Willie McBride - Jake Burns (Stiff Little Fingers)

[CrucifyTheBastard]

My uncle played bass on this album.

I've always loved this song, and this version never gets old.

Well done, Jake!

[ThePeaceandgoodwill]

I have heard this song sung in a gentle way,but with the arrangement you angry comes through and is less sentimental. I like it.

[courtfarm1]

i have to be honest i do not like this version of the song, i prefer the fureys version..................1

[MrGaserf]

love slf but think the men they couldnt hang done the best version of this song,

[markh601]

@MrGaserf yes mate i agree tmtch version is the best version but this is good

[BigSuppaFilms]

Often mistaken as an Irish 'rebel song'..and sometimes worse, as an anti English song, it is in fact written about a fictitious soldier who fought at Flanders for the 36th Ulster Division of the British Army. 'Willie McBride' is meant to represent not just one but all of the soldiers who fought..and for the record, according to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, there were eight soldiers named William McBride, and a further six listed as W. McBride, who died during that time.

[earwigrus1975]

love him he gave all to make sure ulster lives

[gaconnochie]

clear to me that the song, written by a Scot, is decidely Scottish in spirit, drawing comparisons between two futile conflicts which resulted in massive casualties. I 'suspect' that the name McBride was used only because it rhymes with graveside. All this searching for an actual grave is other folk making up a story from the song rather than Bogle wriitng about a particular soldier!

[mateyla321]

ones who fought that war god bless them all

[LordWellington15]

Never forget the brave men of the 36th Ulster Division F.G.A.U.

[Heuri1]

Crazy to tell when men of our maturing ages look back; but to think that one of my grandfathers was only 15 when he went over the top in 1916. Were they really what we consider 'men' or were they just children egged on by fat fucking bastards the likes of which still exist and still want to shed other peoples blood in the name of whatever hell they wish upon us all?

Brilliant song, and in whatever tempo it's sung it always will be an anti-war song.

[TheLittleLegionnaire]

also, the americans didnt play the pipes of the forest...

[gaconnochie]

@TheLittleLegionnaire The Flowers/Flooers of the Forest would have a deeper meaning for Bogle too. He is a Scottish Borderer and only moved to Australia in his adulthood. The Flowers resonates with Borderers in particular as it commemorates the Scottish fallen at the Battle of Flodden. The flowers who have all "waed awa" are the young men of Ettrick Forest who never returned from the said battle. Flodden figures deep in the mind of the Borders and is central to the Common Ridings. It seems

[TheLittleLegionnaire]

adding to my comment 11 months ago, there is no way this song can be about an american unless he served in a foreign army. the US units were not in combat till 1918. also as i stated, an australian-scottish song writer would be unlikely to write about an

american in this case anyway.

[Ligarius]

And it is about your great grandfather thats the point. Willie McBride is fictitious though there were a number who died in France all Irish. The only 19 year old who was killed in 1916 was an Ulsterman (Co. Armagh) who served in the Royal Inniskilling Fusilleers.

[momsteroffive]

My great grandfather John Patrick Kenney died in France in WWI. He was only 19. This could be about him.

[thump9er]

They should play this on Armistifce Day instead of all their fine pipes and drums.

[hooky37]

Being from Belfast the home town of jake i can feel the raw emotion he put in this cover version an amazing song about an amazing man and the others who fought and died for us. At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.... LEST WE FORGET

[colinrobins11]

Awesome ..........

[megapawnstar]

Wow! I've always loved this song, usually sung by folk singers or the original Eric Bogle. This version is fantastic. Well done Jake. (Another great version of an Eric Bogle classic is the Pogues version of And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda.)

[paulkirk1962]

such a moving song.

[billy6668]

cant help but shed a tear...

[Fid1231]

as good a song as this song is, this aint the original song, written for willie Mcbride, the other one is much more meaning full

[cagunlapoota]

awesome, I didn't know about this cover...

[SomeVeryWittyName]

Was wondering if anybody could tell me the guitar chords/tabs etc. for this song? Would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[realworldred]

this song is about the countless Irish Scottish and welsh people who died during the battle of the Somme in 1916 although it focuses on one man it encompasses all soldiers who fought foe England believing that as a reward upon winning they would get their lands back

[inch126]

Whether Willie McBride is an actual person ornot this song salutes all of the young lives lost in the Great War and every War since...it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up whenever I hear it no matter who sings it...Powerfull

[jimifitz138]

my information was wrong. thank you for clearing that up for me worcesterjonny.

[jimifitz138]

@setaoca by american i meant serving in the american army. i have only seen a picture of a Pfc William McBride US Army gravestone. mrcopperhead brought up a good point. my grandad moved to st. louis in 1939 and when he was drafted into the american army, he went AWOL in france for 6 years. they tracked him down and incarcerated him in a federal penetentiary.

[worcesterjonny]

The opening picture is the gravestone of William McBride of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers who died in 1916. Therefore, this Willie McBride tied in with the song. I'm not saying it is the soldier talked about in the song, but its close enough. Thanks for the comments - Worcesterjonny

[1960skin]

@jimifitz138 this song is about a young irish /ulster man and that is his grave stone in the video

[aggyuvf]

@1960skin Naw it isnaey

[bigbadredsox]

The lyrics here are a lot different than what I have heard before!

[MrCopperhead1861]

My great great uncle left Ireland in 1916 to escape the violence of the Easter Rising, only to arrive in the United States and be drafted into another conflict. He didn't come home...:(

RIP Patrick McMurphy a pacifist gunned-down in the Great War

[jimifitz138]

@setaoca pfc william mcbride was a US soldier, i dont know where he was from originally but pfc willie mcbride was 19 when he died in 1916

[MrCopperhead1861]

ah the US didn't enter the feckin war until 1917 (weren't in combat until 1918.)

[TheLittleLegionnaire]

@jimifitz138 given that the song is written by a scottish-australian (Eric Bogle) i really doubt its an american, also for the reasons stated by

MrCopperhead1861. Not to mention that there are many possible cantidates of which none fit sadly :-(

[Crazymike00]

simply beautiful, hard to believe this is the same Jake that's "Punkest dude i do declare" as stated by the dropkick murphys

[mateyla321]

soldiers on a road to nowhere hope u them b4 youuuuuuuuuuu

[suziecreamchease]

sends a shiver down your spine.

it has everything to do with every opportunity any government has to find glory reflected in the mutual carnage of the common man.

[albaniantruffles]

AMAZING

[Goober650]

Powerful stuff.

[lizsec]

This is a wonderful version - thank you so much for posting it!

[pensacolabobDPW]

i shed a tear for every man that has layed down his life for me and my fellow countrymen and my brothers across the pond, thank you jake burns for making me thankful for living everyday, though i feel sorry i never served, cheers to all that died for my freedom,

[davesfence]

I/ve allway said that Jake has got tallent!!

[VespaPX2001981]

You can always rely on a Scottish(?) plastic Paddy Celtc supporter to desecrate a memorial.

[gertrude90]

celtics a scottish team mate

[VespaPX2001981]

The comment is obviously directed at the muppet whose comment has now been removed., not at Celtc

[guns2roses2rock]

you're talking of them shouting and messing up the 2 minute silence at whatever football game it was?

[glaggs]

'Cos the songs called Green field sof France! Perhaps if we'd lean't anything from that mees we wouldn't have troubles in the rest of the world?

[setaoca]

Actually, the song's title is The Green Fields of France. It was inspired by the grave of a young Scottish casualty of the Great War and laments the huge loss of life during that conflict. It has nothing to do with Ireland specifically.

[NorthernSoulGer]

wonderful song, very moving video - well done Jake Burns

[dogoboi]

Great video! 5*