690. Red is the Rose (Traditional Irish)

This song of immigration was popularised by Tommy Makem. Though many people think he wrote the lyrics, he actually said he learned it from his grandmother, and the song is probably as old as Loch Lomond, the Scottish song which uses the same 18th century Scottish tune - "Kind Robin Lo'es Me".

It was also sung, in a rather different style, by Joe Heany, who said he got it from his grandfather.

There are some good renditions on YouTube, including one by garibelon, who did it as a request for me. You can also her the Ennis sisters, with the Chieftains. There is also an excellent version by Jane Holohan and Joe Kerr, which was on vidlad's excellent channel, now removed for copyright reasons, but he has posted it elsewhere and it can be found if you google it. (There's also a link to these versions on my website.)

You can see a playlist of my Irish songs here: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=373C27204B0BB31F

For lyrics and chords of my songs please see my website: http://www.raymondcrooke.com

Category:

Music

Tags:

• folk
• song
• ireland
• parting
• immigration
• tommy
• makem
• joe
• heaney
• garibelon
• jane
• holohan
• chieftains

[RobinSparrow]

An absolutely beautiful rendition of one of my all-time favorite songs. Perfect voice for a perfect song :)

[raymondcrooke]

@RobinSparrow Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[eeyyee123]

can you give me guitar tabs by the way good music

[raymondcrooke]

@eeyyee123 I don't do tabs, but the chords are on my website (see information panel), under "Irish Songs".

[TheMelanieBeck]

very beautiful voice! great guitar skills also :)

[raymondcrooke]

@TheMelanieBeck Thank you.

[goodmister]

love this song, reminds me of my childhood, i am away to learn it now,

[RiversideTenor]

Thank you for sharing.

[raymondcrooke]

Thanks for checking it out.

[RiversideTenor]

Bingo, that sounds great!