Lyrics

[James]

journalistic whores

To me that sounds exactly like "hasidic jews" rather than what the lyric sheet says.

[IrishRover]

tbh it does sound different than in lyrics sheet, but oi don't hear hasidic, oi hear sth that starts on m, but can't figure out exactly
anyway one or two words don't change the beauty of the song

[Christine]

To me that sounds exactly like "hasidic jews" rather than what the lyric sheet says.

It is. Nothing wrong with your hearing.

[Firsty]

tbh it does sound different than in lyrics sheet, but oi don't hear hasidic, oi hear sth that starts on m, but can't figure out exactly
anyway one or two words don't change the beauty of the song

High Society Jews anybody ??

[kmurray105]

tbh it does sound different than in lyrics sheet, but oi don't hear hasidic, oi hear sth that starts on m, but can't figure out exactly
anyway one or two words don't change the beauty of the song

Perhaps not, but then why not sing "journalistic whores" which would have fit the theme of the song better anyway? "Hasidic Jews" is out of the blue and out of context.

It is a fine song but I still cringe when I hear that line. So I guess maybe it does change the beauty of the song somewhat.

[Simon]

" piss and moan about the immigrants
but don't say nothin about the president
a democracy dont work that way
i can say anything i wanna say"

Steve Earle F the CC

What had that guy in Reno that J Cash shot done wrong?

[rain dog]

What had that guy in Reno that J Cash shot done wrong?

johnny cash always seemed a reasonable man. i'm sure he was willing to watch the man die any way that was convenient, it's just that shooting him turned out to be a little more expedient than natural causes...

[philipchevron]

" piss and moan about the immigrants
but don't say nothin about the president
a democracy dont work that way
i can say anything i wanna say"

Steve Earle F the CC

What had that guy in Reno that J Cash shot done wrong?

Mr Cash is, I feel, quite transparent on this matter. The guy had done nothing. Mr Cash shot him just for the hell of watching him die.

[Sam's Cross]

The Black and Tan

I was born in Darlington in 1896
Spewed into a tenement in the shadow of the pits
There I watched my father cough his life into his stout
Waiting out his purgatory knowing no way out

When I heard of the Great War I knew it was my chance
I'd spend a fine vacation in the poppy fields of France
I found myself screaming in the swamp that was the Somme
Buried to my neck in what was left of my friend Tom

chorus
So if there is a God above He's been a bitch to me
But I'm the meanest bastard that He will ever see
And if after I'm dead and gone I find myself in hell
I know that it won't worry me I know it all to well

The shells still fell inside my head back in Harrowgate Hill
And no matter how much I drank I could not drink my fill
Until I heard a call to face a "rough and dangerous task"
For ten shillings a day I'd have knelt and kissed his arse

So I joined that pack of dogs they call the Black and Tans
Shooting at the bogmen in the west of Ireland
We burned down Balbiggan, burned it to the ground
And had our little ways with the lassies that we found

chorus

In November in Kilmichael MacGowan shot me down
And everything went quiet, I never heard a sound
Just another wasted life wrapped around a gun
Crying soft into the mud, calling for me mum.

chorus

So I wrote that song. Yet somehow I wasn't born in 1896. I've never been in a war, I would never call anyone a "bogman", I'm still alive, I deplore pretty much everything done by The Black and Tans. Why did I write a song that is about bad things, from the point of view of a bad person that uses at least one slur?

The reason is that I am interested in the stories of people, particularly people that other people dismiss. It would be hard to find anything written that is sympathetic to The Black and Tans, but all people are people. Everyone has a story that to them justifies, or explains, or is the basis for why they do things. Why would someone go to a foreign land, rape, kill, plunder and maim? It happens so much, and with so many people that there must be human reasons for it.

Restricting your writing to inoffensive subjects is, to me, akin to saying that Al-Qaeda are trying to blow people up because they "Hate our freedom". It actually makes the world a less thoughtful place. A place less inclined to sympathy, a place less inclined to understanding others. A cheaper, poorer, less interesting place.

[kmurray105]

Good points and good lyrics. I think this well answers the original question psed in this thread. However, I don't think it speaks to the point I tried to make earlier about lyrics that are off the cuff, out of context and unnecessary to the song. If Shane wants to write a song from a viewpoint of a guy not liking any particular group, then I would like to hear it.

[Sam's Cross]

Good points and good lyrics. I think this well answers the original question psed in this thread. However, I don't think it speaks to the point I tried to make earlier about lyrics that are off the cuff, out of context and unnecessary to the song. If Shane wants to write a song from a viewpoint of a guy not liking any particular group, then I would like to hear it.

I think your point is that there are some lyrics better than others. The better lyrics fit the song better. Shane being randomly bigoted would not help many songs, and not every Shane lyric is a shining jewel of literary genius.

[DzM]

Why would someone go to a foreign land [to] rape, kill, plunder and maim?

Wow - when it's phrased like that surely the answer is "who wouldn't go?"

OK. Sorry. That was too obvious a joke.

[CraigBatty]

Why would someone go to a foreign land [to] rape, kill, plunder and maim?

Wow - when it's phrased like that surely the answer is "who wouldn't go?"

OK. Sorry. That was too obvious a joke.

Nice

[Christine]

Why would someone go to a foreign land [to] rape, kill, plunder and maim?

Wow - when it's phrased like that surely the answer is "who wouldn't go?"

DzM, I hope you're not planning a trip to the UK this Christmas.