In Ireland, a rebel song is a folk song whose lyrics extol the deeds of actual or fictional participants in any of the various armed rebellions against English, and later British, rule in Ireland. Songs about older rebellions were long popular with most Irish nationalists; more recent songs are associated with supporters of physical force Irish republicanism.
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History
The tradition of rebel music in Ireland dates back many centuries, dealing with historical events such as uprisings, describing the hardships of living under oppressive British rule, but also strong sentiments of solidarity, loyalty, determination, as well as praise of valiant heroes.
As well as a deep-rooted sense of tradition, rebel songs have nonetheless remained contemporary, and since 1922, the focus has moved onto the nationalist cause in Northern Ireland, including support for the IRA and Sinn Féin. However, the subject matter is not confined to Irish history, and includes the exploits of the Irish Brigades who fought for the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War, and also those who fought during the American Civil War.
Over the years, a number of bands have performed "crossover" music, that is, Irish rebel lyrics and instrumentation mixed with other, more pop styles. Damien Dempsey is known for his pop-influenced rebel ballads and bands like Seanchai and the Unity Squad and Beltaine's Fire combine Rebel music with Political hip hop and other genres.
Contemporary music
Irish rebel music has occasionally gained international attention. The Wolfe Tones' version of A Nation Once Again was voted the number one song in the world by BBC World Service listeners in 2002. Many of the more popular groups recently such as Saoirse, Éire Óg, Athenrye, Shebeen, Glasnevin, Mise Éire and Pádraig Mór are from Glasgow. The Bog Savages of San Francisco are fronted by an escapee from Belfast's Long Kesh prison who made his break in the September 1983 "Great Escape" by the IRA.
Music of this genre has often courted controversy with some of this music effectively banned from the airwaves in the Republic of Ireland in the 1980s. More recently, Derek Warfield's music was banned from Aer Lingus flights, after the Ulster Unionist politician Roy Beggs Jnr compared his songs to the speeches of Osama bin Laden. However, a central tenet of the justification for rebel music from its supporters is that it represents a long-standing tradition of freedom from tyranny.
List of notable artists
List of notable songs
Ballads
Sunday Bloody Sunday
The 1983 U2 album War includes the song "Sunday Bloody Sunday", a lament for the Northern Ireland troubles whose title alludes to the 1972 Bloody Sunday shooting of Catholic demonstrators by British soldiers. In concert, Bono began introducing the song with the disclaimer "this song is not a rebel song". These words are included in the version on Under a Blood Red Sky, the 1983 live album of the War Tour. The 1988 concert film Rattle and Hum includes a performance hours after the 1987 Remembrance Day bombing in Enniskillen, which Bono condemns in a mid-song rant.
In response, Sinéad O'Connor released a song with the title of 'This is a Rebel Song', as she explains in her live album How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?.
Many years before U2 wrote a song about the Bloody Sunday massacre it was John Lennon who wrote, recorded and performed a song called 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' (included, along with another song about Ireland, 'The Luck Of The Irish', in the album 'Some Time In New York City', 1972). Lennon had Irish roots, as did his songwriting partner Paul McCartney, who also wrote a song about British imperialism in Ireland ('Give Ireland Back to the Irish').