The Problem
Northern Ireland has a real image problem, that's hard to deny. Despite the recent revival in Ulster-Scots, it's saddening that there aren't too many decent songs around which deal specifically with Ulster or Northern Ireland, particularly what I'd consider folk songs. Of course there are Irish 'rebel' songs, which are well established throughout Ireland and America as parts of Irish culture. These songs, almost without exception, either bemoan perceived injustices of 200 years ago or more, or alternatively call Irishmen to arms to rebel against "800 years of British oppression" and other such predictable sentiments.

Anything You Can Do...
Since Republicans have their Fields of Athenrye, Soldier's Song, the Wearing of the Green, 4 Green Fields, Boys of the Old Brigade and so on to help keep them feeling anti-British and justifying violent action against them, it's little wonder that loyalists created their own songs, often to the same or similar tunes, and following the route of romanticising the murders and the "struggle".

Neither type of song does much to enhance Northern Ireland's image.

From my experiences as a teenager it appeared there wasn't going to be much in the way of song that I, as an Ulster-man, could be proud of. Something I could point to when asked about Northern Ireland to explain this little corner of the world. Obviously I'm not going to be pointing at any rebel songs full of bitterness and resentment or worse. Nor would I mention any of the loyalist songs I'd heard as a teenager, namely Here Lies a Soldier (of the UVF), Father's Advice (a YCV song) or the Billy Boys, lest I be associated with the sectarian drivel and hatred in them. That's not my culture.

Follow up:

A Glimmer of Light?
Now it's possibly debatable that Father's Advice, for example, referred to the original YCV formed around the time of the First World War, but like the name, that's not how it's used these days so I won't enter into that discussion. The only song I knew that wasn't like this was The Sash My Father Wore. Like the rebel song The Fields of Athenrye, while not in itself sectarian, The Sash has been (ab)used so much by one side down the years that it's now associated with sectarianism by proxy. Unlike the other songs mentioned above, I have hopes that the Sash will some day be seen for what it is - a traditional song celebrating a part of our heritage.

How Trendy Are We?
I was also aware, as I'm sure many are, of a few more up to date songs. Many of you are probably familiar with The Cranberries song Zombie. Another good one, I first heard of the Stiff Little Fingers' song "Alternative Ulster" thanks to it once being suggested as Northern Ireland's national anthem during a conversation. I searched the net for the lyrics and soon found myself listening to it. It's not exactly folk music, but it's a great song and is still in my play list. Not long after, I purchased a Stiff Little Fingers double album called "And Best of All... Hope Street", which includes their 1999(?) album "Hope Street" along with "And best of all..." , a compilation of SLF's greatest hits (including Alternative Ulster).

Time For Action
In the last few weeks I've been doing a little research (and I can't stress enough how incomprehensive it was) into this online. I wanted to find something I, and Northern Ireland generally, could be proud of. I'm happy to report I've found one or two songs about Ulster (or parts thereof) that I'd be happy to say contain some value. Some of these I knew, or knew of, already and some were completely new to me but I think all contribute to show that we're no all continually focused on driving the enemy (whichever enemy that may be) from Ulster. Some of the songs I found were cultural ones, some were of the more modern variety and there's one that I think fits in between somewhere. I think I'm going to take a song each day this week and write a little about it, including the lyrics and hopefully where you can find it. I'm doing this solely in the hope that these songs become more widely recognised and more widely available and who knows, maybe create some understanding.