I am back on Vanessa Feltz a few times in the next five weeks. BBC Radio 2 at 5.45 in the morning! If there is any possible reason for you to be up at that time of the day then it would be great to see you... or you hear me... you know what I mean. My themes are as follows:
Wed 18th Sep - The Still Small Voice
Wed 25th Sep - For The Love Of Music
Wed 9th Oct - Forgiveness
Thurs 17th Oct - The Wonders Of Nature
I love these!
Friday September 20th 2019 sees the release of Amanda St. John's second album, The Muscle Shoals Sessions, with a launch gig at the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast. Amanda took some time to answer a few of my questions about how she got to record in the legendary studios of Muscle Shoals, how she writes her songs and what is going on in them. It's the story of how she committed to sing after a near death experience. It's a journey from Glenariff to Muscle Shoals via a 300 foot fall off a road near Ballycastle.
Amanda, when did you know you had that voice?
I've loved to sing ever since I was a small child, and I suppose I was about 6 or 7 when my family stared commenting on how good I was that I realised I had a talent. Up until then I just sang because I loved it and never really thought about how I sounded. I started out singing folk songs and it wasn't until my 20's that I started getting interested in soul music that my voice developed.
You had a long time using that voice for other. Tell us about who you loaned it out too?
I spent my teens and early 20's singing in cover bands as I didn't have the courage to sing my own songs. I never thought I was good enough and eventually stopped singing for about 5 years after getting nodules in my mid 20's.
Then it was quite a serious event that made you step out from the shows of others. Tell us about that.
Yeah I had a really bad car accident when I was about 33. My car went 300ft down the side of the mountain on the road home from Ballycastle. I was unconscious with a bad head injury and no pulse when the fire brigade arrived. I remember battling to stay alive and I asked my higher power (or God, the universe, whatever you want to call it…) what I needed to do to get out of this alive? As clear as day I heard a voice said 'Sing' and I vowed that if I got out of it alive then I would sing and never hold myself back again. It was a very liberating experience because all the silly negative thoughts that had held me back up until that point no longer seemed significant. And on another level I was nearly scared not to sing in case something else happened to me for breaking my promise. Lol. It's funny though, as soon as I committed to myself at this level I couldn't stop the ideas flowing and my voice got stronger and stronger (my range even increased dramatically). It was as if someone had opened the floodgates and everything became so effortless to me.
Then Grow was your debut record?
I poured my heart and soul into my writing after that. I released an EP called 'Where is the Man' in 2014 and then an album called Grow in 2016.
So, how did Muscle Shoals come about?
I wanted to raise the bar for my 2nd album and create a story around my next release. I applied for an Arts Council grant for an International project and wanted to record an EP in Nashville. I met with my good friend Ben Glover (who is now based in Nashville) to ask his advice on recording studios and session musicians out there and he said he thought my sound was more suited to recording in Muscle Shoals. I laughed at him and said that I wasn't a big enough name so didn't think they would consider me. With his encouragement I sent FAME Studios a couple of songs and asked if I could get booked in with them. They came back saying yes and I was shocked and delighted! I decided that I would cut a full album there rather than an EP as it was a chance of a lifetime and I wanted to make the most of it.
Did you arrive there with the songs all done?
All the songs were written but there were a few that we hadn't decided on exact arrangements for. Myself, Paul Tierney (my guitar player and main collaborator) and Michael Mormecha (my other main collaborator, producer and drummer on the record) went out to FAME together and I hired 2 of the original 'swampers' house band to play bass & keys for live tracking. Myself, Paul and Mike are all very in tune with each other and like to work very organically and play a song round a few times to see how the arrangement feels. We live tracked bass, guitars, keys, drums and vocals for 11 songs in the 5 days there. We even got to use the Wurlitzer piano used by Aretha Franklin.
How do you write?
My songs are very much about processing my own feelings and emotions or telling a story of a certain moment in time. I generally get inspired with a melody or lyric line and when I do I record it into my voice memos. I'll sometimes just sing and sing and try to develop a few different song sections from this idea before I bring it to guitar. I'm quite a basic guitar player though so it limits me when I try to write with my guitar. I generally work on these ideas vocally and bring them to my main collaborators (Paul Tierney and/or Mike Mormecha) to develop and help with arrangements. Some other songs are ideas Paul has brought to the table and we bash them out until we get something that inspires us, we work really organically like this. I've also got a few songs on the album that were co-written with other artists; Gareth Dunlop (on Take a Leap), Matt McGinn (on Muscle Shoals) and a guy from Nashville called Justin Wade Tam (on Made Myself a Name). I love writing sessions like these were you just sit down with the person and discuss ideas until something flows.
When the lyrical idea comes how do you know whether it will be a driving song like Talk It Out or a softer touch like Take A Leap?
The emotion of the song normally dictates the pace as we're simply using music to tell the story. Funny enough though, when I wrote Talk It Out I had a much softer, acoustic feel in mind. It was the band in FAME Studios that took it in that upbeat, driving direction. Sometimes you have to jam it out and see where that leads.
These songs seem to be about personal transformation, giving up fears and literally taking a leap?
There are a lot of different themes in the lyrics, I was going through a really difficult period when I was writing this album and I was under considerable pressure with life and work commitments. These feelings of being under pressure, heartbreak and overwhelm are reflected in the lyrics and there are even a couple of songs in which I'm really angry with life (as well as my first ever political song which is pretty angry too....lol) but personal transformation is something that is very important to me, making the best of every situation, learning from it and growing as a person. I'm glad that that has come through.
Fear seems to be the ever present demon?
Yeah, I had to break through my fears years ago to even start to release my own music as I had no faith in myself as an artist. This is something that keeps rearing it's head I suppose but with this album the fears are different, there was so much uncertainty in my life at the time of writing and I wasn't really coping well with the pressure. 'Bring Me' is a good example of how low I actually got at one point....I was just overwhelmed and weighted down by it all. There have been a lot of life changes since then and I'm glad to say that I'm back to feeling hopeful and positive about the future and I'm trusting that whatever's meant for me will unfold naturally.
What would you love people to get from the album?
Self belief and faith in themselves I suppose as well as the power of committing to yourself and your dreams. The recordings in Muscle Shoals were and absolute dream come true for me and I will be forever proud that I was able to make that happen.
And the launch gig. How will these songs be live?
I have a fantastic band with me for this tour so the live performance will be a good representation of what's on the album. I only wish I had the budget for live horns and strings too though. Lol!
Sunday night in Fitzroy had its moments of controversy. The speaker Mark Braverman, a Jew who follows Jesus, and heads up the pro Palestinian human rights organisation Kairos US would have many in the room disagreeing with some of his ideas.
Yet, the controversy ended much closer to home. After an evening packed with questions that were ready to be asked, a man from the back corner asked the speaker to ask the man who introduced him what he thought about 1 Corinthians 14.
It took us a little time to work out what the question was, who it was addressed to and what the verse was. I realised that he was directing his question to me. I had introduced Mark. I wondered if it was something about not allowing a Jew to speak in Fitzroy!
Eventually someone found the verse and reached it to me:
Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him…
Oh my! Of all that had been said in the last hour that was the last thing I thought might be brought up!
Two things went off in my head. Firstly, a response. Secondly though, and more pastorally, I didn’t want to make a laughing stock out of the questioner. He was not really in a like minded crowd. That their minister had long hair and that someone was asking him if he thought it was Biblical was the way for Fitzroy to end a busy Sunday with a hearty laugh.
It was not the first time my long hair challenged someone’s views on how a Christian might look. My mind went back to an officious woman in an airport who having checked my passport and asked me what I did looked me up and down and suggested I didn’t look much like a Presbyterian minister.
I assured her that that was something I worked hard at but as I walked away I looked back and said, “You don’t think Jesus had short back and sides now do you?” That was the answer I gave our friend on Sunday night. I tried to suggest that it was not a frivolous answer but we also needed to move on!
Had I been thinking clearer I might have said that this is a perfect example of why our How To Read The Bible Series (HtRtB) is so vital. I imagine my questioner was reading the text in the context of a world where men wore mainly short back and sides. What this HtRtB does is to look at why Paul wrote the letters to the Corinthians, what he was really tackling in this particular section of it and how this call for short haired men and hat wearing women applies to us in the twenty centuries later in a very different world.
So… please use our How To Read The Bible (HtRtB) Series as a resource to understanding text, context and contemporary application. We are well through the Old Testament BUT every book is helpful in itself.
Our entire Sunday Nights In Fitzroy programme HERE
I have learned many many things since Fitzroy partnered with Onialeku Primary School, in north west Uganda back in 2015. One of those things is that I would learn a lot of things. This relationship has turned from mission to partnership over the years. It is a mutual sharing.
One of the things that I have become acutely aware of is the potential of Africa to rise and catch up with the developed world. Indeed one of the things I have prayed for a lot is that as it catches us in certain areas of wealth that it doesn't pick up the poverty of our greed, self indulgence.
Through the wider work of Fields of Life, who we partner with Onileku though, I have met young people who inspire me and give me a different story of a new Africa.
Two of them are coming to Belfast in September and October.
Levixone is a multi-award winning pop star. He has won Best Gospel Singer in Africa for about five years in a row and been nominated for Best Gospel Singer in Africa. He has a Ragga-Reggae style that sound intoxicating both on record and live. If you come and see him in The Spires on October 5th you'll be transfixed and I'll dare you not to move. Levixone's faith doesn't only come through on his number 1 hits, he lives it. Growing up in the Kosovo slum of Kampala, he still lives there doing many things to alleviate the poverty and elevate his people to better things.
His friend Trinity is a mover in digital communication but again uses his genius not just to give himself a better life but is determined to help those who were where he was. He has a programme called Elevate that seeks to empower and up-skill youth in underserved communities, in preparation for jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities, to become the next generation of digital talent in Uganda. His aim is "To see that every young person in Uganda has the skills and the opportunities they need to DREAM, BELIEVE AND ACHIEVE."
These guys tell the story of a New Africa and we have an opportunity to hear them.
THE NEW AFRICA
LEVIXONE AND TRINITY IN CONVERSATION
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 @ 7.30
FITZROY, 77 University Street (use side doors on Rugby Road)
FREE
ALSO
LEVIXONE in CONCERT
with Nathan Jess
SATURDAY OCTOBER 5th 2019 - doors open at 6.45
THE SPIRES, Assembly Buildings Conference Centre Belfast, BT1 6DW
info and tickets HERE
Africa rising
It’s not surprising
I’m keeping me eyes on you
Africa rising
I am surmising
I’m keeping my eyes on you
As I listened to Marc Cohn’s Walking On Memphis all wrapped up in the soul voices of Blind Boys Of Alabama I immediately thought how obvious this collaboration was.
In that, his biggest hit, Cohn’s touching down in the land of the data blues… walking with his feet “ten feet off Beale”… and then -
They've got catfish on the table
They've got gospel in the air
And Reverend Green be glad to see you
When you haven't got a prayer
But, boy, you've got a prayer in Memphis
Oh how Blind Boys pump soul right through the heart of it.
Even more extraordinary vocally is another song from Cohn’s debut record. Silver Thunderbird turns into a 10 minute work out. It is Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Freebird with voices, instead of guitars. Breathtakingly uplifting.
Talk Back Mic and Work To Do on the other hand send Blind Boys off towards a Marc Cohn sound. The former has a tasty John Leventhal guitar solo and the latter has that Cohn piano signature and is maybe the most beautiful track on the record.
It’s not only Cohn’s lyrics that make this collaboration inevitable. That husky Cohn voice is a perfect fit for these guys. A stripped back Ghost Train, yet again from Cohn’s eponymous debut is another gem. When Blind Boys come in, it is soul tingling. Baby King might be the most even sharing of vocals.
Blind Boys bring their own best off to play in the opening Walking To Jerusalem and their exquisite version of Amazing Grace to the tune of House Of The Rising Sun
This is an album that re-introduces Marc Cohn whose career seems to have been simmering under in recent years and gives Blind Boys Of Alabama another career high on their 80th year!! A match made in heaven, this might be one of the best album either of these artists have ever released!
Tomorrow morning I will be on Radio Ulster's Sunday Sequence even before I make it to Fitzroy. I will be on a panel with Gladys Ganiel and Dónal O'Mathúna, Senior Lecturer in Ethics at Dublin City University. We will be thinking about whether the attempts to break the 2 hour marathon barrier throws into questions if humankind is forever trying to be faster, stronger, smarter but is it in danger of losing its soul and perhaps its reason for being? As an Athletics fan, and indeed a Gladys Ganiel fan, I will be saying that I would love to see the 2 hour barrier broken but I do think that humans can reach too far!
Then... I will be in Fitzroy at 11 to continue my new BEING WITH Sermon Series. I am very excited about this series in its Biblical insight, its personal challenge and its prophetic word for Fitzroy 10 years into my ministry. This week we will be looking at the importance of BEING WITH one another and God in Church. From the jumping off point of Sam Wells books I will be adding Rene Descartes, Kurt Vonnegut, Malcolm Doney and Martin Wroe, Desmond Tutu and maybe even U2. Reading from the Psalms and Paul's letter to the Romans. All dressed in original and creative worship and liturgy by Dave Thompson and band.
As well as our morning speaker, me, on Sunday Sequence so too our evening speaker...
In the evening (7pm - use Rugby Road entrance) we are back to our How To Read The Bible Series. Last year we got as far as Kings. We will be doing the rest of books of The Old Testament this next year. To set us off we have a special introductory evening. Mark Braverman is the Executive Director of Kairos US, a Christian organisation advocating for Paletinian human rights. Braverman himself is jewish and will be helping us to see how Jews read the Old Testament with special emphasis in his talk on The Bible on land, promise and nationhood: one Jew’s perspective.
Another amazing day in Fitzroy. ALL WELCOME.
Fitzroy Sunday Morning Sermon Series... info HERE
Sunday Nights In Fitzroy - full year's programme HERE
photo: Philip Mateer
On Sunday I had the privilege of co-leading a Service for the Northern Ireland Law Society in Fitzroy with my good friend Fr Martin Magill.
I have known about this annual beginning to the legal year for some time. Philip Mateer, one of my elders in Fitzroy has been organising it.
Yet, being privileged to take part made me consider the beauty and power of such an event. The service was attended by H.M. Lord Lieutenant for County Borough of Belfast, Fionnuala Jay- O’Boyle CBE and The Lord Chief Justice, The Right Honourable Sir Declan Morgan who read the Scriptures.
The Law Society Pro Bono Choir (and I'm always a bit pro Bono!! ) were wonderful and the violin piece, The Ashokan Farewell, played by Laura Clarke was indeed meditative.
Fr Martin preached on my favourite verse John 10:10 and drew out his three personal passions of reconciliation, stopping attacks as “punishment” beatings and addiction. He topped and tailed the sermon with a true story of a young man who went through the courts, experienced justice and grace from the courts and was now a transformed person as a result… “life in all its fulness” indeed!
I am sure not all of the law community are Church goers and I am sure that even some of those who were in attendance are not believers. However, whether the majority or minority of a vocational community are believers or not, there can be no harm, only good, in prayers being prayed for how we fulfil our work.
On Sunday I was particularly taken by one of the prayers:
Today we ask God for help to be trustworthy with confidences, accurate in analysis, correct in conclusion, able in argument, loyal to clients, honest with all, courteous with adversaries and ever attentive to conscience.
As I joined in this prayer I felt that even if you don’t believe in prayer these are great words to be brought face to face with as a new year begins.
That made me think that every vocation should have a similar service. The business community, health and social services, the politicians (imagine!), the teachers, the architects, artists, the security services, the City’s cleansing department… everyone!
I am not sure how? Maybe it is a variety of such event. Or maybe it is one big event. Maybe a Festival should make it a part of their mission. Anyone from the 4 Corners Festival reading this?!?!?!
The Nashville songwriting collective known as The Orphan Brigade have their third album released on September 27th. It is written, recorded and about a stretch of East Antrim from Glenarm to Ballycastle with one detour inland to the slopes of Slemish mountain. I will review this unique and stunning (in my subjective opinion) album just before its release but here is an interview that I did with Glenarm's Ben Glover, the man who brought his two songwriting buddies to the rugged, wild and beautiful Antrim Coast Road. The Orphan Brigade play Belfast's Black Box on October 12th and Carnlough's Londonderry Arms on October 13th.
Ben, I am loving To The Edge Of The World. It is a wonderful thing! Tell us a wee bit about The Orphan Brigade. How you got together and those records in a haunted house and in Italian caves?
It all started back in 2013 with Neilson Hubbard being the introducer of sorts. He had produced Joshua Britt's band, The Farewell Drifters, and Neilson and I were just getting ready to make my album Atlantic. There was a suggestion that we go and record some songs in Octagon Hall, a Civil War-era house in Kentucky, so we all met up there one evening nearly exactly six years ago. Octagon Hall is a pretty remarkable location, to say the least. It's got a very unique atmosphere and is allegedly one of the most haunted houses in the US. That night we discovered that the sonics in the place were indeed great but also Neilson, Josh and I decided to explore it further and write songs in the house over the next few months. Those songs turned into our first album "Soundtrack To A Ghost Story" which we recorded in Octagon Hall in 2014, the band comprising of the community of friends we regularly made music with in Nashville. It was an amazing experience and the three of us loved digging into the spirit and stories associated with the location. At the time, however, we thought it was a one-off project but then we toured Italy in 2016 and at that point, something clicked and it turned into a 'band.'
During that tour, we visited the town of Osimo in the Marche region of Italy, which is known for its 2,500-year-old tunnels and caves that run under the city. It has a fascinating history, carved by Romans, Templar Knights, Masons, mystics, saints, basically people who were seekers. It has the 'Da Vinci Code' vibe! So we felt an attraction to it straight away and in 2017 we spent two weeks there writing our second album 'Heart Of The Cave." We were just following this new-found creative quest we had of fully absorbing a place and almost allowing ourselves to be channels to whatever story wanted to be told.
When did you come up with the idea of the third album being about the Antrim Coast?
Italy seems to inspire good ideas in us as it was on our 2018 tour there that it became obvious that the third album had to be in Antrim! It felt like a no-brainer. The Antrim Coast is where I grew up and part of the Orphan Brigade ethos is to creatively explore our roots. Octagon Hall, the site of the first album, is in the home town of Joshua in Kentucky, so this theme of roots-exploration is an integral thing for us
Was the research about the myth, folklore and story of the coast entirely yours?
I was chief-researcher for this one, I gathered in the bones but we built the body together! I loved this process of digging into the stories of the area and spent a few months doing it. I had a long list of stories and folklore and then the three of us honed in on what resonated with us. What we try to do is not re-tell the story but find the universal connection in it. That's the secret.
Did Neilson and Joshua take any convincing?
Neilson and Josh were actually the initial champions of the idea of making this album on the Antrim Coast - I have to credit them with that. At the start, I had a little resistance but I knew it was going to be a very personal project, but I've learned by now that when there is creative resistance there can often follow magic. So to sum up, Neilson and Josh needed no convincing to set up camp on the coast! They absolutely love Ireland and both feel a strong bond with the place.
So, Neilson and Joshua arrive. Where did you start?
We started at the Mad's Man's Window, a limestone rock formation about a mile outside Glenarm. Legend has it that a beautiful young woman drowned whilst swimming in Glenarm Bay. Her sweetheart was so distraught that he lost his sanity and each day for the rest of his life he sat and gazed through the gap in the rock awaiting her return. We actually wrote five songs that first day, I'm still not sure how we did it!
You bring local knowledge. Like Sorley Boy, we all know that name here but I imagine the other guys didn’t. How did you get the guys up to speed on the Black nun, the Children of Lir and all the rest?
These are really wonderful stories and capture the imagination immediately, so it was very easy for the guys to invest and relate to them There is such a beauty and also at times darkness, and Neilson and Josh and I are suckers for those themes. I had done enough research on the stories that gave us a jumping-off point for the songs and after that it was just a matter of showing up with guitars on our backs!
You actually wrote the songs on location. Tell us about those and what that added to the songs.
It was integral to the songwriting process and without a doubt the atmosphere and spirit of the locations got on the music. On the first day after hitting the Mad Man's Window, we headed to the Ghost Room in the Ballygally Castle Hotel, a graveyard and then a midnight visit to Glenarm Forest.
Day two was equally memorable as we climbed the slopes of Slemish Mountain and then spent the afternoon in a boat in Glenarm and Carnlough Bay. The final day writing we went further up the coast to the caves at Cushendun, Kinbane Castle and Bonamargy Friary in Ballycastle. When you write outside in the elements it invites in wildness, rawness and a sense of space that is not available in a normal indoor writing scenario. It's incredibly inspiring, at times ridiculous but never boring!
Were there any difficulties doing that?
We were writing these songs outside in March and that's when that north coast wind likes to blow, so it was certainly chilly. It was also physically tiring as we were climbing mountains and cliffs and at times it felt like a workout. But I wouldn't call these difficulties, just eclectic elements that made the adventure all the more interesting and memorable.
How do you work as a trio? Do you share the responsibility of driving the song’s development?
It is very democratic and very collaborative. Sometimes one of us might have a melody idea or a lyric line that is a door opener but after that the there is a flow that kicks in which really is a shared thing between the three of us. For whatever reason we can work very fast and intensely together. It's like the muse is incredibly generous to us and gives us a few days of amazing flow, but then there is a moment when she disappears and it's over!
How did the record develop as a concept?
It came together very organically and quickly. We wrote all the songs in four days and we knew we had it in the bag by the end of that fourth day.
Then you recorded it in Glenarm?
We did, and this was a vital part of this record. The congregation of St.Patrick's Church of Ireland in Glenarm was extremely kind and allowed us to have the space for three days. It's such a beautiful and old building with wonderful sonics and atmosphere and it allowed this record to be what is it. So we wrote the record in four days and then recorded it in three.
I feel that you gave a real identity to the north east coast and was contrarily thrilled you stopped at Ballycastle. Was there any reason for that?
I was always intrigued by the story of Julia McQuillan, the Black Nun and every time I have visitors over I always bring them to Bonamargy Friary. I remember mentioning the name 'Black Nun' to Josh and Neilson and their ears pricked up right away! Sorley Boy McDonnell is buried up there too so it was a site we had to go and create on.
The furthest point we hit was the ruins of Kinbane Castle, just north of Ballycastle. We had sourced some other great locations further up the coast, but the stories associated with them didn’t resonate as strongly with us. We landed on the places which we felt we had the deepest connections with, the places that drew us to their story. You could say we took our direction from the creative compass.
What did you yourself learn about your home coast line?
Sometimes what is on our doorstep can be truly remarkable and inspiring. The making of this album just was reinforced that truth deeply in me.
How did you get John Prine singing about Sorley Boy. Just writing that sentence is wondrous to me! How was it for you hearing him sing a song written off the coast in Glenarm?
Just reading that sentence is wondrous to me! Honestly, I'm not sure if I have fully come to terms with the fact that one of the real masters and one of my musical heroes, John Prine, sung words that we wrote in a boat in Glenarm Bay. Neilson and Josh also have a video making company and they have worked with John in that capacity. They mentioned to him a while ago that we were planning to make this album and he casually said he'd like to sing on it. It came about as organically as that. I'll never forget the moment I heard John's voice coming through the speakers in the studio. It's still hard for me to get my head around.
Will it be any different when you perform it live?
For the most part we recorded this album live in the church, so I know the same passion and intensity that was on the recording will be in the live performance. We'll be touring as three-piece in England and Scotland in October but I'm excited that we'll have the full band for the Belfast gig in 12th October...that's the addition of Colm McClean (guitar) and Conor McCreanor (bass), both brilliant players who recorded with us in Glenarm
Will it be any different doing it live in Belfast and Carnlough than elsewhere?
I think so. The songs will be coming home to where they were born and that will bring something special. I can't wait to perform them live in both those places in October.
Are you satisfied with it and what do you hope the listener gets from it?
I'm deeply proud of this album. It feels very personal for me and I don't think I'll ever be able to make such an album again. We did what we intended to do and that was dive into the richness of the creative spirit in the Antrim Coast and I hope the listener is moved by what they hear. Maybe too for natives of the area it will uncover a few local tales that they weren't aware of.
How do Neilson and Joshua see the Antrim Coast now? Is making an album with people better than handing them a Tourist Brochure?
Both Neilson and Josh feel a deep connection to the area. They've been there several times now and I sense that it stirs something up in them. The Orphan Brigade feels like a brotherhood and it's a special thing for each of us that we get to explore each other's homelands in song. A Tourist Brochure barely scratches the surface of a place, songs and music have a way of revealing its soul.
I BELIEVE IN YOU
(from Bob Dylan: The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration)
REDEMPTION SONG (live)
(from This Is A Rebel Song Part 2)
ODE TO BILLIE JOE
(from Help: A Charity Project For The Children of Bosnia)
YOU DO SOMETHING TO ME
(from Red, Hot and Blue: A Tribute To Cole Porter)
DANNY BOY
(from Sea Of Dreams - Davy Spillane)
HEROINE
(From Captive - Edge and Sinead O'Connor)
HAUNTED
(from The Snake - Shane MacGowan and the Popes)
STREETS OF LONDON
(from Thank You for Hearing Me EP)
YOU MAKE ME FEEL SO FREE
(from No Prima Donna: The Songs Of Van Morrison)
HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY THAT I LOVE YOU (with Van Morrison and The Chieftains)
(From Live On Letterman)
SACRIFICE
(from Two Rooms: The Songs Of Elton John and Bernie Taupin)
THIS IS A REBEL SONG
(from This Is A Rebel Song EP)
IRISH WAYS & IRISH LAWS
(from Silent Night single)
MAKE ME A CHANNEL OF YOUR PEACE
(from Diana Princess of Wales Tribute)
PROPERTY OF JESUS
(from Chimes Of Freedom: The Songs Of Bob Dylan Honouring 50 Years of Amnesty International)
LAY YOUR HEAD DOWN
(from Albert Nobbs soundtrack)
FACTORY GIRL (The Chieftains)
(from Tears of Stone)
FOGGY DEW (The Chieftains)
(from The Long Black Veil)
MIND GAMES
(from I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got Deluxe edition)
HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN
(from Thank You For Hearing Me)
TROUBLE WILL SOON BE OVER
(from God Don't Never Change: The Songs Of Blind Willie Johnson)
LULLABY FOR CAIN
(from The Talented Mr Ripley soundtrack)
CHIQUITITA
(from Across The Bridge Of Hope)
WOE TO THE HOLY VOW (with Don Baker and Damian Dempsey)
(from Wow To The Holy Vow single)
WHEN A CHILD IS BORN
(from the single)
SILENT NIGHT
(from the single)
Do you remember when the sky exploded
Do you remember the sick stench of rubble and skin
Do you remember the children left waiting in nurseries
Do you remember the funerals without a coffin
Do you remember the lingering fidgeting agitation
Do you remember the paralysis of nothing you can do
Do you remember Jesus saying, “Do unto others
As you would have them do unto you.”
Do you remember the heart of the nation crumble
Do you remember the rip in the lining of your soul
Do you remember the day fair could not be mended
Do you remember despair spiralling out of control
Do you remember the news men lost for words
Do you remember fiction blurring into what’s true
Do you remember Jesus saying, “Do unto others
As you would have them do unto you.”
And in vengeances vicious circle
In the perpetual cycle of hate
Someone has to stop the spinning wheel
Or everything’s gonna be too late
Jesus said, “Do unto others
As you would have them do unto you.”
That grace can blow holes in our waging of war
So that peace can squeeze through.
Do you remember nowhere left to run
Do you remember the long cast shadow of death
Do you remember the people falling, falling, falling
Do you remember the fear for your next breath
Do you remember the panic ‘neath the dust of hell
Do you remember the heroes trying to make it through
Do you remember Jesus saying, “Do unto others
As you would have them do unto you.”
And in vengeances vicious circle
In the perpetual cycle of hate
Someone has to stop the spinning wheel
Or everything’s gonna be too late
Jesus said, “Do unto others
As you would have them do unto you.”
That grace can blow holes in our waging of war
So that peace can squeeze through.