TITLE: "Young Ned of The Hill"
ARTIST: The Pogues
ALBUM: Peace & Love
RELEASE DATE: 1989
While I'm half-Irish on my mother's side, St. Patrick's Day has relatively no positive resonance for me whatsoever. For many years, I lived on the eastern end of 86th Street in Manhattan. As such, my street acted as the veritable alimentary canal for virtually every parade that marched up the Upper East Side. This meant that on every St. Patrick's Day, a mob of green-clad morons would stagger down our street to puke in our gutters and skirmish on our sidewalks. Suffice to say, this didn't really endear me to my Irish roots. That said, were you to quiz any one of these booze-sodden boneheads as to the meaning of St. Patrick's Day -- let alone to find Ireland on a map -- they'd invariably stare at you blankly. And then belch. And then hit you. So yeah, St. Patrick's Day is a stupid holiday in my book. Sorry.
So color me the emerald hypocrite, then, because I'm boarding an Amtrak later today to goto a St. Patrick's Day party up at my pal Rob's place in New London. The only remotely-Irish bit of clothing I could wear is a Virgin Prunes t-shirt (and it's not green). In a feeble attempt to rouse my dormant Gaelic heritage, herewith my favorite ever track by The Pogues. Crank it and high-five your nearest leperchaun.
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