I've been a wild rover for many a year

My roving has taken me to St. Louis for a conference, but thanks to free internet access, even roving is no hindrance to blogging.

As promised a week ago, here is the answer from madpoet, my dad, on why a half-Sephardic, half-Ashkenazi Jew of Portuguese and Baltic/Russian ancestry was raised on a continuous playlist of Irish folk music:

To be honest with you, I am not certain why I started you down the road of Irish music. I'd like to think that there was something about the music that somehow resonated genetically with both of us, but I suspect that is wishful thinking. More likely, before you were born I was a dyed in the wool folkie, due to the politics of the time, my need to be rebellious, and heaven knows what else. The problem with folk music then was that most of the singers wrote somewhat repetitious songs, and most of the women sounded largely the same, in the vein of Joan Baez or Judy Collins. Most of the men sounded like clones of Pete Seeger, and the truly talented ones couldn't sing a lick: consider Leonard Cohen or, dare I say it, Bob Dylan. On the other hand, bands like the Clancy Brothers combined not only highly political songs but a liveliness and singing ability that was somehow lacking in American folk music. And Irish bands were not above stealing great Irish songs from such traditional Irishman as Shell Silverstein (your introduction to unicorns). It was also about the time that the traditional music of Ireland was becoming popular with groups like the Bothy Band and Planxty. That was what I listened to, so that's what I sang to you as a child, and to your brother, though heaven knows where he went wrong. You also have to consider the fact that when I drank, which wasn't often, my drink of choice, because I wanted to be Irish, was either Guinness or Old Bushmills whiskey.

The bottom line is, I really have no idea why I so immersed you in Irish music, but I must say I'm glad I did. The Irish, Scottish, and to a lesser extent English folk bands had it all over their American counterparts, and even in the area of the folk rock, once you got past the Byrds, there was little back then that would approach Steeleye Span, Fairport Convention, or the Oyster Band. And, since you didn't turn out so bad, I have to think that it was the correct music for its time and remain so.

Thanks, dad!

I have to agree that it's the liveliness of Irish music that has always appealed to me, as well as the friends I've been able to introduce to it (I think I can claim credit for dkon's exposure to Black 47 and the Wolfe Tones, for instance). Music has gotten louder over the past few decades, however, as evidenced by people calling early Beatles albums "four young men screaming". Thus, while my dad and I still have a great deal of overlap in our tastes (Chieftains, Irish Rovers), he's more a fan of the better voices (especially Irish female singers), whereas my tastes lean somewhat obsessively toward Irish punk (Dropkick Murphys, Flogging Molly). In the end, though, much of the appeal is the same: Irish music is fundamentally about making the best of a bad situation. It's a running joke that essentially every Irish song involves at least two elements from a list of: getting drunk, fighting the British, starving in a famine, and being sent away to either Australia as a criminal or America as an immigrant. Some songs attempt all four. This form of music (happy songs about sad stuff) is perhaps the most powerful musical form ever created, underlying styles as varied as classic country (think Johnny Cash's prison songs) to geek rock (virtually every They Might Be Giants Song fits). It works for the same reason that Greek drama works: art is cathartic, and eases your troubles by empathizing with them and then finding some form of silver lining. It can easily be made a bit angrier and worked into punk music (see also the Gypsy punk of Gogol Bordello), and is devastating when counterpointed with something truly sad (more on this friday?). Tomorrow, I'll try to get into my problem with several of the genres of pop music today, in that this element of sadness is essentially missing, and try to tie it in with my take on the difference between my generation and the one immediately younger (kids these days!). Here's a hint: I blame cell phones. No, really, I do. More tomorrow.

They've both passed on, God rest 'em, but left me caught between, That awful color problem of the Orange and the Green.

Anyone who's spent any time around me at all generally becomes aware that I seem to be well-versed in Irish music for someone who's quite literally completely Jewish as far back as my roots can be traced. An Ahkenazi-Sephardic mix, true, but beyond occasional disputes over what is supposed to be avoided for Passover, it's Members of the Tribe all the way back. No, the story which I'll get the relevant party to explain properly some day is that I was raised on Irish music, particularly the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, from birth until it was too late to make a difference. As a result, I'll forever make the wholly misleading claim that I am indeed "one quarter almost-Irish", which is true, in a very strained way. Note that I didn't say "almost one quarter Irish", which is false. I'm almost Irish, not almost 1/4 anything.

Anyway, there is hopeful news out of Northern Ireland today. Remember, Ireland as a country is a generally peaceful place, the "Celtic Tiger" in Europe's economy, with a government more than willing to work things out with the UK. In Northern Ireland, where the IRA and loyalists waged a self-described "war" for most of the past century, things are looking much better. From the WaPo:

Northern Ireland's largest pro-Catholic political party voted overwhelmingly Sunday to cooperate with the predominantly Protestant police force, a remarkable reversal that was widely seen as a critical step toward cementing peace in a British province recovering from three decades of sectarian war....

The vote by Sinn Fein, the political affiliate of the Irish Republican Army, which waged a bloody struggle to free Northern Ireland from British rule, was a required step toward restoring a Catholic-Protestant power-sharing government in the province. The British government has given the bickering parties in Northern Ireland until March 26 to form a local government or see the province's affairs fully controlled by the central government in London.

I think this goes to the heart of one of the crucial issues in ending bloody conflicts: the best way to get people to stop killing each other is to have them stop killing each other. For at least a couple of years now, the IRA has basically gotten out of the business of killing Protestants (though certain members have been accused of killing Catholics in what are essentially gang-related killings). While some Protestant paramilitaries are still in the business of Sectarian murder, the death count is essentially down to under ten cases per year, vastly smaller than it used to be. Don't get me wrong, both sides still have plenty of hatred for the other, but once one side stops creating new martyrs for the other it's amazing how it can become a chain reaction. Even though the political process has been extremely rough for the past few years, it hasn't proven to be anywhere near the trigger point for further warfare. Even the deepest wounds heal over time, but not if you keep poking at them constantly.

The obvious parallel here is Israel and the Palestinians. I honestly can't say I have a true side in the conflict. I've never been to Israel, don't know more than a smattering of Israelis, and am something of a lapsed Reform Jew, if such a thing is possible. Israel has committed grave breaches of international law against the Palestinians, who have committed grave breaches of the same laws right back at them. Both sides have overseen the murders of thousands of innocents, and it is hard to name anyone in any position of leadership for either side without blood on their hands. Still, the Palestinian leadership is completely hopeless, and every break in the fighting with Israel turns within days to Fatah vs. Hamas civil war. It's pointless asking them to do anything as a nation-state, since they have no internal control over the population. The same cannot be said of Israel, which is an authentic country with working civic institutions. Even if it's not fair, and further Israelis will die at the hands of suicide bombers, the only real solution is for Israel to ratchet down the reprisals against Palestinians. It's not an issue of fairness at all, of course, just practicality. Even if eye-for-an-eye revenge seems more fair, it just guarantees more needless deaths for both sides. No, the biblical precept that would make a difference is the one about "turning the other cheek". It may not satisfy the animalistic need to spill the blood of those who have spilled blood, but it's the only path to peace out there. Many Jews out there would portray this as endorsing weakness, but the perception of strength has never been a valid long-term goal. Peace and prosperity are the long term goals, and it's about time that responsible adults (read: people out there not leading the American and Israeli governments) realize this. God willing, maybe someday the people fighting religious wars will actually bother to read their source material. I'd suggest the classic Proverbs 3:13-18

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that obtaineth understanding.
For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
She is more precious than rubies; and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
Length of days is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honour.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, and happy is every one that holdest her fast.