Red Roses for Me
Encyclopedia
Red Roses for Me was the first full length album by the London
-based band The Pogues
and was released in 1984
. It is filled with traditional Irish music performed with punk
influences. Traditional songs and ballads mixed with Shane MacGowan
's "gutter hymns" about drinking, fighting and sex was innovative at the time. Or as lead singer MacGowan explained the music: "I couldn't believe that nobody else were doing it, so we went on doing it ourselves..." The title "Red Roses for Me
" is the name of a play by Sean O'Casey
, though his works do not show any direct influence upon the band. O'Casey's song of the same name has been recorded by The Dubliners
. The album reached number 89 in the UK album charts.
The front of the album shows the band with the exception of drummer of Andrew Rankin (pictured in inset) sitting in front of a picture of United States
president John F. Kennedy
. The back features Shane MacGowan pictured with his foot in a cast. Accordion player James Fearnley has a bottle sticking out of his coat, while bass player Cait O'Riordan is seen holding a can of beer.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based band The Pogues
The Pogues
The Pogues are a Celtic punk band, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before...
and was released in 1984
1984 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1984.-Janury-March:*January 21 – "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood reaches number one in the UK singles chart, despite being banned by the BBC; it spends a total of forty-two weeks in the Top 40.*January 27 – Michael Jackson's...
. It is filled with traditional Irish music performed with punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
influences. Traditional songs and ballads mixed with Shane MacGowan
Shane MacGowan
Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan is an Irish musician and singer, best known as the original singer and songwriter of The Pogues.-History:...
's "gutter hymns" about drinking, fighting and sex was innovative at the time. Or as lead singer MacGowan explained the music: "I couldn't believe that nobody else were doing it, so we went on doing it ourselves..." The title "Red Roses for Me
Red Roses for Me (play)
Red Roses for Me is a four-act play written by Irish playwright Seán O'Casey which premiered at the Olympia Theatre in Dublin in 1943. The story is set against the backdrop of the Dublin Lockout of 1913, events in which O'Casey himself had participated....
" is the name of a play by Sean O'Casey
Seán O'Casey
Seán O'Casey was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes.- Early life:...
, though his works do not show any direct influence upon the band. O'Casey's song of the same name has been recorded by The Dubliners
The Dubliners
The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...
. The album reached number 89 in the UK album charts.
The front of the album shows the band with the exception of drummer of Andrew Rankin (pictured in inset) sitting in front of a picture of United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
president John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. The back features Shane MacGowan pictured with his foot in a cast. Accordion player James Fearnley has a bottle sticking out of his coat, while bass player Cait O'Riordan is seen holding a can of beer.
Track listing
The original UK LP has the following track listing- "Transmetropolitan" (MacGowan) - 4:15
- "The Battle of BrisbaneBattle of BrisbaneThe "Battle of Brisbane" was violence between United States military personnel on one side and Australian servicemen and civilians on the other, in Brisbane, Australia on 26–27 November 1942, during World War II. Australia and the US were Allies at the time...
" (MacGowan) - 1:49 - "The Auld TriangleThe Auld Triangle"The Auld Triangle" is a song written by Dominic Behan for his brother Brendan Behan and is featured in Brendan's play The Quare Fellow. It is used to introduce the play, a story about the occurrences in a prison the day a convict is set to be executed...
" (Dominic BehanDominic BehanDominic Behan was an Irish songwriter, short story writer, novelist and playwright who wrote in both Irish and English. He was also a committed socialist and Irish Republican...
, Brendan BehanBrendan BehanBrendan Francis Behan was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright who wrote in both Irish and English. He was also an Irish republican and a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army.-Early life:...
) - 4:20 - "Waxie's Dargle" (Traditional) - 1:53
- "Boys from the County Hell" (MacGowan) - 2:56
- "Sea Shanty" (MacGowan) - 2:24
- "Dark Streets of London" (MacGowan) - 3:33
- "Streams of Whiskey" (MacGowan) - 2:32
- "Poor PaddyPoor Paddy Works on the Railway"Poor Paddy Works on the Railway" is a popular Irish folk and American folk song. Historically, it was often sung as a sea chanty. The song portrays an Irish worker working on a railroad....
" (Traditional) - 3:09 - "Dingle Regatta" (Traditional) - 2:52
- "Greenland Whale FisheriesGreenland Whale Fisheries"Greenland Whale Fisheries" is a traditional sea song. In most of the versions collected from oral sources, the song opens up giving a date for the events that it describes . However, the song is actually older than this and a form of it was published as a ballad before 1725.The song tells of a...
" (Traditional) - 2:36 - "Down in the Ground Where the Dead Men Go" (MacGowan) - 3:30
- "Kitty" (Traditional) - 4:23
Bonus tracks
The first CD issue of the album had a total of 14 tracks, adding "Whiskey You're the Devil" as track 8. In 2004 a remastered CD was issued adding a total of 6 bonus tracks to the original UK album listing. "Repeal of the Licensing Laws" was the B-side of "The Boys From The County Hell" their second single. "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" was the B-side of their first single, "Dark Streets Of London". "Whiskey You're The Devil" and "Mursheen Durkin" were the B-sides of their third single, "A Pair Of Brown Eyes". "The Wild Rover" was the B-side of their fourth single, "Sally Maclennane".- "The Leaving of LiverpoolThe Leaving of LiverpoolThe Leaving of Liverpool is a 1992 television mini-series, an Australian–British co-production between the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and British Broadcasting Corporation...
" (Traditional) - "Muirshin DurkinMursheen DurkinTo the alehouse and the playhouse and many's the house besides,But I told me brother Seamus I'd go off and go right famousAnd before I'd return again I'd roam the whole world wide.ChorusSo goodbye, Muirsheen Durkin, I'm sick and tired of working,...
" (Traditional) - "Repeal of the Licensing Laws" (instrumental) (Stacy)
- "And the Band Played Waltzing MatildaAnd The Band Played Waltzing Matilda"And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" is a song written by Scottish-born Australian singer-songwriter Eric Bogle in 1971. The song describes war as futile and gruesome, while criticising those who seek to glorify it...
" (Eric BogleEric BogleEric Bogle is a folk singer-songwriter. He emigrated to Australia in 1969 and currently resides near Adelaide, South Australia.-Career:...
) - "Whiskey You're The Devil" (Traditional)
- "The Wild RoverThe Wild RoverThe Wild Rover is a popular folk song whose origins are contested.According to Professor T. M. Devine in his book The Scottish Nation 1700 - 2000 the song was written as a temperance song. The song is found printed in a book, The American Songster, printed in the USA by W.A...
" (Traditional)
Performers
- Shane MacGowanShane MacGowanShane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan is an Irish musician and singer, best known as the original singer and songwriter of The Pogues.-History:...
– VocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
/GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Jem FinerJem FinerJem Finer is an English musician, artist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Pogues.-Life and career:...
– BanjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new... - Spider StacySpider StacyPeter "Spider" Stacy is an English musician. He is one of the founding members of London Irish band The Pogues.- External links :* [Twitter @SpiderStacy] [myspace.com/spiderstacythepogues]*...
– Tin WhistleTin whistleThe tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, English Flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, Tin Flageolet, Irish whistle and Clarke London Flageolet is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the recorder, American Indian flute, and... - James FearnleyJames FearnleyJames Fearnley is an English musician. He plays accordion in the folk/punk band The Pogues.As a child he was a choir treble, but his voice changed at the age of sixteen. He took piano lessons but did not enjoy it, so he chose to learn the guitar instead...
– AccordionAccordionThe accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist.... - Cait O'RiordanCait O'RiordanCaitlín O'Riordan is a British musician. She played bass guitar for the British-Irish punk/folk band The Pogues from 1983 to 1986. She later played with Elvis Costello, her husband from 1986 to 2002, as well as several other projects....
– Bass GuitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Andrew RankenAndrew RankenAndrew Ranken is an English drummer, best known as the percussionist for the English-Irish band The Pogues.He joined the band in 1983 and appeared on all of their recordings and tours until their breakup in 1996. He went on to join the bands Metropolitan Waterboard and Kippers, fronted by...
– DrumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Phil ChevronPhil ChevronPhilip Ryan , professionally known as Philip Chevron, is an Irish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the guitarist for The Pogues.-Career:...
– GuitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
on Bonus Tracks