Several of my friends, at different times and places, had the idea of writing words to traditional Irish tunes. Coincidentally the tunes they chose were all in triple metre which unified the collection somewhat.
In 2013 I enlisted the help of some tune players I knew, and members of my a cappella group Andsome Friends to record my arrangement of the suite with the idea that it would join other culturally related pieces on a solo album called Celtic Eclectica. We ran out of time before we could get to the final element: an original slip jig of mine entitled Calamity's End. Only the first phrase of it is audible at the end of the track.
The album as a whole is still unfinished more than two decades after I started work on it - my other projects kept it always on the back burner. Here at least is the beginning of its publication....
lyrics
Run Little Emu - Christopher Clark, c. 1985
Run little Emu, after your father
Run little Emu, car’s coming
You know you’ll never get past him
Or ever outlast him
A beep on your horn
Only makes his running stronger
And his striding even longer
Drops Of Brandy - Christopher Clark, c. 1990s
Give me a bottle or two
Or even a glass if it’s handy
I’ll take a measure for pleasure
But give me some drops of brandy
Even a tot has its bottle
And children think orange is dandy
Older ones cheer for a beer
Til they taste a few drops of brandy
Sometimes I’m craving for food
And sometimes for love when I’m randy
Sometimes a song or a gamble
But always for drops of brandy
Smartphone - Clark Gormley, 2016
Take your smartphone out
Tap the screen lock code and then
Check your calendar
Look at your reminders and
Read your SMS
Listen to a song and then
Send an SMS
Switch to silent mode and then
Turn the wifi on
Check your social media
Turn the sound back on
Click a youtube link and then
Post a photograph
Then update your status and
Turn the wifi off
And then you lock the phone again
Then wonder how you ever
Managed life without it and
Why this device has
Such a power over you
So you decide enough’s
Enough, and then you put the thing
Back in your pocket
Then you do it all again
Come The Global Calamity - Paul Spencer, 2002
Watching telly hypnotically, spending money neurotically,
Making choices robotically, turning into a slave,
School to make me employable, work to make me reliable,
Just when life gets enjoyable, lay me into my grave.
Come the global calamity, markets crashing dramatically,
Final show of insanity, time to start anew,
People starving to death even over here in the West,
And you won't have time for a breath but we'll all have something to do.
Life is easy on benefit, drinking beer for the fun of it,
Smoking weed for the Zen of it, nearly dying on smack,
Try to stand on my feet but I find there's nothing to eat,
And it's cold out here on the street so I soon come grovelling back.
Spend the day on the phone like a dull mechanical drone,
And might as well be alone 'cause I've got no time for a chat.
Work till six and then leave with a lousy wage for the week,
And I don't know what I've achieved but it nearly pays for my flat.
credits
from Celtic Eclectica,
track released October 7, 2022
Traditional Irish melodies arranged: Miguel Heatwole
Lyrics of Run Little Emu & Drops Of Brandy: Christopher Clark
Lyrics of Smartphone: Clark Gormley
Lyrics of Come The Global Calamity: Paul Spencer
Fiddle: Fiona McVicar
Flute: Ben Stephenson
Cello: Nicole McVicar
Sopranos: Yasmin Funk, Kylie Willows, Lisa Stewart
Altos: Dallas de Brabander, Bec Bastoli, Jeanette Freeman, Lisa Vincent
Tenors: Terry Clinton, Brian White, Jess Ciampa
Basses: Miguel Heatwole, Joe Vandermeer
Miguel’s a versatile singer, choral director & composer. His interests include folk & world music, political satire, the
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