I had first heard David Keenan's music when I went to see Hozier with Gabe. I fell in love with his music. It felt strangely familiar. So today we are journeying to Ireland.
Keenan's song starts with a melancholy piano, before Keenan's voice is introduced. His voice has a soulful sadness in it, showing that the pain is deeper than emotional level. I find Keenan's voice really interesting, you can hear his accent in all his songs and I think that's a really lovely touch to his music. At times he has a softness to his voice before raising it at appropriate moments. For example, when he sounds angry, or when the music is building his voice builds with it. I think towards the end of the song, an organ is brought into the song which creates a more haunting feeling to the song, it also adds a religious element to the song. I like that the ending of the song brings this joyful almost pub vibe to it, bringing in a violin and more singers making it have a warm feeling. I also like that the song ends (in the music video) with a child speaking (in what I think is Gaeilge but I might be wrong), it brings the song almost full circle in a way. Showing a new found youth within the town,
The lyrics remind me of the Streets of London, the line 'Would I find any evidence of living amongst you saddening crowds?' really reminds me of that song. The songs speaks about a lot of things to do with the Church: the New Testament, the Bible, prayer and heaven. This is probably due to the religious aspects that are in this town. I don't know if this is the meaning of the song, but I often see it as a criticism for things happening in the world. The line 'We must move now to set an example for every kid who's dreams died in 5th class' drew me to this conclusion, it feels like he's saying if you're going to crush a child's dreams shouldn't you set an example. This is felt again in the line 'Would I find any evidence of living amongst you saddening crowds?' It feels like he is looking for some type of escape from his normality. Perhaps these are his frustrations with the secluded town he lives in.
I would love to know what other people feel about this song. Thank you as always for reading and feel free to leave suggestions x
Video: https://youtu.be/6E8cM55z1lQ
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