Luke Kelly: High Germany

[ourpeoplesvoice]

can someone break this song down for me ? is it just a love song or is it an anti war song ?

everyone is against war but i was just trying to read into kellys mind on this one ?

[JohnPreston0157]

@ourpeoplesvoice think it's both

[rodzer]

He will be forever the best irish folk singer! Rest In Peace Luke!

[28flobert]

Well, the song IS great. But it's luke Kelly's threateningly clear voice that makes it...

[acerb45666555]

Irish and German will never fight again. (Irish and German neo-pagans are great friends, there shall be no fratricidal war ever again!)...Wicca and Asatru have seen to that!..the sword is buried forever among us northern folk!

[BradBrassman]

@acerb45666555 That's good sense since most of the divisions that split men, Irish, Scots, Welsh, English and most of the european continent is religious division meant to keep us fractured so the rich can rule us. The maintenance of our spiritual side is far more important, the knowledge of which, is yet another factor they try to suppress. Peace for 2012.

[stanibol]

@acerb45666555 I like your comment. Neo-pagans, ok, but hopefully in C21st far less superstitious also than all the other religious myth builders. Prefer to keep it simple, without dismissing our human spiritual ties.

[BradBrassman]

Awesome; no one can sing em like Luke.

[bstonebalboa]

lol i am from the tyrol in austria, in those times calles high germany

[BradBrassman]

@bstonebalboa  Prost!! (Dunkles)

[glimt11]

@bstonebalboa, korektion, mit High Germany is hier die Mittelgebirge gemeint;)

[joeygsmom]

make love not war!

fighting for peace is like shagging for virginity.

[Thompsonf1001]

@joeygsmom spread legs not hate !!

[joeygsmom]

@Thompsonf1001 put THAT on a bumper sticker :-P

[Thompsonf1001]

@joeygsmom Great idea !! thats my christmas preasents sorted then :L

[GoodAvatar]

This song is THE most fucking fun to sing around a campfire EVER.

This is definitely an amateur man's song. It's romantic, slow, and it suits MY voice pretty damn well.

What about you guys? Isn't this song fucking awesome to sing?

[CrimsonEmpire]

@GoodAvatar yea, I sing in an Irish Folk band and this one is definitely a fun one. It's got pretty much everything. The sort of song that if someone asks you to show them what kind of music you do, you can just play or sing this one.

[3tangle3]

@irafenian lol this gets its own back

[saoreire258]

Thank you so much for posting these songs

[antiracistskin69]

@themightyscythe Luke Kelly was a Communist

[1stAma]

@themightyscythe He was a communist himself so certain comments would probably be in his favour.

[funkwolf1]

thank you kelly for bringing fire from the irish legend

[dannyallvey79]

Old English song.

[verlox]

He has some epic hair.

[djsmurfie]

Funny. You can't even govern yourselves. I hear certain members of the Irish Green party are advocating a return to the Union, oh, the irony.

[3tangle3]

@djsmurfie the only funny thing with wanting to have a united british isles is the fact that southern english are allowed to dominate and look down on all other cultures. That is why it is a disunited kingdom. Still waiting for true mutual respect

[djsmurfie]

@3tangle3 That's your opinion.

[3tangle3]

@djsmurfie its the opinion of many in my area. everything is intergrating into EU anyway so who gives a shite we are but pawns. we are just peasants

[tony10396861]

@djsmurfie Who exactly??

[eoinhugh]

@djsmurfie

shut up

[djsmurfie]

@eoinhugh No you shut up.

[marsling12]

i dont know who the fuck is luke kelly.but this is awesome.

[robnaylor55]

In one sense it's not important whether the song's English or Irish in origin (though it seems incontovertible that it's English). But in another sense, I think it's important that "tradition" is based where possible on fact and not on inaccuracies repeated so often that they become "accepted". I met a singer/ player at a singaround the other night who said that he "only played Irish tunes". Half his repertoire that evening was either English trad folk or Ewan MacColl!

[Kateastrophy4444]

this must have been before they knew drinking when pregnant is bad D:

[muskndusk]

Anyone know of a male/female version of this song, which I've always thought should be sung as a duet. It seems to have a part spoken by a woman and the other, persuasive part by a man.

[muskndusk]

@muskndusk To answer myself, incase anyone else is interested, there's a version like this by the Folkestones.

[lovemorembigi]

English song - refers to the War of the Spanish Succession. Duke of Marlborough's campaign.

[BradBrassman]

@lovemorembigi The war of Austrian Succession, my love. or the Seven Years war, which spilled over into the American Colonies (Last of the Mohicans era), though a Spanish Succession was involved in it somewhere methinks.

[humanrightslawyer]

Gone to soon. Remembered forever. Thanks for the music.

[sharqi666]

great song awsome picture of luke

[sdrtcacgnrjrc]

great song.

looking for the lyrics I found a very interesting thread about the origin of the song here:

I not allowed post a link: - it's at mudcat [dot] org - title "High Germany, who wrote it?")

[Tlax13]

The song is about the 30 years war in case anyone was wondering

[Marktalbot78]

Kelly..I love your passion & am very happy you keep posting these nugets of lost history...........It is great to be Irish....& I thank you From a proud Northsider

[billhill8]

Dear Luke, who with the rest of the Dubliners, used to stay with me when they played in Edinburgh. MIss you Luke, and Cathal and Ronnie

[jimmydeboy]

great voice the late luke rip

[mcdaddy9999]

great pic great song :D

[kretenu111]

Love Irish music !

[MrPozzoz]

@kretenu111  its actually an English song .....

[jessyquedens]

Scottish.

[Hogo69]

Amazing song, really helps me to contemplate history @_@. The picture goes so well with it too :).

[BroodofLoki]

ah the Wild Geese!

[MrPozzoz]

@BroodofLoki nothing to do with the wild geese .....

[Grymm23]

Okay so that puts it somewhere in the middle which would be the War of the Spanish Succession in the early 1700s fighting for Marlborough at Schellenberg. Think we cracked it =o)

[Grymm23]

The song mentions being pressed and as no British units were fighting in that part of Europe (France and Spain, yes but not Germany, High or otherwise) I feel that it's just another of those wikitruths.

[Grymm23]

It's most likely from the seven years war (1754-1763) Where British troops fought as part of an alliance with Hanoverians, Hessians and Prussians against the French, Russia, Austria, Sweden and Saxony at battles like Minden, Warburg, Kloster Kamp,Vellinghausen, Wilhelmstahl,(this war is also called the first world war as the confilct also spread to India and America) The earliest version of the song is English but as with all good folk tunes it gets picked up and changed by each new singer.

[simic1001]

In no amazing ways which is prob a let down, traditional music just sits with me, gives me a real sense of escapism, these songs just give me a feeling of freedom, only through kellys delivery tho......captivating, and to read about his political views, admiring more than following lol....just magical ia all i can say.....

[simic1001]

I would die at anytime to spend time with this man.....has changed my life so much already...........

[djole0505]

how come?

[Goldhamster26]

I think the Song was originally a traditional Irish folk song which originally referred to the wars in Germany between 1648 and 1796, when the French, along with changing allies, made war in Germany. Often British armies fought in Germany with troops pressed from the entire Empire, also from Ireland. One of them was the army of famous general Malborough, who defeated the French in Blenheim (Bavaria). That would explain why he sings about "High Germany", as a contrast to Netherlands.(lower lands)

[MrPozzoz]

@Goldhamster26 no sunshine its an english song .....

[djsmurfie]

@Goldhamster26 Wrong. It's an English folk song.

[marsling12]

@djsmurfie Stupid??????Its Irish!!!!

[djsmurfie]

@marsling12 No it isn't, it's English you mong.

[marsling12]

@djsmurfie but kelly is an irishman.

[djsmurfie]

@marsling12 But the song is English.

[marsling12]

@djsmurfie lulz ireland doesnt have its own language so it HAS to be english <_<

[djsmurfie]

@marsling12 Funny. But Ireland does have it's own language: it's called Gaelic.

[3tangle3]

@marsling12 they are epically misunderstanding your moderate sentiments lol

[muskndusk]

"Oh Polly love, Oh Polly the rout has now begun

and we must go a-marching to the beating of the drum,

go dress yourself all in your best and come along with me,

I'll take ye to the wars, me love

in High Germany

-sounds like he's raring to go, but she later sings that:

Oh cursed be these cruel wars that ever they should rise

For out from Merry England rode many a man likewise,

They PRESSED me true love from me, likewise me brothers three ....

[muskndusk]

I used to sing this to my cat Polly; she loved to hear me sing to her. She died a few months ago at the grand age of 22. I miss her.

[Chomuno]

Great age for a cat... I hope mine will live at least like your!

[Chomuno]

"Oh Willie love, oh Willie, come list what I do say

My feet they are so tender I cannot march away

And besides my dearest Willie I am with child by thee

Not fitted for the war, my love, in High Germany"

I don't think it's a political or social problems' song, but it is a very charming song, and Luke Kelly is a great performer!

[Chomuno]

I'll buy for you a horse, my love, and on it you shall ride

And all my delight shall be in riding by your side

We'll stop at every ale-house and drink when we are dry

We'll be true to one another, get married by and by

[drogoscg1]

The English hate non-English??? No wonder they faced the Germans. You become your enemy.

[RobinTheSWED]

love this song! <3

[irishgeal1]

most of lukes songs came from ewan mccoll who the english astabliment hated.

[IrishDubliner99]

The Dubliners did'nt care where the ballads or tunes came from . As long as they could be played on banjo, guitar and fiddle .

And of course the message behind some of the more serious songs like Peat Bog Soldiers or Alabama have meaning way beyond Ireland's local difficulties such as they were .

[Vercingetorix1313]

from a little research i did a while ago the lyrics could be from Irish mercenaries in the early 1700's patrolling in Deutschland

[dingane]

For Christ sake! It's an English song, "merry England" , and it's not about mercenaries, he is "pressed", or conscripted. And IT IS NOT POLITICAL.

I'm Irish but sometimes I get really sick of people trying to make every song the Dubs sang into a rebel song (and I like rebel songs btw).

[Vercingetorix1313]

Okay dude sorry for christ sake

[IrishDubliner99]

Yes it's an english tune . People assume a lot of ballads are originally irish simply because there are probably more Irish folk singers cluttering up the world's stages than English . When many English folk songs were 'lost' discarded during the industrial revolution and later many survived in Ireland .

The Irish folk revival of the sixties and seventies and later led to a revival in England and Scotland not sure about Wales in their folk song heritage .

[MrPozzoz]

@dingane thank you so much Im a lover of Irish , scottish and english folk song in equal measure .

[djsmurfie]

@Vercingetorix1313 Get real, it's an English folk song for Christ sake.

[SCooks5364]

This sounds just like the Dubliners. And for some reason I thought this song was about WWI.

[Grymm23]

Seven years war or earlier, the ref in C.Sharp collection of English folk tunes is circa1780. fine tune =o)

[BalboaParkJPN]

This predates the Napoleonic wars I'd think. The British army fought extensively in Germany against the French in the Seven Year's War (1756-1763).

[Jongleurs1]

but it should be noted that this song is English not irish.

[p0sn]

nope. thousands of irish faught on the side of napoleon-against the english.

[Jongleurs1]

But the song is english

i thought i was pointing out the obvious

the song is indeed napoleonic and it says:

Cursed be them cruel wars that ever they should rise

And out of merry England press many a man likewise

[Hoguisabadass]

whether an english or an irishman wrote it isnt important. The sentiment is the importance.

[dingane]

its by origin an English song, but so what? Its not political and its a great song.

And its quite clearly not about any Irish who fought for Napoleon. Its about a guy pressed, or drafted, and forced to go and fight in Germany.

might be napoleonic, might be even older. The British army was not in Germany a lot at that time, it was mainly in Spain and Portugal. The seven years war and War of Spanish Succession were fought dainly in Gerany.

[ozeangruen]

I think it´s about the war against Napoleon in High Germany.

[bbeattie48]

Hi Kelly, do you have the whole of Luke's Legacy on here? i'm trying to find the lifeboat mona.

[holidayave]

yeah, kelly, luke is one of my favorite artists, i mean, i love rock and roll, but trad irish is something im incredibly fond of, i went to ireland, and everytime i talked about luke kelly, people treated me very well, luke kelly, is irreplaceable

[lars3939]

Kelly do you know how hard it is to find a song by Luke NOT hosted by you, its my quest now. As ever thanks

[kellyoneill]

lol, tut tut tut... Tryin to replace me :)

[3tangle3]

@kellyoneill we need to form a group of fellow luke kelly lovers!!

[kellyoneill]

@3tangle3 type lukes isle into a google search :)

[Anokpoet]

Kelly is just that good, I mean not as good as Luke himself but a close second for keeping his voice alive!

[NeartLeCheile]

i LOVE this song!!

[ozeangruen]

its from the Napoleon War in Germany where the English where allied with Prussian against France.

[NSMadeMan]

One of Luke Kellys best. RIP

[NSMadeMan]

What a magical song.

[satyrix1]

Well Said !

[kellyoneill]

lol or itching to get inolved with the debate!!!

[kellyoneill]

involved*

[muskndusk]

This is a great song, but should be a duet between male and female vocalists.

[onlahm]

nice voice but a poor song

[hitmanF]

RIP luke kelly

[raceraaron26]

Kelly always posts the best songs!

[Chomuno]

I think too!

[GoodAvatar]

These guys are fantastic. I wonder which of the German wars they're talking about. 1632 or before? I can't quite know and I'd like ourside explanation.

[talbothime]

I'd always assumed it was one of 'our' (Britain's) 18th century conflicts - My guess would be the War of the Austrian Succession... but I have no evidence for that. Like you I would like to know for sure.

[mrmanhammer]

I would guess the 7 years war against Austria? But the War of Austrian succession is also very likely, considering the "classical" style of the song.

[cleckioli]

thanks kellyoneill for posting this,fantastic

[kellyoneill]

My pleasure :)

[cleckioli]

i love this one of my favourites of the dubliners,his voice is amazing

[soulsock]

beautiful,like roses in the summer

[rogthedodger]

This is fairly terrible version of this song - Diddly-eye-dye etc. etc. ad nauseam

Kate Rusby & show of hands' version is much, much better.

[kellyoneill]

Have to disagree, nobody sings a song like luke!!!

[rakovsky]

They are just different styles

[Edenhyde246]

1)This song is amazing.

2)Communism does not work.

3)You should listen to this song while playing the game Cossacks:European Wars (don't ask me why)

[rakovsky]

Communism worked fine for the Native Americans. Equality was not their problem LOL. Seriously though the main reason Native American society fell was technology- didn't make guns.

[ajferet]

Or the wheel, or have horses, dogs or deep water ships, etc

[rakovskii]

Dogs are not technology.

[ajferet]

Granted... but having dogs specifically bred for war and horses bred for size certainly is a form of technological development (aka animal husbandry)... just like having the technology to enhance plants

[rakovskii]

"dogs specifically bred for war?" guard dogs?

[Edenhyde246]

They did have the wheel, and the Sioux most certainly had horses.

[dayo1075]

there was no horses in america untill europeans brought them over sorry but thats a fact

[lowellirish]

WOW!! This is actually addressed to EVERYONE here...I can NOT believe how ignorant you all are of N.A. culture! Some not only had wheel, dog, etc. but had ALPHABET, and a written language, and some even spoke Dutch,French,German,Latin,Span­ish,Norweigian, etc. Geez....How can you deal with yourselves?!

[Edenhyde246]

They were forcibly taught these european languages by settlers, they didn't learn them themselves.

[Edenhyde246]

It depends which Native Americans you're talking about. The Iroquis and Sioux traded weapons with the settlers often. The Iroquis eventually integrated with the settlers and the Sioux still exist today, if on reservations.

[ajferet]

Hmm.. the Horse isn't native to North America, so the Sioux didn't get horses until after the Spaniards arrived.

Undoubtedly some Indians learned various European languages, and some Euros Native American languages.... Please name the Natives who had their own alphabet as opposed to pictographic text (Aztecs)

[Edenhyde246]

The Cherokee devised a syllable alphabet for all the different sounds. They were nomadic horsemen living in the Great Plains region.

[newboyandy]

God Bless '1sexylaydee' who has opted out of the political debate & made a simple statement about what really matters here...the music!

[1sexylaydee]

love this song soooo much!

[rakovskii]

And you guys are right, some people think because Stalin was bad, Communism must be too. Usually they don't know anything about Communism besides fear of it.

[NSResponder]

it's not just Stalin, sunshine. Every communist regime has brutalized the people unfortunate enough to be under its rule.

-jcr

[rakovskii]

Dubliners would say that about Britain.

Gorbachev's Russia, Tito's Yugoslavia in the 80's, Allende's Chile were nice.

Is there a "civilized" country that you cannot find brutal at one time in its history?

[rakovskii]

British must be jealous of American pioneers- pioneers turned the Indians' great plains into Leibensraum, Irish got independence.

[GeistWerk]

hail hitler, hail stalin, hail mao, hail kelly

fuck the political discussion, enjoy the music

[kellyoneill]

lol he started it!!!

[ajferet]

Concur. I'd prefer the music to any politics, American, British, Irish or Polish for that matter

[StartbahnWest]

His Voice is very passionate, though some songs are pretty bad.

[kellyoneill]

no such thing as a bad luke kelly song!!!

[StartbahnWest]

I dont like his communistic drive.

Sure Luke is a great singer, Fidel Castro is a great smoker, Michael Schumacher a great Driver, but are they good People?

I adore Luke Kelly, sure, but i am not interested in his political ambitions.

I love Frank Sinatra also and i dont care about his "Mafia" carreer.

[kellyoneill]

Luke was as good and genune as they come,

too genuine sometimes i think.

His political beliefs differ to that of yours but it doesnt make him a bad person.

[StartbahnWest]

Thats what i wanted to say.

Hitler was a guy who liked Animals and was a vegetarian, but he was a bad guy, because he gave a grieve commendment.

I think Hitler was a verý friendly person, personally, but, as Einstein said, "Everything is relativ(ely)".

BTW, how old are you?

[kellyoneill]

Im 31, your not really trying to compare luke to hitler are you?

So because hitler may have eaten a salad and stroked his dog, that made it ok for him to murder that many people?

[StartbahnWest]

Anyway, thx for all those Vids, hope I'll meet you somewhere, sometimes.

[BJL1888]

12 million people dead is relative to being an evil bastert tho, dont ye think? And how any human could even consider making soap from dead people is, a donno,kill and desecrate as many humans as you want, but dont eat chicken!! says a lot about vegetarians mate.

[StartbahnWest]

Luke Kelly was a communist.

Stalin is responsible for 20 Million dead ppl, Mao and his cultural revolution was responsible for 80 million dead.

[BJL1888]

So what are you saying here?? Luke Kelly was worse than Hitler becuase he was a Communist? But that hitler is ok cos he killed less people than Stalin and Mao? Mao, Stalin and Hitler were financed by the same people.

[cris8249]

Boy, that sure is true. But I admit I'm not real fond of The Molly Maguires (they're drinkers, they're liars, but they're men???)But truly it's the only one of his songs I feel lukewarm about (no pun intended).

[rakovskii]

"(they're drinkers, they're liars, but they're men???)"

These are the Dubliners' words, not necessarily historic fact. At an Irish festival in the Molly Maguires' area, the guitarist changed the Dubliners' words to "they're workers, and they're men"

Mollies were framed and executed fighters for Irish workers with a similar story to the Dubliners' Song "God Save Ireland."

[nierengegend]

What an impassionate tristesse. Brilliant, fantastic, wonderful. I wish he was alive, just to visit a concert for once.

[kellyoneill]

you and me both!

[Guyptp12]

brilliant

[darrin42]

Very good song. Thanks for uploading