Back in May, we reviewed ‘No Fixed Abode‘, the highly anticipated debut album from Ulster trio TRÚ (read the review here) which was also a Featured Album of the Month. Taken from that album, we have their latest video to share for Rebel Song. In their Track-by-Track guide to the album, band member Dónal Kearney told us the following about the song:
“True to the ancient folk process, Rebel Song is a patchwork of other songs.
“‘The Patriot Game’ is an Irish ballad whose lyrics were written by Dominic Behan, who set his text to the air of traditional tune “The Merry Month of May” (also known as “The Nightingale”). It is a pro-republican, anti-British song telling the story of Fergal O’Hanlon, an IRA Volunteer from Monaghan Town. Interestingly, Christy Moore has said that British soldiers often request the song at his gigs.
“The Clancy Brothers made this song internationally famous during the 1960s folk revival, but chose not to sing the verses condoning the murders of Irish police officers. They also omitted the lines criticising Éamon de Valera. Bob Dylan’s 1964 song “God On Our Side” is based on the version he heard from the Clancy Brothers, and a few of Dylan’s lines make their way into Rebel Song too.
“In our song, we’ve added a totally new chorus to the traditional strophic form. The chorus phrase “with the speed of a flame” is taken directly from Behan’s text, while the second verse sings of “a beauty born terrible / and worse was the cost” providing a direct reference to “Easter 1916” by W.B. Yeats, a momentous poem itself in the history of Irish republicanism.
“This is a beautiful melody with a text we’ve updated for 2021, written for a post-Brexit Northern Ireland.”
Shot by Je Suis Le Cat Productions, watch the accompanying late night video which they tell us was filmed somewhere along the border on the 11th night of July 2021, the video captures TRÚ taking part in their own bonfire celebration, with a song to mark the occasion.
No Fixed Abode is easily one of my favourite albums of 2021. Be sure to order it: https://truband3.bandcamp.com/album/no-fixed-abode-2