Throw Steve in that deep ravine!

[sleigh]

 Am I boring you yet?

Another in the series of Pandemic World Basement Tapes, this time from a rearranged space in my basement; I'm standing rather than sitting; we'll see if it makes any difference. This is "Raglan Road", one the standard Irish tunes you'll often hear, with lyrics that are a poem by Patrick Kavanagh and music that comes from Edward Walsh a century earlier.

When I was in Ireland with Kelly Moffett and our students, we had a fantastic tour guide in Professor Muiris O'Sullivan, who is an historian and archeologist. When we were walking around Grafton Street, I asked Muiris about the second verse of this song: "The second verse goes 'On Grafton Street in November/ We tripped lightly along the ledge/ Of the deep ravine...' I've been here on Grafton Street three or four times now, and I've yet to come across a ledge or a ravine anywhere," I told him

He laughed. "The song's got it wrong," he answered (and I'm paraphrasing). "That's referring to the old canal, which was a couple streets over from here -- so it's a bit of artistic license."

If you get to Dublin, you'll probably go to Grafton Street, but you won't find either a ledge or a ravine. Just so you're not disappointed...

As always, this is a first take recording with any mistakes left in for you. If you're liking what I've been doing, why not subscribe to my channel?