Tommy Makem
The Irish folk singer Tommy Makem died on August 1, 2007. Probably not known to many people these days he was part of the folk group "The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem." Growing up in my Irish Catholic neighborhood we spent many hours listening to their songs of Irish rebellion and drinking. Maybe his best known song was "Four Green Fields" a song interpreted as a parable of the British colonization of Ireland and the current status of Northern Ireland, talking about the counties under British rule as four green fields.
FOUR GREEN FIELDS
"What did I have?" said the fine old woman
"What did I have?" this proud old woman did say
"I had four green fields, each one was a jewel
But strangers came and tried to take them from me
I had fine strong sons, they fought to save my jewels
They fought and died, and that was my grief" said she
"Long time ago" said the fine old woman
"Long time ago" this proud old woman did say
"There was war and death, plundering and pillage
My children starved by mountain valley and sea
And their wailing cries, they shook the very heavens
My four green fields ran red with their blood" said she
"What have I now?" said the fine old woman
"What have I now?" this proud old woman did say
"I have four green fields, one of them's in bondage
In stranger's hands, that tried to take it from me
But my sons have sons, as brave as were their fathers
My fourth green field will bloom once again" said she
Whenever he got to the line "But my sons have sons, as brave as were their fathers" the audience would always start clapping and cheering.
He also recorded a song called "The Dutchman" with Liam Clancy about an aging man and the woman who remembers him still young.
The Dutchman
by Michael Smith
The Dutchman still wears wooden shoes,
His cap and coat are patched with the love that Margaret sewed there.
Sometimes he thinks he's still in Rotterdam.
He watches the tug-boats down canals
And calls out to them when he thinks he knows the Captain.
Till Margaret comes to take him home again
Through unforgiving streets that trip him, though she holds his arm,
Sometimes he thinks he's alone and he calls her name.
Let us go to the banks of the ocean
Where the walls rise above the Zuider Zee.
Long ago, I used to be a young man
And dear Margaret remembers me that way....