Thursday, September 16, 2010

A Few Songs of War.

A few songs of war.

For those who have an interest in the everyday the above may hold little attraction, but some of the best poems ever written touch on the subject of war. They tend to stay in the memory long after the media reports have been consigned to the dustbin and indeed most people get their history or a version of such from this kind. This is especially true of the songs, they hang around for a long time. The anti-war movement of the sixties and the songs of Dylan and others are a case in point and just the most recent one, though you may well ask where are the ballad singers now? Nothing to aim for, perhaps, when the only lines are the ones you add and subtract! Poor enough! The songs that follow all have a certain quality, or seem to capture something, and for different reasons, some are great stories, some are very sad, some are good entertainment, some are dangerous, and all are worth a listen. And if I was to select another six, maybe I'd pick different ones, but I'm not so sure!
(1) Billy Joel: Goodnight Saigon.
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(2) Jamie O' Hara: 50,000 Names.
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(3) Steve Earle: Dixieland.
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(4) Marlene Dietrich: Lili Marleen.
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(5) Phil Coulter: Dear Sarah/Sullivan Ballou.
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(6) Phil Coulter: The Man From God Knows Where.
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Thursday, September 9, 2010

Summer Solstice


Summer Solstice.

Kieran (Kiery) Murray, a native of Kilmessan and member of "The Small Impact Creative Group" in Navan, has a second book of poems out following on from his first (Vigil) which dealt mainly with the issues concerning the routing of the M3 motorway through the Tara Skryne valley. This one though spreads its wings much further afield and focuses in on issues as diverse as religious belief to stories of political intrigue and civil rights. Not afraid to put a tooth in it, and as it says on the cover" He writes with a passion for justice, equality and rights for all". Published by http://www.theauthorsfriend.com/ it is available in Easons for €10 euro.


Photo: Kiery reading from his book "Summer Solstice" on Tara/Heritage Sunday.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

The Meath Writers' Circle (4) september 2010.

Tommy Murray.


Tommy reading "Lottery" winning poem "Poet of Fingal" 2010. Again sorry about quality of video. Will get right!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

The Meath Writers' Circle (3) September 2010.

Paul Martin.

A walk on the wild side! More of these poems by Paul Martin over on the Writing4All website. Check it out!

Friday, September 3, 2010

The Meath Writers' Circle (2) September 2010.

Mark Doyle.

Again folks sorry about the video quality but the sound is good. Hope you enjoy!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

The Meath Writers' Circle September 2010.

The Meath Writers' Circle.



The Meath Writers' Circle held their monthly meeting at the Castle Hotel in Trim tonight with about twelve in attendance. The above is a video of Willie reading "What Matters Most" and is hopefully the first in a series of poems on video. Favourite poems as it were! Sorry about the picture quality!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Poet of Fingal Award.

Poet of Fingal Award.

Tommy Murray of The Meath Writers' Circle was the winner of The Poet of Fingal Award for the third time last night at The Carnegie Court in Swords North Dublin. An event I almost made it to and would have done but for a sign that said "Road Closed: Local Access Only" and that was true, and another one that said "Detour" whose meaning could only be found in the dictionary, and with my only compass the Sun and a bewildering mix of back roads and bad drivers and the same Sun setting in an orange glow in the western sky, I went home and walked the dog. Maybe next year! Check out at Meath Books, link opposite.


Photo: Tommy Murray with The McDonagh Perpetual Trophy. Photo by Michael Farry.