Irish Song History

Irish step dancing has existed since the 1700’s, over 300 years. Families in Ireland have passed down Irish step dance from generation to generation as a way of preserving their culture. While the meaning of the dance remains the same, the performance and showmanship has changed dramatically. From girls and boys with pale skin and natural hair to girls with fake tanned skin, huge curly wigs, and thousand dollar dresses and boys with fake tanned skin and outlandish outfits. Irish dance has become more of a spectacle—such as “Riverdance” and “Lord of the Dance.” Those dances are some of the most enjoyable and respected around the world. Over time this type of dance has taken on a life of its own and changed

In “Who’s Irish”, Gish Jen demonstrates a family that has Chinese root and American culture at the same time. The main character is a fierce grandmother who lives in with her daughter’s family, and then ironically forced to move out because of her improper behavior during she raises her granddaughter. The author uses some unpleasant language and contents to describe the situation, which are effectively demonstrate how difficult and how struggle for people who lives in the gap between two different cultures. I can’t say who is right or who is wrong, but feel sorry for the grandmother.

The short stories of Ireland are distinct and many times distinctly Irish. “The Limerick Gloves” by Maria Edgeworth, “The Pedlar’s Revenge” by Liam O’Flaherty, “The Poteen Maker” by Michael McLaverty, and “Loser” Val Mulkerns are each distinct Irish short stories that deal with Irish topics in original ways. These stories are stylistically and thematically Irish. They are moralistic and offer clear themes that pertain to Irish values. This analysis will explore the Irish-ness of the works and explore their meaning when held against Irish literary tenants.

You could call this “ The Luck of the Irish.” While I was recording the song in a studio in LA, the producer of the movie, Michael Damian, overheard the song as he just happened to be in the same studio and knew immediately that the song was a fit for the movie, and my management team handled it from there.

The book, “The Irish Way” by James R. Barrett is a masterpiece written to describe the life of Irish immigrants who went to start new lives in America after conditions at home became un-accommodative. Widespread insecurity, callous English colonizers and the ghost of great famine still lingering on and on in their lives, made this ethnic group be convinced that home was longer a home anymore. They descended in United States of America in large numbers. James R. Barrett in his book notes that these people were the first group of immigrants to settle in America. According to him, there were a number of several ethnic groups that have arrived in America. It was, however, the mass exodus of Irish people during and after the great

Songs impact many people and can be used to capture a specific moment or feeling in time. The song “Billionaire” by Travie McCoy and Bruno Mars talks about having it all and how they want wealth so badly. This song captures what a lot of people today believe about being rich and why they want it so bad. Songs about wealth is not anything new. The song “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” by Bessie Smith, was almost an anthem for people of the time because it captured their life perfectly. It talks about having wealth and living care free but then losing it. When this song came out, the Harlem Renaissance was occurring.

William Butler Yeats is one of the most esteemed poets in 20th century literature and is well known for his Irish poetry. While Yeats was born in Ireland, he spent most of his adolescent years in London with his family. It wasn’t until he was a teenager that he later moved back to Ireland. He attended the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin and joined the Theosophical Society soon after moving back. He was surrounded by Irish influences most of his life, but it was his commitment to those influences and his heritage that truly affected his poetry. William Butler Yeats’s poetry exemplifies how an author’s Irish identity can help create and influence his work.

For example, “ I feel like I'm fixing to die” a song by Country Joe and The Fish, 1965, was one of the popular protest songs. The song was an anti-war song that drew people's attention to the point that the war was a bad idea. The author includes antiwar lyrics like “Whoopee! We’re all gonna die” and “Be the first one on your block, to have your boy come home in a box.” people hearing lyrics like that made them rethink their kids going into war as it seemed like they were going just to die and come home in boxes.

The purpose of my paper is to show how the Scotch-Irish culture came to be in the United States. There were several things that led the Scotch-Irish to make the perilous journey across the Atlantic Ocean to America including famine and high rents. It is estimated that 40-55,000 Scotch Irish arrived in America from 1763 to 1775. (Everyculture) The Scotch-Irish is one of the strongest cultures in the United States and their influence has been generous.

1. The Scotch-Irish were staunch libertarians, and acted upon their feelings. Sex ways and dress ways had close ties to each other in the backcountry. To talk about sex and sexual behavior was also acceptable in this culture. The dress women and men wore was meant to arouse the opposite sex. Anglican missionary Charles Woodmason wrote, “They draw their shift as tight as possible round their Breasts, and slender waists (for they are generally very finely shaped) and draw their Petticoat close t their Hips to show the fineness of their limbs– … –indeed nakedness is not censurable without ceremony.” Woodmason was appalled at how these women carried themselves, but to the women, they were sexy. Men even dressed in ways to show off

Psychologist Ph.D. Diana Baumrind studied specific techniques of parenting at length and came to the conclusion that “spirited give and take within the home… may teach the child how to express aggression in self-serving and prosocial causes,” however, Sophie’s household has not quite mastered this “give and take”. Gish Jen’s “Who’s Irish?” highlights the adverse effects of early exposure to conflicting parenting styles through a detailed narrative of the daily life of a young girl named Sophie and her mother, father, and grandmother.  The interpersonal relationship between Sophie and each of these parental figures embody three different parenting techniques: authoritarian, indulgent, and authoritative. Rising tensions between the techniques give rise to Sophie's confusion and eventual rebellion against her home life, which Gish Jen masterfully displays through her changing actions and, even, her physical appearance.

Songs and song lyrics can take many different forms. Like poetry, they tend to use many different literary elements to convey a story. While most songs don't necessarily have a rhyme scheme like some poems, they do however use elements such as imagery, diction, and many more elements that can be found in poetry. The four songs “Rule Britannia”, “Land of Hope and Glory”, “Waltzing Matilda”, and “We are the Boys from old Florida” demonstrate the use of poetic elements to tell a story.

Brad states “in general, the song is about all farmers, who despite facing hard times throughout their life,

Identity is pivotal to the story and holds its own innate power, but what is even more pivotal is that the Irish do not necessarily all share the same views. The Irish find their history very important because it is the foundation of the language. Hugh says, “It is not the literal past, the ‘facts’ of history, that shape us, but images of the past embodied in language” (88). It is evident then that Hugh finds the historical meanings of

William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet, a dramatist, and a prose writer - one of the greatest English-language poets of the twentieth century. (Yeats 1) His early poetry and drama acquired ideas from Irish fable and arcane study. (Eiermann 1) Yeats used the themes of nationalism, freedom from oppression, social division, and unity when writing about his country. Yeats, an Irish nationalist, used the three poems, “To Ireland in the Coming Times,” “September 1913” and “Easter 1916” which revealed an expression of his feelings about the War of Irish Independence through theme, mood and figurative language.