🍀 Happy St. Patrick's Day! - The Andersons

When I was a child, I lost all interest in music. There was nothing on the radio that appealed to me. All that changed when my parents and I discovered Celtic folk music at a living history reenactment. St. Patrick’s Day became like Christmas for me. I would program all the VCRs to record the morning shows, hoping to catch my favorite musicians. Eventually I learned to play guitar, or I should say, the knowledge and ability rushed into me when the moment was right.

Those who know Irish music will recognize the heresy in this selection of songs. The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem may be rolling over in their graves, but these are songs loved and sung by memory care residents, so my 100% Swedish husband (confirmed by DNA) and I have fun with them. By Pete Seeger’s definition of folk music, that’s all that matters.

0:18 Londonderry Air (Danny Boy)
The family of a resident frequently requested this for their loved one, so we learned it. The melody is Irish, even if the words to “Danny Boy” were written by an Englishman.

1:36 Loch Lomond
Scottish, but I do play it more as the Irish song, “Red Is The Rose.”

3:25 My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean
OK, Scottish again, but at least it’s Celtic. We learned this because it was the favorite song of a resident who remembered singing it to her daughter named Bonnie when she was little. We have also played it many times for a resident by the same name; she was such a sweetheart.

5:43 I’m Looking Over A Four Leaf Clover
Not Irish, or even Celtic, but we threw it in anyway.

Recorded March 11-15, 2021.
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