‘Streets of New York’ - The Wolfe Tones, 1991

Every now and then I usually throw some Irish folk artists to let the artists regale the stories of old Ireland through song. For those of you that don’t know The Wolfe Tones, they are a long running traditional Irish band that continually tour the world singing their own brand of Irish folk songs which are mostly associated with ‘rebel’ songs. Taken from their album Spirit of a Nation album, this song was written by Liam Reilly but these guys have made it their own.

I generally like songs that tell stories within the lyrics from start to finish. This song tells the story of a young Irish guy heading over to an uncle in New York, like some many have done down through the years, to work during a time when emigration was high in this country but on the way over his uncle is killed as he was a cop. The song continues to tell how the lad chose to stay in New York and eventually becomes a cop himself following in his uncle’s footsteps, how at the start that he felt some home sickness, how he never really came home except to attend his father’s funeral and how he started his own family in New York. It’s a pretty poignant song that you should check out. The lyrics speak for themself.

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One Response to “‘Streets of New York’ - The Wolfe Tones, 1991”

  1. ‘Hurricane’ - Bob Dylan, 1976 » This Here Boogie Says:

    […] on from my previous post here, I’m continuing with my fondness for songs that tell stories from start to finish. […]

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