One Night Upon My Rambles…
This entry in my weekly brog is a kind of stream-of-consciousness affair; I’m a bit scatterbrained as we scramble to get ready for our trip, but I wanted to get something written so I can focus on the task at hand. It’s not an entirely unfamiliar phenomenon for me to forget something crucial in the packing process, and it’s particularly bad now that I’m so out of practice with touring. Passports in order, rail passes, instruments, tabi, and lyrics to songs I haven’t sung in 5 years all have to find their way into whatever hodgepodge of luggage we’ve managed to stockpile. I’m sure I’m forgetting something. Anyway…
We’re getting closer to the biggest day of the year for Irish musicians: St. Patrick’s Day, a.k.a. St. Paddy’s Day, or just Paddy’s Day for short (#paddynotpatty). It’s the annual event where “everyone’s at least a little Irish” and the stereotyping-machine goes into full overdrive. St. Patrick’s Day has become a pretty big deal in Japan—not quite on par with Christmas or Halloween, but there are parades, decorations, and gigs galore.
St. Patrick’s Day at one time could be counted on to bankroll a musician’s entire year. In a typical day, I would start as early as 8am and never finished until 2am on March 18th, with breaks barely long enough to get from one venue to the next. My most ambitious year was 2006 when I played the St. Patrick’s Day parade (in a freak snowstorm) in Kyoto, got on a flight out of Kansai Airport that afternoon, landed in Seattle at 8am the same day I left, and played a full spate of gigs until closing time.
in front of Kyoto City Hall, St. Patrick’s Day 2006
That grind was fun when I was in my twenties—even my thirties—when I had the seemingly boundless energy of youth. Given the trouble I have staying up past 10 o’clock at night these days, I think trying to play 18 hours straight now might just kill me. This St. Patrick’s Day I’ll be back in Kyoto for what should be a much more civilized affair. Colleen, Genta, and myself will be playing at Ichinen-ji, a Muromachi period Buddhist temple, with a very decorous 5pm start time. Thank you Genta (and Duncan, et al).
The Irishman as boozer and brawler is as derogatory as it is ubiquitous. Liquor is seemingly a part of the very fabric of Irish society, at least going by the t-shirts sold at Walmart. Interestingly, while the French may have their wine, and the Russians their vodka and so on, few if any cultures are as defined by their drinking habits as the Irish.
it’s not so much offensive as it is just…really dumb.
Japan places huge societal importance on drinking, or at least it used to. Thankfully, the full-contact sport of after work drinks of the salaryman in Japan more and more is being viewed as outdated amongst the younger set. But I still find it strange that the drinking culture of Japan is not as baked in to the perception of Japan on the whole.
There are countless songs about whiskey in Irish folk music, none more famous than Whiskey in the Jar, popularized by Makem and Clancy, The Dubliners, and of course later by Thin Lizzy, and Metallica.
Clockwise from top left: Makem & Clancy, The Dubliners, Thin Lizzy, Metallica
Interestingly, Whiskey in the Jar, this most anthemic of Irish songs had been lost in Ireland. The song was revived in 1941, sung to famous folklorists Anne and Frank Warner by Lena Bourne Fish of East Jaffrey, NH and brought back to prominence by the aforementioned Makem and Clancy in the 1960’s.
Irish quiz! There are a handful of Irish words that have made their way into common English language. One such word appears in this brog: Do you know which one it is? (Need a hint? It’s in the second paragraph.)
More anon,
Hanz
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…it’s galore.