I have resurrected this thread for a reason.
There was another posted about "Christmas Pipes" which of course was written by Brendan Graham.
Brendan Graham was born in Tipperary in 1945.
He is very patriotic indeed.
Many of his songs have a patriotic theme without mentioning Ireland.
It is a bit like in the days of the oppressive Penal Laws.
The people of Ireland sang of their homeland without mentioning it by name, because patriotic songs were banned. Many songs with a woman's name were really about Ireland.
The song "Four green fields" is full of symbolism.......the fields are the four provinces of Ireland, "one of them's in bondage" refers to Ulster (Northern Ireland) the Old Woman is Ireland, her sons are patriotic Irishmen....."my four green fields ran red with their blood".
So back to Brendan Graham and "The Voice".
Here is a piece from Wikipedia:
"The Voice was the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1996, performed in English by Eimear Quinn representing Ireland. The music and lyrics were composed by Brendan Graham, who also composed the Irish winner from the 1994 Contest. The victory, which was Ireland's fourth in five years, was their seventh Contest victory, which remains a record for the most contests won by a single country.
Quinn was a student at the Cork School of Music when she was approached by RTÉ to represent Ireland at Eurovision. It placed first with 162 points, easily defeating all other contenders.
Lyrically, it is a very Celtic-inspired song, with the singer portraying herself as "the voice" which watches over the world, describing "her" effects on the natural world, such as the wind, the seasons, in a similar way to Mother Nature."Well, I agree with that except the last paragraph. It was written by someone who doesn't know anything about Brendan Graham.
I say the subject of the song is The Voice of Ireland.
There are several clues. The climate for one. The song is not about a worldwide climate.....the wind, pouring rain, dancing blowing Autumn leaves, cold winter long......that sums up the Irish climate.
"I am the voice of your History.....The voice of your hunger and pain"tells of the years of Famine and oppression.
"Filled with my sorrows and blood in my fields"...
...it has been said many times that the fields of Ireland ran red with blood....after invasion by the Vikings.....the Massacre at Drogheda......The Boyne....countless massacres by the soldiers of Oliver Cromwell in Wexford and Cork...Carlow .....the courtyard at Kilmainham Jail in 1916.
What tells me this is about Ireland more than anything else is the time when it was written, in 1996.
Peace in Northern Ireland was being discussed.
Throughout 1996, all-party talks were conducted in Ireland and England.
The IRA had announced a ceasefire, and plans to decommission it's paramilitary weapons.
While most people longed for peace, some were very afraid of what the agreement would demand of them.
Some were very sceptical that peace could ever be achieved.
There were National Referenda in Northern Ireland and in the Republic.
So this part of the song is saying, don't be afraid, go for it, vote Yes for peace in Ireland! Break free of violence and prejudice!
"Be not afraid - come follow me
Answer my call and I'll set you free".The last lines need no explanation:
"Bring me your peace, bring me your peace
And my wounds they will heal".So finally on Good Friday 1998, the Peace Agreement was signed.
And now, unimaginable before 1996, sworn and bitter enemies are running Northern Ireland, peacefully, side by side.
Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness......who would have believed it?
No, there is no doubt in my mind what was on Brendan Graham's mind when he wrote this song.
I think the judges and the crowd at that Eurovision Song Contest knew it too......
that's why it got a roaring standing ovation.....
...an endorsement for Peace......in IRELAND.