We are thrilled to have a monthly slot in West Cork Senior SHOUTOUT a newsletter for older people living in the West Cork Area. SHOUOUT is produced by our partners in the Community Work Department at Cork and Kerry Community Healthcare.
Congratulations to Evie Finley for her work on bringing this fantastic new initiative together.
This month artist Liz Clark asked:
What are your essential songs?
Music is at the heart of all our lives and our culture. Most of us can recall a song that ignites our imagination or that is significant in our life, reminding us of a treasured moment, a friend or loved one. It could be the lyric, the melody or rhythm that connects with us, but something about it make it essential to our lives.
Singer songwriter Liz Clark who works on the Arts for Health programme with residents and staff at Schull Community Hospital has gathered a ‘List of 100 Essential Songs’ with residents, staff and families at the hospital. She is now asking you “What songs do you think are essential and why? Are they essential to you, or to the world, or for the next generation?”
Liz first came up with the idea after meeting Roseanne Cash, daughter of Johnny Cash at Skibbereen’s Arts Festival in the summer of 2018. Roseanne told the audience her father had given her a very precious list, written out in his own hand, of 100 essential country songs as part of her musical education. She later went on to be a musical artist herself and recorded an album with a selection of those songs.
The Top 100 ‘Essential’ Songs
- Irish Harvest Day
- Goodnight Irene
- If I Were a Blackbird
- It’s A Long Way To Tipperary
- I’ll Tell Me Ma
- Banks of my Own Lovely Lee
- Spancil Hill
- Dear Old Skibbereen
- The Old Folks At Home (Swanee River)
- Yellow Rose of Texas
- 3 Years Ago This Very Day
- A Mother’s Love’s A Blessing
- 40 Shades of Green
- Doonaree
- Amazing Grace
- Black Velvet Band
- Golden Jubilee
- Castle of Dromore
- Dan O’Hara
- Streets of Baltimore
- Red is the Rose
- Mother Ma chroi
- Churchyard in the Spring
- Daisy a Day
- Belfast Mill
- Will You Go Lassie go
- The stout hearted men of the County Mayo
- Moonlight in mayo
- Blowing in the wind
- One day you will call my name
- Sweet 16
- Galway Bay
- Oh Susanna
- Far away in Australia
- The road by the river that runs through Raheen
- Home on the range
- Roads of Kildare
- Grace
- Emigrant’s letter
- The old bog road
- I’ll walk beside you
- The holy ground
- Boulavogue
- MacNamara’s band
- You’ll never walk alone
- Spinning wheel song
- Come by the hills
- Fields of Athenry
- The Ferry man
- Homes of Donegal
- How can you buy Killarney
- Mount Massey the flower of Macroom
- My hometown in the old County Down
- Home boys home
- The rose of Mooncoin
- Dingle Bay
- The banks of the roses
- The green glens of Antrim
- Fiddlers Green
- Shoals of herring
- The Galway shawl
- Marie‘s wedding
- The Bantry girl’s lament
- Granny’s old armchair
- The hills of Kerry
- A’ roaming in the gloaming
- I wish I had someone to love me
- I’m a rambler I’m a gambler
- Three leaf Shamrock
- The Northern Lights of old Aberdeen
- Glasgow belongs to me
- Farewell to Galway
- Raglan Road
- Fineen the rover
- The whistling gypsy
- The old man
- Come back Paddy Reilly
- How much is that doggy in the window
- Song for Ireland
- Connemara cradle song
- Westering home/ Trasna na dTonnta
- Súil a rún
- Seasons
- The minstrel boy
- As old friends do
- The last rose of summer
- The mountains of Mourne
- The humour is on me now
- The snowy breasted pearl
- The valley of Knockanure
- Sunshine of your smile
- The water is wide
- Shake hands with Uncle Dan
- Crazy
- This land is your land
- Lovely Derry on the banks of the Foyle
- The coast of Malabar
- Courtin in the kitchen
- Bless this house
- When the curtains of night (I remember you love in my prayers)