The foggy dew

ApeXaviour

Firstly: what a fantastic song no? Granted you may need to be of a slightly nationalist sentiment to enjoy it fully, but I'm sure everybody can appreciate its poetry and sheer power.

There seem to be as many variations of this song as there are words in it. Of the version that speaks of the 1916 rising; I'm just wondering if anybody knows if there are "official lyrics" or are all these variations equally substantial?

Some versions say "Brittania's huns", while others say "Brittania's sons". I personally prefer the latter as I believe it shows a certain empathy of the enemy and doesn't demonise them to the point of detachment. A theme that tends to run through the song in general as it speaks of the many Irish fighting for the british in WWI at the time.

There's sometimes also an added third verse, the first part of which is a bit beyond me:

Oh, the night fell black and the rifles crack
Made "Perfidious Albion" reel
'Mid the leaden rail, seven tongues of flame
Did shine o'er the lines of steel

Actually just in writing this I realised what the "seven toungues of flame" signifies (the 7 proclamation signers being shot by firing squad). And of course I can just wikipedia Perfidious Albion.

I think it's interesting to note how Irish war/rebel songs oft tend to be a lament and don't boast a larger-than-life glorified sense of patriotism as would be found in say american war-songs. Take for instance Johnny Came Marching Home. That was butchered from an original Irish melody that gave a hard undertone of the horrors of war. I say butchered as the newer version gives the exact opposite message from the original. Now maybe this is a bad example of an american war-song. If other (non-hippy) songs give a different viewpoint please point me out wrong.