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Eileen Clancy
@clancyny.bsky.social
Studying and researching History of Science, Technology, and Computing. Many careered, video archivist. Earnest poster. Enthusiastic and clumsy. Insufficiently reverent. Degree: Digital Humanities. Cis lesbian.
5.3k followers2.3k following18.9k posts
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Reading the news, I often think of this lyric: 'And you dare to call me a terrorist / while you look down your gun’ Rather than boldness, the song "ends with an imperfect cadence and a lament: ‘for everything is lost and nothing’s won.’" Empire and impunity. irishborderpoll.com/2023/08/14/w...

An epic ballad from the same time, Joe McDonell (Warfield 1983) tells the story of the fifth out of ten men to die during the 1981 Hunger Strike that Sands led. During any raucous events, the Wolfe Tones will pause for several minutes if necessary to appeal for quiet. I have witnessed Warfield go to great lengths to introduce the story for an audience clearly too young to remember. The most memorable lyric ‘And you dare to call me a terrorist / while you look down your gun’ is an answer to every criticism of Irish rebel songs, when nothing of the sort is aimed at the ever-marching, ever-armed British military regime and its ever-increasing impunity for war crimes not just in Ireland but across the globe. It is customary for audiences to clap when the names of the Hunger Strikers are sung. The celebration is for the courage of laying down one’s life. Far from celebrating IRA actions, the song reflects on the futility of it all. It ends with an imperfect cadence and a lament: ‘for everything is lost and nothing’s won’. Some may argue that the legacy bill being celebrated by both the Tory and Labour parties in Britain will ensure that the soldiers with blood on their hands will lose nothing.

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The most memorable lyric ‘And you dare to call me a terrorist / while you look down your gun’
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Eileen Clancy
@clancyny.bsky.social
Studying and researching History of Science, Technology, and Computing. Many careered, video archivist. Earnest poster. Enthusiastic and clumsy. Insufficiently reverent. Degree: Digital Humanities. Cis lesbian.
5.3k followers2.3k following18.9k posts