Playing the Indian Card

Thursday, November 10, 2011

The Sidewalks of New York

One of the great things about Irish music is that the songs keep getting picked up again and reinterpreted in new ways. We have mellow versions, punk versions, classical versions, rock versions.

It's time someone went back and reinterpreted some of the songs of the fin de siecle up to the twenties in this way. There are some great songs with some great lyrics from that time, but they are only ever done as period pieces, which makes them sound like they are preserved in formaldehyde rather than being living songs, which I think they really could be.

"The Sidewalks of New York" really jumps out at me in this regard. So does "After the Ball is Over." "Ol' Man River." "My Blue Heaven." "Sweet Georgia Brown."

Note, I mean not done in repro style, but recast as modern songs.

There's a huge market niche for a new musical act there.

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