'S about an Irish nationalist and anti-fascist looking back on his life, and about Gaelic Self-destruction, as said above, and about Irish Folklore. Specifically, it sounds like the Narrator was involved in the Spanish Civil War- John McCormack and Richard Tauber were famous tenors of that era, and Frank Ryan was an IRA member who led Irish Volunteers against Franco's Nazi-backed Fascists- the 'fucking blackshirts' who ran the death-trains; it sounds like the narrator was a member of Ryan's International Brigade, 'Connolly's Column'.
After the war, the narrator descends into Alcoholism (the second verse describes a single drunken rampage in London, while he's pretty much gone in the bridge), and dies a classic Gaelic death- drunken, furious, passionate to the last- Cloughprior, in this case, refers to a cemetary in County Tipperary.
At the same time, the narrator's life parallels that of the doomed Irish Hero Cúchulainn. A great warrior, he was said to fly into unquenchable rages in battle, and who, when his strength was finally sapped, tied himself to a rock to face his enemies, in order to die on his feet- an echo of the narrator's defiant love of liberty to the end.
As a side note, Cúchulainn was decapitated after his death- "But you'll stick your head back out and shout 'we'll have another round'" takes on a slightly different meaning with that in mind
'S about an Irish nationalist and anti-fascist looking back on his life, and about Gaelic Self-destruction, as said above, and about Irish Folklore. Specifically, it sounds like the Narrator was involved in the Spanish Civil War- John McCormack and Richard Tauber were famous tenors of that era, and Frank Ryan was an IRA member who led Irish Volunteers against Franco's Nazi-backed Fascists- the 'fucking blackshirts' who ran the death-trains; it sounds like the narrator was a member of Ryan's International Brigade, 'Connolly's Column'. After the war, the narrator descends into Alcoholism (the second verse describes a single drunken rampage in London, while he's pretty much gone in the bridge), and dies a classic Gaelic death- drunken, furious, passionate to the last- Cloughprior, in this case, refers to a cemetary in County Tipperary. At the same time, the narrator's life parallels that of the doomed Irish Hero Cúchulainn. A great warrior, he was said to fly into unquenchable rages in battle, and who, when his strength was finally sapped, tied himself to a rock to face his enemies, in order to die on his feet- an echo of the narrator's defiant love of liberty to the end.
As a side note, Cúchulainn was decapitated after his death- "But you'll stick your head back out and shout 'we'll have another round'" takes on a slightly different meaning with that in mind
I've been listening to this song for years, but never really knew what it was about. Thanks for your insights!
I've been listening to this song for years, but never really knew what it was about. Thanks for your insights!
@Anacharis yes, but also there is the actual story serglige con culain - the sickbed of cuchulainn which the pogues directly titled the song for.
@Anacharis yes, but also there is the actual story serglige con culain - the sickbed of cuchulainn which the pogues directly titled the song for.