping a city's smells! - http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-11/darpa-wants-prevent-chemical-attacks-determining-your-citys-scent

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  42. And this scientist, Sissel Tolaas, has explored the smellscapes of different cities, from Paris and Vienna to Kansas City, using structured walks, interviews, and headspace technology: http://www.ediblegeography.com/talking-nose/. She explains: "Just as society is crisscrossed with symbolic and actual smell boundaries, so is the urban environment. The different smell spaces of the modern city are largely a product of zoning laws. These laws regulate the kinds of construction and sorts of activity that may go on in the different areas, and by so doing also regulate the distribution and circulation of smells." She has created a scratch and sniff map of Mexico, for example.

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  43. I love the idea that each city has a soundscape. When I visited New Delhi, I thought the soundscape was the Hindu temple bells. When I visited Chengdu, China, it was definitely street markets. I think Vancouver is the sound of train whistles - there are so many train crossings throughout that city.

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  44. Hey Laura, I got the book you suggested on Life in a Northern Town column - The North of England Home Service. As a co-incidence, one of the main characters comes from Chatteris!

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