Just a bit of good fun

This is just a picture of musicians playing at a pub in Dingle, Co. Kerry
I chose this picture because in addition to its beautiful scenary and rich history what I really love and the reason I took this class is the music tradition and the pub life in Ireland.

"If I Ever Leave This World Alive"
Flogging Molly

If I ever leave this world alive
I'll thank for all the things you did in my life
If I ever leave this world alive
I'll come back down and sit beside your
feet tonight
Wherever I am you'll always be
More than just a memory
If I ever leave this world alive

If I ever leave this world alive
I'll take on all the sadness
That I left behind
If I ever leave this world alive
The madness that you feel will soon subside
So in a word don't shed a tear
I'll be here when it all gets weird
If I ever leave this world alive

So when in doubt just call my name
Just before you go insane
If I ever leave this world
Hey I may never leave this world
But if I ever leave this world alive

She says I'm okay; I'm alright,
Though you have gone from my life
You said that it would,
Now everything should be all right

She says I'm okay; I'm alright,
Though you have gone from my life
You said that it would,
Now everything should be all right
Yeah should be alright

These are the lyrics from "If I Ever Leave this World Behind", a track from Flogging Molly's CD Drunken Lullabies. Flogging Molly is a rock band with traditional Irish music influences. The lyrics, music, and instrumentation indicate a childhood spent in pubs.

I really get a sense of belonging from listening to this song which is something I hope to get from this class. To have a connection with traditions and a culture I have never been a part of is something I am looking for by studying the music and folklore of Ireland. I feel that one of the great aspects of Irish traditional music is the way it is past from one generation to the next so that grandchildren come to have the same stake in the traditions as the granparents. I feel as if something is being past on to me from this song.

The main reason I want to be in this class is so that I can have something to back up my love of Ireland. I would like to be able to have an in depth conversation about the music and culture of something I claim to have an interest in but up to know do not know much about. I would more or less like to feel as if I have earned the right to say I am a fan of Irish culture. My hope is to partially make up for the fact that I have not grown up in a world where traditional Irish music is not common place.