Irish rebel music

Big fan of rebel music here, spent quite a few fantastic nights in the pub with everyone belting out songs, nothing quite like it. It's a fantastic genre of music, here are some of my favorites:





One of my favorite versions of a classic.





A very haunting and poignant song, again by the Long Kesh ramblers.





The above is a great song, it's about the Price sisters. (Marian is yet again suffering in a British gaol this Christmas, she has spent months in solitary confinement) Actually I think that may not be the Wolfe Tones preforming in that video, any thoughts?





Probably the definitive rebel song. (Voted the Worlds Greatest Song on the BBC. )





Yet another great song, not the greatest version musically, but a great one because of it's background, this was sung by P.O.Ws in the Long Kesh concentration camp (how the Brit secretary of state described it) and recorded on smuggled equipment.





The ignorant label the Wolfe Tones as untalented, not so, they were very talented performers and writers with a huge amount of great songs about all eras of Irish history, serious songs, sad songs, fun songs, they have them all.






A great song preformed and written by Irish legend Bik McFarlane. Not the clearest version of this song out there, but again it's the history around this recording which makes an already poignant song more so. This version was secretly recorded in the H-Blocks under the noses of the screws in 1990 while Bik was imprisoned there. Marcella was Bobby Sands' sisters name, as well as his "pen name" while he was in jail. The song is about the ten brave men who gave their lives on hungerstrike.






Another great song from the Wolfe Tones about the Tan War.





One of my personal favorites, it's about the Irish Citizens Army, Jim Larkin, James Connolly, the lockout (And Dublin’s broken union men die first on Flanders fields) and the 1916 rising.


Brilliant thread OP, I could spend all day listening to and posting songs, there are so many terrific examples.

During the 80s rebel music was pretty much banned from the airwaves, that is why you generally don't hear it on the radio, that and radio shows are obsessed with playing chart rubbish, you don't hear many other genres of music on the radio nowadays unfortunately, classic rock or metal is hard to come by also.

Rebel music remains very popular, expect its popularity to increase in the years coming up to 2016.



BB

EDIT:

Forgot this one, always makes me laugh! Its great craic.

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

nothing like rebel music but of course its not musch loved by the jackeens who if it was left to them we would still be under british rule and that is a simple fact.

I'm a "jackeen"......

Shure I've listened to it down thru the years.

It's alright, has a good singsong value in some pubs.

It has no real value nowadays, in real terms IMHO.

Okay for IRA apologists & diehard FF/Dev types.

I've no real time for it & the backward folk that seem to get into a foaming lather whenever it's played.

Amounts to a flat 4/4 in this day n age.. Brought to the fore in case yer really simple.. musically illiterate. poor timekeeper. Couple o chipmunks thrown into the mix

tonycascarino wrote: »

Yes, I listen to rebel music now and again. Much rather it than Jedward, Justin Beiber or whatever it is that is passed off as music today.

Every time I hear stuff like that, I cringe. There's plenty of great music still being made today; people who complain about how everything these days is shíte (as if Jedward and Justin Bieber were the only people making music anymore :rolleyes:) are just too lazy to go and look for it.

Take off the rose tinted glasses and look somewhere other than Chart Show TV. You'll be a lot better off.

There is no doubt rebel music can be a powerful sound. We are a nation who have always been known for our musical abilities and I think it is somewhat unique that the feelings and emotions of the people of those times have been so well captured in such a collection of songs.
I don't have a huge collection of rebel songs and certainly don't listen to it on a regular basis but give me a song from our history any day over most of the ****e that makes the charts these days.

Unfortunately there are those who are still 'fighting the cause' but that's a separate issue.


I'll throw this in. Another greats song that captures the emotions of a time past.

I love rebel songs, and I love the stories they tell.

They're not all about killing the Brits, some are very human - like the one above about Aidan MacAnespie, or The Ballad of Joe McDonald.. And one of my favourites - A Snipers Promise.

Ash.J.Williams wrote: »

Luke kelly has one o the finest voices ever produced in this country, although his material is mostly british, so i guess he doesn't count!!

Care to clarify what you mean by this? I take it you are referring to THE Luke Kelly

Without doubt my favourite in this genre is the foggy dwe