THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

283-The Dubliners with The Pogues-The Irish Rover.

1987-Number 8 single.

Best Bit-At 3.20. The songs narrator appears to embellish the facts, perhaps he has had one or two many Guinness’.
The Dubliners were an Irish Folk band formed in 1962, in Dublin, Ireland, they were initially called ‘The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group,’ and remained active until 2012. The group were founded by Ronnie Drew, (1934-2008) Luke Kelly, (1940-1984) Barney McKenna, (1939-2012) and Ciaran Bourke (1935-1988) as ‘The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group,’ but shortly after being joined by John Sheahan they became ‘The Dubliners.’ In total there have been 12 different members come and go during the bands 50 year career. They recorded 17 studio Albums between 1967-1996, and 23 singles between 1964-2013. In Ireland 17 of their singles reached the top 40, with four of those making Number 1, while in the UK, three singles have reached the top 40, including ‘Seven Drunken Nights,’ (1967 Number 7 ) and ‘Black Velvet Band’ (1967 Number 15.) The Dubliners were by far the leading force in popularising Irish Folk music in Europe, influencing generations of Irish bands such as The Pogues, (see also best songs 35) and the Dropkick Murphys. They are held in the highest regard in Ireland, where their covers of traditional Irish ballads are regarded as the definitive versions,

This version of ‘The Irish Rover’ first appeared on The Dubliners 1987 double Album ’25 Years Celebration,’ which has 30 tracks, of which two are collaborations with The Pogues, the other track they recorded together is the traditional Irish Folk song ‘Mountain Dew.’ ‘The Irish Rover’ is also a traditional Irish Folk song, dating back to around the early 1800’s, the authorship is uncertain, but it has been attributed to J.M. Crofts. Others have come to the conclusion that it was probably written by a sailor, as there are nautical references.

The lyrics describe an unrealistically large 27 masted ship carrying a very colourful crew, and various types of cargo in impossible enormous amounts. The probability is that the amount of cargo carried has been exaggerated more and more down the years, for example ‘The Irish Rover’ carries ‘one million bags of the best Sligo rags,’ and travels with ‘five million hogs,’ and six million dogs,’ -which I think even ‘Noah’s Ark’ would have been jealous of. After seven years the voyage ends disastrously, when the crew contract measles, the ship loses it’s way in the fog, strikes a rock, and leaves the songs narrator as the only survivor, so there is no one else alive to contradict his tale.

‘On the fourth of July eighteen hundred and six we set sail from the sweet cove of Cork. We were sailing away with a cargo of bricks for the Grand City Hall in New York.’