Irish Trojan in Tennessee

Vice President Biden?

By Brendan Loy

Joe Biden: hell yeah, I'd be Obama's veep!

As I've said before, I think Biden is a great choice in theory -- an experienced hand, sensible on foreign affairs, forceful on the war on terror, etc. In practice, he's a bit trickier: he's as slippery and slimy a Washington insider as they come, which doesn't exactly jive with Obama's message of change, and he has a bad habit of putting his foot in his mouth. (See: "articulate and clean," Indians at 7-Eleven, etc.)

Still, since I ultimately rank national security and foreign policy as my #1 voting priority, I'd be reassured by Obama picking Biden. I kind of doubt it will happen, though, especially now that he seems almost to be campaigning for it.

Holy stone and sand

By Brendan Loy

Great Big Sea's new album, Fortune's Favour, debuts tomorrow -- and I just noticed that Track 7 is "Banks of Newfoundland," which happens to be the first Newfoundland song that I ever learned! The chorus, as it's sung by the Irish Rovers (iTunes link here), goes like this:

We'll rub her 'round and scrub her 'round
With holy stone and sand,
And we'll say farewell to the Virgin Rocks
On the Banks of Newfoundland!

My father had (and presumably still has) a vinyl record of the 1969 Irish Rovers album The Life of the Rover, which had "Banks of Newfoundland" on it, and he would play it frequently on our old record player when I was a little kid. It was one of my favorites; I used to love singing that chorus when I was, oh, maybe 5 years old. :) I was also a big fan of the end of the final verse -- "And to the docks, they come in flocks / The pretty girls will stand / Sayin' it's snugger with me than it is at sea / On the banks of Newfoundland!" -- though of course I had no idea what those lyrics meant. ;) In the words of Grandpa Loomer, albeit referring to a different bawdy Irish tune that I famously sung at an even earlier age: "What kind of song is that for a three-year-old?" Heh.

Anyway, as is typical for traditional Irish/Maritime music, there are various different versions of the lyrics floating around, and probably different tunes, too. The snippet of an early Great Big Sea demo of "Banks of Newfoundland" that's played in Canada.com Webisode 11, Part 1, from 5:32 to 6:20, certainly sounds very different from the version I know. (Hat tip: Between The Rock And A Hard Place.) So I really don't know what Track 7 of Fortune's Favour will sound like. But I can't wait to find out! The prospect of hearing my favorite band belt out the hearty chorus of a song that I've known for almost my entire life, a childhood favorite, makes me even more excited than I already was for tomorrow's big debut.

I'll definitely be using a portion of one of my Father's Day presents from Becky -- an iTunes gift certificate -- to buy the album tomorrow. Great Big Sea rocks!

P.S. After the jump, I've posted the lyrics of the Irish Rovers' version of "Banks of Newfoundland," since I couldn't find that particular lyrical rendition online anywhere.

George Carlin dies at age 71

By David K.

Comedian George Carlin, whose off-color comedy caused him to run afoul of the FCC and led to a landmark Supreme Court case on decency and broadcasting, passed away from heart failure on Sunday in Los Angeles.