This past weekend we had Black 47 at the Opera House. If you don’t know Black 47, they are an Irish rock band based out of NYC. Their band leader and song writer, Larry Kirwan, was interviewed by JTAMS and Historical Society Board Member Dan Hugos a few weeks back. I had the opportunity to follow up with Larry after his performance on Saturday night.
Given the nature of the band’s music, which is very politically driven, the conversation with Larry was a lot of fun. Larry sings about the working class, the every day man and his struggle against tyranny and oppression, both in current times and in
Q: You were kind of playing with the idea of writing a Molly Maguires song but said that you couldn’t quite get into their head or the mindset. I was wondering, being in Jim Thorpe right now where it all went down, have you kind of explored a little bit and had the opportunity to visit the Jail and Museum?
A: They were all closed when I got here, but I got a feeling of the place. I come from an old historical place
Q: Aww. So you missed the jail?
A: Yeah.
I went way beyond just thinking about a Molly Maguires song, I’ve actually written them. But they weren’t right, you know. With the Bobby Sands songs it took me 15 years to get into his head. So, it’s like fishing almost. You throw the line out and maybe you get it. You can’t rush it.
Q: Are you staying in town overnight?
A: No, but I know the area. I know
Q: I think the Jail would give you something. I hadn’t heard of the Molly Maguires before I moved here . I took the tour and it was very fascinating. The hand print on the wall and the fact that they were hung there, you can feel something and it gave you a good sense of things then.
A; Yeah, I’ll get it. I know it’s there. I even had the music of one.
Q: You just felt it didn’t do it justice?
A: Exactly. I could do it, that’s no problem. I could write a song right now, but I didn’t get into it right yet. It has to be unique because they were unique people. You have to do them justice. Doing them justice is the thing.
Q: Your music is very political. I wanted to ask about what you thought of the political climate in the U.S today?
A: I think it,s crazy. It,s nutty. Television and talk radio are just such a bad influence on the country. It’s a 24-hour news cycle and everyone is just jumping on the smallest thing. Nothing is getting done. It’s going to be a bad health insurance bill.
Q: I know. I’m ready to break out in tears because I’ve waited 8 years for a President to actually do something about the problem and now we have this all going on with it.
A; My health insurance just went up 17%, right. But I did get choice. I can go to this other company and it would be fine but they don’t use any of the doctors that I go to. So then I’d have to start all over.
Q: I paid $850 per month for me and my son alone when I lived in NY. I ended up lapsing when I moved and I have a pre-existing condition and, well, you can imagine.
A: The whole thing is ridiculous and it shouldn’t be that way. It’s not that way in any other industrialized world and yet it’s going to be a bad health insurance plan that’s going to be coming in. It will be watered down. And the problem will have to be dealt with 10 or 15 years down the line.
Q: I like how you sing about the working class especially since I feel our government has been taken over by corporations.
A: It has. I don’t like polls, but for instance, 65% of the American people want a public option. But their representatives don’t because they are getting paid off by the insurance companies. And they are using this big thing of socialism or the government but when it comes down to it…
Q: They are comparing Obama to Hitler for crying out loud!
A: Yeah, It’s crazy. He’s going to get killed you know. He’s going to get shot because of that.
Q: We’re going through our own political revolution here in the
A: Well, you know you’ve got to get beyond the talk shows and cable TV because basically what they are doing are is selling ads that are saying things that are outrageous.
I went on to tell Larry about the HR 200 bill and that I personally read a lot of portions of the bill. I particularly read the parts that were referred to by a right wing radio commentator in which he stated the page numbers and section and went on to tell his listeners what it said. Some of it was so outrageous that I took it as a challenge to find out if what he spoke was the truth or fabrication. Of course, upon reading each line, section and page he outlined, I found that 99% of what he had said was an outright lie or a big stretch all meant to put fear in the minds of the American people. We had some conversation about that and in particular the “kill granny” propaganda.
A: You know another thing is people have to face up to the truth of it. If you are 85 or 90 and you’re on the way out and Dr’s want to give you triple bypass at that point I mean give me a break. You have to face up to that .
Q: That is uniquely an American problem. I think that one of the reasons that the Europeans are able to have such a system of medicine is because they face the reality of it.
A: But you know that has to be something that has to be dealt with.
Q: You have to write a song about health care reform. (laughing)
A:.. (Laughing) That is a hard one to do. I write about characters. It’s hard to write about issues. It’s a lot harder because you’re preaching. All I can do is set up a character or a certain set of events and write about that and the people take their own message from it.
Q: Write about Glenn Beck. (both laughing)
A: I can’t deal with these idiots, you know?
At this point in the conversation I joked about having to edit this blog somewhat so as not to alienate any of our patrons.
A: Well, you know we speak out and we get alienated. We would have double the crowd if we weren’t that way but that’s what Black 47 is about. People leave when they hear we are political, you know. You can see people walking out. They don’t walk out as much any more. When we were doing the
Q: Your songs in the
A: Well, we were against the war. We were against it when most were for it. A lot of people were for the war. Eight five percent (85%) of the people were for the invasion.
Q: Well, I supported it because I thought it was necessary until I found out it wasn’t necessary and we shouldn’t have been there.
A: Well, I didn’t because I knew it was bullshit right from the start. The first night we invaded was on St. Patrick’s day and we had a big show. We came out against it and it was just a nightmare. People walked out, but you know you have got to do it.
Q: Having been on the road you must have some fun stories about touring.
A: No. I don’t have any. What happens on the road stays on the road. (laughing)
Q: You don’t have to tell me the dirtiest or the most embarrassing.
A: Well, I don’t have any really. Everyday is a different thing. There are some awful and good things that happen.
Q: I guess an appropriate answer would be the story you just told me about your St. Patrick’s day performance and how you were outspoken about the war.
A: Yeah you can talk about that one. That was a mind blower actually.
Q: Describe what happened, exactly.
A: Well, I just thought it was ridiculous thing to invade
Q: And what happened at your concert that night?
A: Ah, it was like people were booing and whatever. They were walking out and taking albums, throwing them on the ground. Not everyone was.
Q: Now they would love you.
A: No no, now they dance to it. But back then…
Q: Isn’t that amazing how it changed in 8 years?
A: But you have to remember there are 150,000 troops there. It’s bullshit that they are still there. Everyone’s forgotten about the thing by now and you have to remember we’re going to have 40,000 more troops going to
Q: Yeah... and we still haven’t caught one man strapped to dialysis machine hiding out in the mountains!
A: He’s probably in the East Village of NY (laughing). I mean if you are going to hide out, NY would be a great place to do it, like in the Men in Black movie.
Q: What did you think of Sarah Palin and the previous election?
A: She’s a fucking dope and you can quote me on that. I mean she’s very decent enough woman in a ways but, to be considering her for President I mean that’s nuts. Well it doesn’t say much to John McCain for the decision to have her on the ticket.
I mean to have Sarah Palin be president? I mean we are in enough trouble already.
We were soon joined by others from the Opera House lingering after the show and our political discussions continued. Larry pointed out that today’s news outlets do not give you the news straight but deliver it with a slant, whether it’s Fox News, which tends to lean right, and MSNBC which tends to lean to the left. He said that he is already left wing and doesn’t need the news on that slant, but that he would like his news straight and then make his own conclusions, of which all of us whole heartedly agreed.
The conversation that I had with Larry is indeed a political one but, to edit it in order to avoid possible alienation of our readers and patrons with a different political point of view would in no way do the band and the message of its front man justice. Black 47 has a message, and whether you agree with that message or not you have to appreciate the passion he puts into his work and what he tries to do with his music. As he says, anyone reading this that may not agree with his points would simply say “ah, he’s just another asshole from NY’.
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