Mrs McGrath and the Boss
Tommy Makem, with and without the Clancy Brothers, The Dubliners, Seamus Ennis, and Kansas City’s own Jonathan Ramsey are among those who have recorded Irish folk classic Mrs McGrath.
Lest you can’t place it, it’s the one that goes Too-ry-ah fol-de-diddle-aa, Too-ry-oo-ry-oo-ry-aa, and not the one that goes Me and missus, missus, missus-Mc-Graaath - an altogether more raunchy track.
Staying on the disambiguation theme, the Boss is not former Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Charlie Haughey, but Bruce Springsteen, who now joins Tommy and Ronnie and Jonathan with a recording of Mrs McGrath on his brand new CD, a collection of folk songs called “We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions”.
Yesterday’s Kansas City Star carried an interview with Bruce in his native New Jersey, and asked if releasing an album of Seeger’s songs during President Bush’s second term is a political statement?:
“I’ll let somebody else sort that part of it, I guess,” Springsteen said. “But a lot of ‘em seem pretty applicable, you know? Mrs. McGrath is basically an Irish anti-war song, but it’s ripped right out of the headlines everyday today.”
You’ll find a longer interview in the British Observer in advance of Springsteen’s tour, where if you are visiting Ireland and its IMMA you can go see the Boss perform these folk songs in Dublin on May 5. Wouldn’t you like that Mrs McGrath?
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