A couple of weeks ago I posted a piece about the Home Nations with a view to starting a new series. I then completely forgot all about it and it was only a brief trawl through previous posts which jolted my memory.
As per the last time the nations will feature in alphabetical order to stop accusations of bias or favouritism.
Therefore we will start with England and who better to feature than the late great Kirsty MacColl with her interpretation of Billy Bragg's New England. I'm sure that Billy would concede that her version is better than his.
Last week the Undertones represented Northern Ireland .This time round it is the grumpy Irishman himself Sir George Ivan Morrison. He is accompanied by the Chieftains on Carrickfergus from their collaborative album Irish Heartbeat.
Lest I be accused of bigging up my home country Scotland here are indie darlings Ballboy with I Hate Scotland.
Last but by no means least it is time for Welsh royalty with none other that the legend that is Cerys Matthews. Here she is with Gyrru's Ychen which according to Wiki translates as driving oxen. It sounds much better in Welsh.
A further Home Nations round up next Friday - if I remember.
I love "Carrickfergus". And I love Scotland too, unlike those self-deprecating children.
ReplyDeleteGot to be England this week, with Scotland a reasonable second.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't a voting one is it? My instinct is usually to vote against England for the obvious reasons. I really liked Cerys' entry but she disappointed me by accepting an MBE ditto 'Sir' Van Morrison (though I love his 70s early 80s music dearly) which leaves Ballboy's entry which I really like. However, despite that waffle I'm going for Kirsty who hopefully rises above it all
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