I live in Tyrone and my love for this man makes me feel like a Dubliner, and on a tour of Glasnevin many moons ago I noticed that at the conclusion of the tour the guide had failed to take us to Luke Kelly's grave so I asked him where Luke's grave was, and he told me to go across the road as Luke was buried in the part of the cemetery with all the rest of the common Dublin folk and that gave me an untold level of respect for Luke as not only did he and his gravestone proclaim to be nothing more than the run of the mill Dubliner but he too was buried amongst them, away from the spotlight, the tours, the grandeur, just a simple cross with simple text nestled amongst the rest of the normal people. That is what showcases a real hero
Raglan Road on an Autumn Day,
I saw her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare
That I may one day rue.
I saw the danger, yet I walked
Along the enchanted way
And I said let grief be a falling leaf
At the dawning of the day.
On Grafton Street in November,
We tripped lightly along the ledge
Of a deep ravine where can be seen
The worst of passions pledged.
The Queen of Hearts still baking tarts
And I not making hay,
Well I loved too much; by such and such
Is happiness thrown away.
I gave her the gifts of the mind.
I gave her the secret sign
That's known to all the artists who have
Known true Gods of Sound and Time.
With word and tint I did not stint.
I gave her reams of poems to say
With her own dark hair and her own name there
Like the clouds over fields of May.
On a quiet street where old ghosts meet,
I see her walking now away from me,
So hurriedly. My reason must allow,
For I have wooed, not as I should
A creature made of clay.
When the angel woos the clay, he'll lose
His wings at the dawn of the day.
We sang this to my dad as he was dying, three weeks tomorrow. It was his go to at sessions. RIP my beautiful father. My world, the whole world, is a sadder place without you.
This has always been a favourite of mine, since I read it in schoolas a poem. In November 2012 on Grafton street I met my birth mother for the first time in 38 years. It makes it even more poignant for me.
I am from Nepal, and yet I find this music enchanting. We may be divided among our opinions, race, culture, identity, but a song like this unites us all.
