There's Life in the Old Dog Yet
Encyclopedia
There's Life in the Old Dog Yet is an album by Ronnie Drew
Ronnie Drew
Joseph Ronald "Ronnie" Drew was an Irish singer and folk musician who achieved international fame during a fifty-year career recording with The Dubliners. He was born in Dun Laoghaire, County Dublin...

, released in 2006.

Produced by Phil Coulter
Phil Coulter
Phil Coulter is an artist with an international reputation as a successful songwriter, pianist, music producer, arranger and director. His success has spanned four decades and he is one of the biggest record sellers in Ireland...

, who wrote the title track, Drew recorded this album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 of songs about growing old shortly before being diagnosed with throat cancer
Esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma . Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus...

 in 2006, an irony which was commented on a few months later by both men on The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...

. The album contains many oldies
Oldies
Oldies is a term commonly used to describe a radio format that concentrates on music from a period of about 15 to 55 years before the present day....


or standards
Standard (music)
In music, a standard is a tune or song of established popularity.-See also:* Blues standard* Jazz standard* Pop standard* Great American Songbook-Further reading:* Greatest Rock Standards, published by Hal Leonard ISBN 0793588391...

, with the predominant theme of the album being old age and death. Even the traditionally upbeat singalong "The Wild Rover" has been transformed here into a lament. Whereas in the traditional version, the singer is saying he "will play the wild rover no more", this is his own choice; but in the version here, the reason is tha he is no longer able.
Not all the songs are downbeat and mournful. The title track is optimistic and "Wait Till The Clouds Roll By" is optimistic also: "Jenny, we'll be together / Just wait 'til the clouds roll by."

Track listing

  1. "There's Life in the Old Dog Yet"
  2. "September Song"
  3. "If I Had My Life to Live Over"
  4. "The Wild Rover"
  5. "Macushla
    Macushla
    Macushla is an Irish song copyrighted circa 1910 with music by Dermot MacMurrough and lyrics by Josephine V. Rowe. The title is a transliteration of the Irish mo chuisle meaning "my pulse" as used in the phrase a chuisle mo chroí meaning "darling" or "sweetheart".It was used in the end credits of...

    "
  6. "It Was A Very Good Year"
  7. "A Pint of Plain"
  8. "Irene Goodnight"
  9. "The Old House"
  10. "Wait Till The Clouds Roll By"
  11. "Love's Old Sweet Song"
  12. "Hard TImes"
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