Ep 63 Karan Casey

Karan Casey  Does Singing Songs Make a Difference? This episode is a recording of Karan Casey’s keynote presentation at the close of the conference of the European Music Therapy Confederation in Edinburgh, 8-12 June 2022. Karan talked about songs and social justice, arts practice research, and about her own life and experiences as a performer and campaigner on social issues. She performed a number of songs as part of the presentation, and then had a conversation with Luke Annesley to explore these issues further. It was an inspiring ending to a varied and exciting conference. About Karan: Singing songs charged with a sense of social responsibility in a career spanning over 25 years Karan Casey has released eleven albums as well as contributing to numerous other artists’ projects – appearing on more than 50 albums in total. She has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Japan, performing with her own band as well as collaborating with such diverse musicians as Maura O’Connell, James Taylor, Bela Fleck, Boston Pops Orchestra, Kate Ellis, Niall Vallely, Pauline Scanlon, The Chieftains, The Dubliners, Peggy Seeger, Karen Matheson, Mick Flannery, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, Tim O’Brien, Solas and Lúnasa.  In 2018 Karan helped found FairPlé which is an organization aimed at achieving fairness and gender balance for female performers in Irish traditional and folk musics. Karan tours with her band Niamh Dunne, Sean Óg Graham and Niall Vallely. Karan’s most recent album Hieroglyphs That Tell the Tale was released on the Vertical Records Label. Her song “Down in the Glen” was nominated for Best Original Folk Song at the RTE Folk Awards 2019 and she completed a PhD in music in 2019. Karan has recently performed her new show with Director Sophie Motley called I Walked into My Head which was premiered at the Kilkenny Arts Festival 2021. Karan is currently working on a new stage show to be produced at the Everyman Theatre in Cork in early 2023 as well as an album of new songs about women in the Irish revolutionary period. Please note: As we are awaiting permission to include the performance of 'The King's Shilling' in this episode, here is a YouTube link to Karan's studio version of the song. Reviews of Karan's music: "Karan Casey’s latest album is revelatory. She’s always been a singer of songs that tell a story and show their muscle…This is a strikingly three-dimensional work that stands the test of intensive and repeated listening with ease. A vivid and dazzling snapshot of Casey invincible, at the height of her powers.” Siobhán Long, Irish Times   “Casey’s voice is among the loveliest in folk music and she’s a wonderful interpreter of both contemporary and traditional material.” BOSTON GLOBE   “Karan Casey's latest solo venture is a thing of rare beauty.” SING OUT   "The most soulful singer to emerge in Irish traditional music in the past decade." THE GLASGOW HERALD   “If ever any doubt existed about who's the best Irish traditional woman singer today, "Exiles Return" sweeps aside all pretenders…Karan Casey has no vocal peer.” IRISH ECHO   Songs Siúil a Rúin (trad.) The King's Shilling (Ian Sinclair) Rocks of Bawn (trad.) Ballad of Accounting (Ewen MacColl) I'm Still Standing Here (Janis Ian) Hear How the Music it Heals (trad.) Bog Braon (trad.)   Other links and references: Casey, K. (2017, September). Singing my way to Social Justice. In Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy (Vol. 17, No. 3).  Davis, A. Y. (2011). Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday. Vintage. www.karancasey.com [email protected]   Lyrics   Siúil a Rúin   I wish I was on yonder hill 'Tis there I would sit and cry my fill Until every tear it would turn a mill Is go dté tú mo mhúirnín slán I would sell my rock, I would sell my reel I would sell my only spinning wheel For to buy my love a sword of steel Is go dté tú mo mhúirnín slán Siúil, siúil, siúil a rúin Siúil go sochair agus siúil go ciúin Siúil go doras agus éalaigh liom Is go dté tú mo mhúirnín slán And now my love he has gone to France To try his fortune to advance And if he returns, 'tis but a chance Is go dté tú mo mhúirnín slán Siúil, siúil, siúil a rúin Siúil go sochair agus siúil go ciúin Siúil go doras agus éalaigh liom Is go dté tú mo mhúirnín slán   I wish, I wish, I wish in vain I wish I had my heart again And it’s vainly I think that I would not complain Is go dté tú mo mhúirnín slán   The King’s Shilling   Oh my love has left me with bairnes twa And that's the last of him I ever saw He's joined the army and marched to war He took the shilling He took the shilling and he’s off to war   Come laddies come, hear the cannons roar Take the King's shilling and you’re off to war   Well did he look as he marched along With his kilt and sporran and his musket gun And the ladies tipped him as he marched along He sailed out by He sailed out by the Broomielaw   The pipes did play as he marched along And the soldiers sang out a battle song March on, march on, cried the Captain gay And for King and country For King and country we will fight today   Come laddies come, hear the cannons roar Take the King's shilling and we're off to war   The battle rattled to the sound of guns And the bayonets flashed in the morning sun The drums did beat and the cannons roared And the shilling didn't seem Oh the shilling didn't seem much worth the war   Come laddies come, hear the cannons roar Take the King's shilling and we're off to war   Well the men they fought and the men did fall Cut down by bayonets and musket ball And many of these brave young men Would never fight for Would never fight for the King again   Come laddies come, hear the cannons roar Take the King's shilling and we're off to war Come laddies come, hear the cannons roar Take the King's shilling and you’ll die in war     Rocks of Bawn   Come all ye loyal heroes wherever you may be. Don't hire with any master till you know what your work will be You will rise up early from the clear day light till the dawn and you never will be able for to plough the Rocks of Bawn.   Rise up, gallant Sweeney, and give your horse some hay And give them a good feed of oats before they stray away Don't feed them on soft turnip put them out on your green lawn Or they never will be able for to plough the Rocks of Bawn.   My curse upon you, Sweeney boy, you have me nearly robbed You're sitting by the fireside with your dúidín in your gob You're sitting by the fireside now from clear daylight till the dawn And you never will be able for to plough the Rocks of Bawn   My shoes they are worn and my stockings they are thin My heart is always trembling for fear they might give in My heart is always trembling from the clear daylight till the dawn And I never will be able for to plough the Rocks of Bawn.   I wish the Queen of England she would call for me in time And place me in some regiment all in my youth and prime I'd fight for Ireland's glory from the clear daylight till dawn And I never would return again to plough the Rocks of Bawn.     Ballad of Accounting   In the morning we built the city In the afternoon walked through its streets Evening saw us leaving We wandered through our days as if they would never e All of us imagined we had endless time to spend We hardly saw the crossroads And small attention gave To landmarks on the journey from the cradle to the grave, cradle to the grave, cradle to the grave   Did you learn to dream in the morning? Abandon dreams in the afternoon? Wait without hope in the evening? Did you stand there in the traces and let them feed you lies? Did you trail along behind them wearing blinkers on your eyes? Did you kiss the foot that kicked you? Did you thank them for their scorn? Did you ask for their forgiveness for the act of being born, act of being born, act of being born?   Did you alter the face of the city? Did you make any change in the world you found? Or did you observe all the warnings? Did you read the trespass notices did you keep off the grass? Did you shuffle off the pavement just to let your betters pass? Did you learn to keep your mouth shut, Were you seen and never heard? Did you learn to be obedient and jump to at a word, jump to at a word, jump to at a word?   Did you ever demand any answers? The who, the what or the reason why? Did you ever question the setup? Did you stand aside and let them choose while you took second best? Did you let them skim the cream off and then give to you the rest? Did you settle for the shoddy? Did you think it right To let them rob you right and left and never make a fight, never make a fight, never make a fight?   What did you learn in the morning? How much did you know in the afternoon? Were you content in the evening? Did they teach you how to question when you were at the school? Did the factory help you grow, were you the maker or the tool? Did the place where you were living Enrich your life and then Did you reach some understanding of all your fellow men, all your fellow men, all your fellow men?     I’m Still Standing Here   See these lines upon my face They’re a map of where I’ve been In the deep they are traced a deeper life has settled in How do we survive living out our lives   I wouldn’t trade a line make it smooth or fine Or pretend that time stands still I want to rest my soul here where it can grow without fear Another line another year I’m still standing here   See these marks upon my skin They’re the lyric of my life Every story that begins Means another ends in sight Only lover’s understand Skin just covers who I am   I wouldn’t trade a line make it smooth or fine Or pretend that time stands still I want to rest my soul here where it can grow without fear Another line another year I’m still standing here   See these bruises see these scars Hieroglyphs that tell the tale You can read them in the dark Through your fingertips like braille   I wouldn’t trade a line make it smooth or fine Or pretend that time stands still I want to rest my soul here where it can grow without fear Another line another year I’m still standing here