Eoin Butler: writer, journalist and Mayoman of the Year
Tripping Along The Ledge
Blog
Miscellaneous Amusing Items I’ve Come Across #23
On the wall of that pub opposite Bus Aras. Context anyone…? I gotta admit, the singer in question is a troubling one for me. On the one hand, he’s as raw and unstylized as a Grandma Moses picture or something. On the other, his analyses of every social issue he’s tackled (and, boy, he’s tackled practically all of them) have abeen incredibly naive and simple-minded.
Now I’d have no problem pointing out as much if he was from Dundalk or Drumshanbo. Is there some reason I should pretend not to notice this just because he’s from Donaghmede?
January 21st, 2010.
January 21st, 2010 at 11:34 am
No, there’s no reason to pretend not to notice at all. I wonder sometimes if his career is largely built on the more patronising tendencies of a lot of music fans. Giving out about the way things are doesn’t automatically make you the irish Bob Dylan.
January 21st, 2010 at 12:18 pm
you could put down damo gives me dope,i dont want to be associated with this,i’m not gay either,also my best album is called “best of the smiths”.we’ll say no more.
January 21st, 2010 at 12:36 pm
@ Andrew – agreed. Everyone took the piss out of Dolores O’Riordan’s take on Northern Ireland when Zombee came out. But this guy piles on about the Great Gaels of Ireland and being Cursed with a Brain and all you hear are patronising plaudits.
@ Morrissey – you’ve a Dublin IP address. After some consideration, I’m gonna come right out and say this. Dan, Dan, Dan, Dan, Dan.
January 21st, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Bloggers criti soizin me
Has been happenin since i was tree
Why can dey not see
Da hort its causin me
Its a pain in de gee
Oh yes siree
January 21st, 2010 at 3:34 pm
That might be your best yet Damo.
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:00 am
Personally I’ve always loved Damian’s music, enjoyed listening to his albums and seeing him in concert. Just because he isn’t Irish Times material doesn’t take away from the fact that a lot of people get a lot of pleasure from listening to this fantastic artist.
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:05 am
Also worth noting that you criticise Damian Dempsey while you idolise Bob Marley. How typically Irish.
http://www.eoinbutler.com/home/bob-marley-still-rocking-after-sixty-years/
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:13 am
@ Alison – unless you can point out the contradiction between criticising Damien Dempsey and praising Bob Marley, I’m not even bothered replying to you there, I’m afraid.
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:20 am
I tried, really hard now, to like Damo, but I kept hearing the lyrics. If he could avoid coherent sentences completely, like kurt cobain did (no disrespect to kurt, I’m a big fan), then it would be much easier to like his stuff. he does give it loads.
January 22nd, 2010 at 12:52 am
@ Stu – it’s the same in any field. Speak vaguely/blandly and no one has a problem with you. Say what you actually think and people hate you.
But I don’t think that excuses Damien Dempsey, whose mission statement (according to his website anyway) is to “teach [Irish] kids about their history”, that he seems to have gotten all of his out of some sort of An Poblacht children’s Christmas annual or something.
He’s 35-years-old, would it kill him to read a book?
January 22nd, 2010 at 1:28 pm
How about this gem…
“Flying o’r the sea,
My guitar and me.
Thirty thousand feet,
What a brilliant feat.”
Now i don’t mind if things don’t rhyme, but if you decide to go down that road, there are certain criteria you have to fill out.
January 22nd, 2010 at 2:21 pm
I love when people are defending a musician they love and start off normally, but end the sentence sounding like something from a JML ad. “Damien’s brilliant, so he is…… check out this fantastic artist. Yours for only 99.99” etc.
January 22nd, 2010 at 3:28 pm
@ Lauren – yes I’m familiar with that school of logic alright!
So why do you love Westlife?
Cos they’re brilliant.
And what’s brilliant about them?
They’re just the best.
January 24th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
The essence of folk music is simple themes but in a rousing manner. That might be Damien Dempsey but when He released that single of covers of old Dubliner songs, well I thought, “for f*ck’s sake he’s just looking for album sales now” and I still think I’m right.
For folk music of the day, that guy from Dublin who sings in rap style with a guitar would be a much better bet, he’s got a plurality in his name, can’t remember.
By the way I also like this photo, an enjoyable half an hour to be had on that website.
http://www.maserart.com/projects.php?name=02_The Locals:Damien Dempsey&index=6
January 24th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Link not working but it’s the sign in the jacks saying “Don’t speak with your mouth full, of SHITE.”
January 24th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
I dunno about that Phogg. I think folk songs like Dominic Behan’s Patriot Game (covered by the Dubliners among others) can be extremely ambiguous in their commentary. Is the singer calling Fergal O’Hanlon a hero or a stooge?
Contrast with Damien Dempsey’s Great Gaels of Ireland which possesses about as much nuance as a piece of North Korean propaganda and, frankly, could have been written by an eight year old child.