Folk music generally, and Celtic music, in particular, have many love songs, some of the best quite frankly, ever written. There are themes of passionate adoration, forced separation caused by emigration, sickness or death, the impossibility of love across class barriers, the universality of unrequited love, and so on. In this playlist, I choose my top 10.
Of course, any such list is wholly subjective and omits far more than it can ever include. For me, this list represents a cross-section of love songs that have particularly moved me. I have added notes to each song chosen to give a little more background and explain my inclusion of it. As with many of our playlists, we will add to and substitute pieces over time. Your suggestions are always welcomed. Celtic@gbh.org is the best email to reach us.
10. "The Trees They Do Grow High," Jarlath Henderson
This is a very old song and has many variations in Irish, Scottish, and English singing. It is a somewhat strange and sad story of a match made between an older woman and a young boy who is still in school. The woman betrothed is awaiting the boy's adulthood and hopeful that "my bonny boy is young, but he's growing," which is often the title used for the song. It is assumed the match has been made for purposes of acquiring title or land, a common practice thru the centuries. I heard this version in Glasgow in 2020at A Celtic Connections concert with Jarlath Henderson. The piano arrangement and accompaniment, Henderson's voice and the emotion captured in words, put me in mind of the best art songs in classical music, maybe even some of the passion of German Lieder thrown in.
9. "Galway to Graceland," Seán Keane
I have long been fascinated by the story told in this song. Richard Thompson has been one of the most prolific songwriters in English music since first coming to the public's attention back when he fronted the band Fairport Convention in 1967. Many of his songs are short stories in themselves. The story here is about a woman from Galway experiencing a psychotic break. She believes herself married to Elvis. She leaves her family, heads to Tennesee and to Graceland, and is promptly arrested. Far from comedy, the song makes it a poignant and indeed universal tale of passionate love and often its close neighbor, mental illness.
8. "Ar Bhruach Na Carraige Báine," Seamus Begley and Mary Black
You don't have to understand Gaelic to hear the strength of emotion in this song and the ache of unrequited love. The singer says there is no cure and describes the almost impossible beauty in the desired girl. Seamus Begley is part of a very musical family from the Dingle Penninsula in West Kerry, where he grew up speaking the gorgeous Irish used in the song. Mary Black is from Dublin and adds mightily to this version of the song, which was recorded initially years earlier by Seamus on a now-classic CD he made with guitarist Steve Cooney.
7. "Ae Fond Kiss," Matthew Byrne and Siobhan Miller
Scotland's National Poet Robert Burns had a reputation for being "fond of the lassies." He had several well-documented dalliances outside of his marriage. His one true love though, the one who won his heart, was Agnes McIlhose. Agnes was married when she first met Burns in Edinburgh in 1791. She was estranged from her husband, who had that same year left for Jamaica - then a British colony. Burns and Agnes kept up an intimate and passionate correspondence though it's accepted that the relationship was platonic. Agnes, who Burns calls "Nancy" in his letters, decided to leave for Jamaica and attempt a reconciliation with her husband. Before her departure, Burns sent her a final love-letter. They never met again. Five years later, Burns was dead. Agnes never did reconcile with her husband. She returned to Scotland and lived to the age of 82, and opened the letter every year in December to remember her "Robbie." The content of the letter was, in fact, the words to "Ae Fond Kiss." This is a song I always wanted to include at our Christmas Celtic Sojourn concert series, and finally got the chance when I realized how amazing the voice of Newfoundlander Matthew Byrne would sound with Scottish singer Siobhan Miller. Oh my...
6. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," Sharon Shannon with Jim Murray
Roberta Flack famously had a mega-hit with this song in 1972. Scottish-born singer Ewan McColl wrote it in 1952 for the woman he had fallen madly in love with, Peggy Seeger. Seeger was American and of the famous Seeger family. Pete was her half brother. I chose this version from an album by Sharon Shannon with Mike McGoldrick, Desi Donnelly, and Jim Murray. It's sung by Murray, who inexplicably doesn't actually sing a lot, and beautifully combines the smitten spirit of McColl with the lyricism of the Flack version. How more romantic a song could you possibly get!
5. "Black is the Color," Christy Moore
A universally known love song with likely English origins, but versions of which have spread around the world, from folk, jazz, rock, and classical. I first heard it sung by Lindsay Henes at an Irish music session in Brookline on a sultry August night in 1980. In August of 1981, we were married and will celebrate our 40th anniversary next year.
4. "Fair and Tender Ladies," Cherish the Ladies
This is one of those British Isles songs that have crossed over through Ireland to American traditional music. It then came back to Ireland and Scotland with a distinctly American accent, and has been beloved for decades and widely recorded. This version by the venerable all-woman band, Cherish the Ladies, features several singers taking different verses to great effect, including Heidi Talbot, Karen Mathieson, Eddi Reader. It's my favorite version.
3. "She Moved Through the Fair," Cara Dillon
This is a very old song variants of which were probably widespread in the North of Ireland at the turn of the last century. The words sung today are from a poem written by Padraig Colum, but even he says, it came from other sources. The final verse, in fact, he says, was not his at all. Such is the intriguing power of passing on traditional songs. Part of the theme is reflective of other songs from the British Isles that mention "night visiting" where the dead lover comes back to visit their bereft partner.
2. "The Dutchman," Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy
Here is an example of something written in recent times, passing into tradition. Michael Smith is from Chicago and is a well-known songwriter. He penned this song a few years before the super folk duo of Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy (of Clancy Brother's fame) started singing it in concert and recorded what has become the definitive version. It is quite an amazing and powerful song of love and commitment through "sickness and health." This theme and the song's recurring, very singable chorus combined with the massive influence of Makem and Clancy, is what makes "The Dutchman" a staple of Irish musical gatherings on both sides of the Atlantic.
1. "I Wish My Love Were a Red, Red, Rose," Altan / RTÉ Concert Orchestra
As with many of Robert Burns's songs, this version, which is the most famous and indeed attributed to him, came from traditional sources. It passed from Scotland, probably long before Burns, and adopted distinct Irish features. My first introduction to this idea came from Bothy Band founder Tríona Ní Dhomhnaill from Co. Donegal, who talked about learning it from Sarah Makem, the mother of the aforementioned Tommy. The version I have chosen in this list is just gorgeous and incorporates string arrangements by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and singing by another Donegal singer, Mairéad Ní Mhaonaigh of the group Altan.
