"I'll up & burst yer filthy mug,
If you draw one more shamrock in me beer!"
2 comments:
Tom
said...
It's amusing that they're attacking the same phenomenon that has spread their own style of music. It's a protest against cultural appropriation.
But follow their logic and it's easy to imagine a traditional Irish musician attacking bands like the Rumjacks for what they've done with "real" Irish music.
It's a version of the 'authenticity' game, I think. Their success depends on being seen as "really" Irish, an impression they're trying to reinforce by setting themselves up as gatekeepers. On the other hand, as you say, the very popularization of the "Irish pub" is one of the major drivers of their success.
There's something to be said for this apart from the cynicism, though. It's the kind of thing that keeps people from <a href="https://grimbeorn.blogspot.com/2017/01/on-deep-deep-wrongness-of-buzzfeed.html>being able to tell Shenanigans from Kevin Barry's</a>. We see that kind of policing as well in many other contexts, as it's about preserving some aspect of the culture that's really meaningful and important -- usually against a commercial success that, while enriching in some ways, can lead to the dilution of the meaningful thing that mattered to people. It's a hard balance, but there's a reason to try it.
2 comments:
It's amusing that they're attacking the same phenomenon that has spread their own style of music. It's a protest against cultural appropriation.
But follow their logic and it's easy to imagine a traditional Irish musician attacking bands like the Rumjacks for what they've done with "real" Irish music.
Great song, though.
Good eye.
It's a version of the 'authenticity' game, I think. Their success depends on being seen as "really" Irish, an impression they're trying to reinforce by setting themselves up as gatekeepers. On the other hand, as you say, the very popularization of the "Irish pub" is one of the major drivers of their success.
There's something to be said for this apart from the cynicism, though. It's the kind of thing that keeps people from <a href="https://grimbeorn.blogspot.com/2017/01/on-deep-deep-wrongness-of-buzzfeed.html>being able to tell Shenanigans from Kevin Barry's</a>. We see that kind of policing as well in many other contexts, as it's about preserving some aspect of the culture that's really meaningful and important -- usually against a commercial success that, while enriching in some ways, can lead to the dilution of the meaningful thing that mattered to people. It's a hard balance, but there's a reason to try it.
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