the well below the valley-oh
Have you ever seen the film The Magdalene Sisters? It's really amazing, but that's not really what this entry is about. You see, at the beginning of that film, there is a scene at a wedding reception in Ireland in the early 60s and a priest plays the old traditional Irish tune The Well Below the Valley and plays the bodhran. When I first saw this scene in the film it was so stunning to me that it kind of made me gasp. In fact, I ended up borrowing the DVD from Thea just so that I could watch that two-minute scene over and over again. Really though, it's incredible to watch someone play the bodhran really well. I feel like it's such a tactile, emotional instrument. And it stirs me up. Who knows, maybe I've watched people play that instrument a million times in a million past lives in Ireland. Or maybe it's just the love of traditional tunes passed down.
Anyway. Sadly, that scene was nowhere to be found on YouTube until today when, randomly, I found it. Totally off the cuff. I'm not even sure how I found it, but I found it. And I want you to see it (and I also just wanted to post it so that it was easily accessible to me so that I could watch it over and over again because I'm a strange Irish freak).
So, check it out. But I want you to forget that it's supposed to be a priest singing the song, because that particular "priest" never shows up again for the entire rest of the film, and that "priest" is actually played by a dude whose name I don't remember, but who is a fairly famous Irish traditional musician, as I recall. So, focus on that instead because it'll make it somewhat more understandable that he leans down to kiss his bodhran at one point.
Enjoy my two-minute obsession.
Anyway. Sadly, that scene was nowhere to be found on YouTube until today when, randomly, I found it. Totally off the cuff. I'm not even sure how I found it, but I found it. And I want you to see it (and I also just wanted to post it so that it was easily accessible to me so that I could watch it over and over again because I'm a strange Irish freak).
So, check it out. But I want you to forget that it's supposed to be a priest singing the song, because that particular "priest" never shows up again for the entire rest of the film, and that "priest" is actually played by a dude whose name I don't remember, but who is a fairly famous Irish traditional musician, as I recall. So, focus on that instead because it'll make it somewhat more understandable that he leans down to kiss his bodhran at one point.
Enjoy my two-minute obsession.
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