Black 47's "Funky Celli": What I Am Listening To Write This Minute -by Alyson Camus

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Between the Pogues and the Dexy’s Midnight Runners (I actually was thinking about their biggest hit ‘Come On Eileen’ when listening to the song), Funky Ceili (Bride’s Song) by Black 47 sounds like a Celtic dance, bouncing and jumping on Irish flutes and windpipes. I had never heard of this band before, but there are a lot of bands I don’t know…
As a joyous dance, it’s probably the kind of stuff you better want to hear live, as it has its potential of dopamine boost with all these danceable rhythms. It’s a little bit on the rebellious side, but not too extreme, like gentle punk, but still the cover of the album figures a fist in the air, so it has to be about revolt somewhere! It is just that this song does not really mean riot to me, it seems more humorous than dangerous… but humor can convey a lot of things, and especially despair and sadness.

And, is it just me or the song’s lyrics are full of weird words which seem to have been intentionally chosen? What is a Ceili anyway? Oh, a Celtic Gaelic folk dance! And a Morris Minor? Oh, a British economy car! And the name of the band itself is intriguing, when Iman sent it to me I thought it was a sort of exotic band playing funk, but, no, Black 47 refers to the blackest year of the Irish potato famine (1847)! Excuse my lack of Irish/British culture, I had to use the Wikipedia for each word of this song!!

But I get it, it is the kind of fun drunk storytelling tune, which tells the tale of a poor Irish trying to get his chance in the US and leaving his girl and his baby behind: classic tale!

The song comes from the 1991 album self-titled ‘Black 47’, and they have released their 13th album just last year,… I still can’t believe I have never heard of them! 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GViXO8bZDz8&w=480&h=390]

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