13 Songs Courtesy of Musicians from Ireland 🇮🇪 | Playlist 🎧

13 Songs Courtesy of Musicians from Ireland 🇮🇪 features music courtesy of Dermot Kennedy, Enya, Hozier, Niall Horan, Sinéad O’Connor, and U2. 

Ah, the luck 🍀 of the Irish 🇮🇪! Cutting straight to the chase, 🎧 13 Songs Courtesy of Musicians from Ireland 🇮🇪 is about exactly what it says it is – a playlist comprised of songs by Irish musicians.  What else needs to be said? Nothing really – it’s giving #Irish 🇮🇪, baby! 🎧 13 Songs Courtesy of Musicians from Ireland 🇮🇪 features music courtesy of 🎙 Dermot Kennedy, 🎙 Enya, 🎙 Hozier, 🎙 Niall Horan, 🎙 Sinéad O’Connor, and 🎙 U2 among others. Without further ado, it’s time to get lucky 🍀 🍀 🍀!

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1. Hozier, “Francesca” 

💿 Unreal Unearth • 🏷 Columbia • 📅 2023 

“My life was a storm since I was born / How could I fear any hurricane.” 🎵 “Francesca” is EASILY one of the best songs of 💿 Unreal Unearth, the third studio album by 🏆 Grammy-nominated, Irish singer/songwriter, 🎙 Hozier. It’s also one of the best songs of 2023. We commence his person-based playlist with a triple dose of the Irishman – the more Hozier the better, right? This advance single from Unreal Unearth draws inspiration from 📚 The Divine Comedy by ✍️ Dante, specifically  Francesca da Rimini in Canto V and the second circle of hell, lust. “Francesca” speaks to the tragedy of love, specifically an infamous affair that ended in murder. Even though Francesca and the man she had the affair with, Paolo are in hell, the gargantuan chorus isn’t as hellish as you might expect:    

“I’d tell them, ‘Put me back in it’  

Da-ah, darlin’, I would do it again (Ah-ah-ah-ah)  

If I could hold you for a minute  

Da-ah, darlin’, I’d go through it again (Ah-ah-ah).”  

No regrets? The sound of “Francesca” also makes it a rousing success, with its accompanying keys at the onset (and organ patch), rhythmic guitar providing a driving feel, and a wall of sound at the end of the cut.

Appears in 🔻:  

• 13 Compelling Songs About Specific People (2023)  

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2. Sinéad O’Connor, “Nothing Compares 2 U”  

💿 I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got • 🏷 Chrysalis • 🗓 1990

“It’s been seven hours and fifteen days / Since you took your love away.” Those iconic lyrics hail from the beloved, 1990 classic, 🎵 “Nothing Compares 2 U” (💿 I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got). “Nothing Compares 2 U” was written by the late, great 🎙 Prince. Prince even recorded his own, absolutely terrific version.  Still, the version of the song that we all know and love hails from the one and only, 🎙 Sinéad O’Connor.  Sadly, O’Connor is no longer with us, passing away on July 26, 2023, at just 56 😢.  Despite death, the legacy of 🏆 Grammy-winning the Irish singer/songwriter lives on via the fierceness of this no. 1 hit.

Sinéad O’Connor made this cover truly sound like an original, PERIOD (more like exclamation).  Her tone is haunting and marvelous on “Nothing Compares 2 U.” A tuneful song, her expressiveness only amplifies the melody more. Furthermore, she does a superb job bringing out the emotions: “Since you’ve been gone, I can do whatever I want / … But nothing, I said, nothing can takeaway these blues.” Of course, she’s particularly electric on the chorus: “‘Cause nothing compares / Nothing compares to you.” Adding to the allure of this beloved gem, nominated for three Grammys itself,  is the production by O’Connor and 🎛 Nellee Hooper. The sound, it’s just glorious – maybe it’s the keys, or is it the strings? Regardless, the world lost a magnificent artist in Sinéad O’Connor.  Her music and her legacy endure on, particularly on her ace in the hole, 🎵 “Nothing Compares 2 U”.

Appears in 🔻:  

• Sinéad O’Connor, Nothing Compares 2 U: FIERCE Pop + Rock 🔥🤘 No. 33 (2023)  
• Irish: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 61 (2023) 

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3. Dermot Kennedy, “Kiss Me”  

💿 Sonder • 🏷 Riggins / Interscope / Island • 📅 2022

“When our love gets stolen / ‘Cause there’s no exception / And I know time will take you far from me.” Aww – I don’t want to think about that time, 🎙 Dermot Kennedy! The Irish singer/songwriter understands that life can be bad, cruel, and fleeting, but remembering its best days – those where love rules and things feel perfect – is where it’s at.  Of 🎵 “Kiss Me,” a highlight from his 2022 album, 💿 Sonder (rereleased in 2023), Kennedy tells Apple Music:  

This is based on an idea that I saw in the book Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald.  In that book, a psychologist falls in love with one of his patients and they have these incredible, beautiful days and then other days that are absolutely chaotic and horrific.  On one of the good days, when everything seems perfect, she says to him to remember that even on the really, really bad days, this version of me and us still exists.

Love that! ❤️ the song too, particularly the chorus: “So kiss me the way that you would / If we die tonight / Hold me the way that you would / For the final time…” Kennedy sings expressively on this gem penned with 🎼 ✍ Dan Smith, KOZ, and Steve Mac.  KOZ and Mac produce this thoughtful joint alongside 🎛 Scott Harris. The kisses 😘 are SOOO sweet!

Appears in 🔻:  

• 13 Songs Where It’s All in a Kiss 😘 (2023) 

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4. U2, “One”  

💿 Achtung Baby • 🏷 Island • 📅 1991   

“You say one love, one life / When it’s one need in the night / One love, we get to share it / Leaves you, baby, if you don’t care for it.” 🏆 Multi-Grammy winning rock band 🎙 U2 (22x winners FYI) are renowned for their song, 🎵 “One”. This incredibly well-written song – among the crème de la crème of their illustrious career – appears as the third track on their 1991 album, 💿 Achtung Baby.  Technically, they won a Grammy for “One” considering the entire album was awarded Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group (this doesn’t happen anymore, by the way).

There’s so much to rave about with “One.” It starts with the instrumental intro, where a simple but highly effective harmonic progression is established.  Next, 🎙 Bono enters the mix, lending expressive but balanced, controlled vocals.  He never over sings but delivers just the right amount of zest.  Likewise, the instrumental has great energy without ever becoming overwrought in the least.  Honestly, everything feels right about this song.  Adding to the grandeur is the open-ended messaging and brilliant songwriting. Besides the chorus, one of the best lyrical passages from “One” happens on the bridge:     

“You say love is a temple, love a higher law  

Love is a temple, love the higher law  

You ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl  

And I can’t be holding on to what you got  

When all you got is hurt.”

Woo, that’s deep stuff right there!  Love can be a five-letter word in that particular context!  

Appears in 🔻:  

• U2 vs. MJB & U2: Head 2 Head 🗣️ No. 6 (2021) 

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5. Niall Horan, “Meltdown”     

💿 The Show • 🏷 Neon Haze Music Ltd. / Niall Horan / UMG Recordings, Inc. • 🗓 2023 

“When it all melts down, I’ll be there.” Good to know, 🎙 Niall Horan! The Irish singer/songwriter released 🎵 “Meltdown” as the second single from his third studio album, 💿 The Show. “Meltdown” is brief but potent, running about two-and-a-half minutes in duration, more than enough for the listers to experience that Niall magic, WOO! He wrote “Meltdown” alongside 🎼 ✍ Amy Allen, Joel Little, and John Ryan.  Little and Ryan also produce the track, with incredibly positive results. “Meltdown” benefits from an electrifying groove and driving bass line.  Furthermore, Niall gives us strong vocals.  “Screamin’ in your car (Yeah) in the driveway / Spinnin’ out, think your life’s goin’ sideways,” Horan asserts in the first verse. In the second, he adds, “Sleep is so thin (Yeah) out of habit / Hard to tell the real from the dreams you imagine.” Clearly, things are NOT going well for this person.  Even so, superhero Niall is there for you, he reveals on the memorably penned, tuneful chorus! Good to know! All in all, “Meltdown” is a surefire earworm after the first listen!

Appears in 🔻: 

• Awesome Songs: May 2023    
• Melt: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 44 (2023) 
• 11 Songs SOOO Hot, They MELT! (2023) 
• Best Songs of 2023 (So Far)
• Irish: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 61 (2023) 

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6. The Script, “Run Through Walls”  

💿 Sunsets & Full Moons • 🏷 Sony • 📅 2019

“I’ve got friends that will run through walls / I’ve got friends that will fly once called / When I’ve got nowhere left to go / And I need my heroes / I’ve got friends that will run through walls.” Sigh, that’s a beautifully penned, thoughtful chorus if I do say so myself! 🎵 “Run Through Walls” appears as the third track from 💿 Sunsets & Full Moons, the sixth studio album by Irish pop/rock collective, 🎙 The Script. The Script are best known for hits like 🎵 “Hall of Fame”, 🎵 “Breakeven”, and 🎵 “Superheroes”. Sunsets & Full Moons didn’t ignite the US charts, but at least we were blessed with “Run Through Walls,” which is quite personal and reflective throughout its course.   

🎙 Danny O’Donoghue speaks to the power of true friendship.  On the first verse, while he asserts, “There’s no one born with X-Ray eyes.” He goes on to say, “But you always say the words that save my life.”  On the second, he cites a specific event – “And that day my mother died” – to reference the power of real friends.  “And you held me up and you wiped my eyes,” he sings, continuing, “It was in that moment when I realized.” Walls, indeed, have been broken down.    

Appears in 🔻:  

• 12 Intriguing Songs That Reference Walls (2020)  
• Songs That’ll Make You Wanna Run II (2020)  
• Thankful Songs 🙏🎶 No. 9 (2020)  
• Thankful 🙏🎶 No. 2: 5ive Songs No. 59 (2020) 
• Gratitude: 20 Gracious, Thankful Songs (2020)  

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7. The Cranberries, “Zombie”  

💿 No Need to Argue • 🏷 UMG Recordings • 📅 1994

“In your head, in your head / Zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie.” Ah, to this day, that’s a truly glorious, timeless chorus – one for the ages.  Of course, that zombie-driven chorus arrives courtesy of Irish alternative rock band 🎙 The Cranberries fronted by the late, great 🎙Delores O’Riordan. O’Riordan penned this classic from 💿 No Need to Argue about unrest between Ireland and England (“It’s the same old theme, since 1916”) and most specifically, a 1993 bombing by the Irish Republican Army that killed two English children (“Another head hangs lowly / Child is slowly taken”).  This beloved classic both referencing the conflict as well as seeking peace.  🎵 “Zombie” has been covered by numerous musicians including 🎙 Bad Wolves (💿 Disobey, 2018) and 🎙 Miley Cyrus (💿 Plastic Hearts, 2020).    

Appears in 🔻:    

• Zombie: 3BOPS No. 7 (2021)   
• An Alphabet of Random Songs (2021)    
• 11 Spooky Songs About Monsters, Mythical Creatures & Such (2022)  
• Irish: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 61 (2023) 

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8. Ryan Mack, “Follow” 

🎵 “Follow” • 🏷 Ryan Mack • 🗓 2023 

According to Irish pop singer/songwriter 🎙 Ryan Mack (Ryan McLoughlin), “You’re what my whole damn world revolves around / You are the air in my lungs.” Damn! McLoughlin penned his brief but potent single, 🎵 “Follow”, alongside 🎼 ✍ Joseph Warriner, and Will Vaughan.  Likewise, it was produced by Mack, Warriner, and Vaughn. There is a fab driving groove from the onset, which makes the ears perk up. In the verses, Mr. Mack is cool, calm, collected, and smooth from a vocal perspective.  He ups the ante more during the chorus, fittingly, without ever over-singing 💪.  Melodically, “Follow” features a fast-paced, rhythmic melody, which is cool.  In the second verse, we get some sweet pop trickery – strings 🎻 playing after the lyric, “When I look at you I hear an orchestra”, and harmonized vocals. The crème de la crème – the crowning achievement – is the memorable chorus:     

“I follow, follow you, in a heartbeat  

I won’t, I won’t stop, ‘til I can’t breathe  

Wherever you are, yeah, that’s where I’ll be  

Follow, follow, follow, you in a heartbeat.”

Ryan Mack is a good singer, period.  Truly, more people should – wait for it – 🎵 “Follow” him!  

 

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9. Dermot Kennedy, “Innocence and Sadness” 

💿 Sonder • 🏷 Riggins / Interscope / Island • 📅 2022

“I woulda waited for you all night to talk for a minute / I’ll sing into the cold dark night till you listen…” Oh, the 🎵 “Innocence and Sadness”! “Innocence and Sadness” appears as the fifth track off of 💿 Sonder, the 2022 sophomore album by Irish singer/songwriter, 🎙 Dermot Kennedy.  In the chorus, Kennedy continues singing, “People spend their life heads down, souls hidden / I’m tryin’ to be who you need me to be, well.” Kennedy penned this gorgeous piano ballad himself, while 🎛 Jonah Shy and Scott Harris produce. Throughout the course of “Innocence and Sadness,” Dermot Kennedy serves up expressive, nuanced vocals. He sings with incredible authenticity – you totally buy what he is selling! “Never felt alone till the late night / Never knew she was my home till the king cried,” he sings in the second verse, adding, “Lost inside the forest, but it feels fine / Innocence and sadness in the same night.” Woo! Kennedy’s performance is commanding to the nth degree and incredibly sweet. His poetry is magnificent.    

  

Appears in 🔻:   

• 11 Songs Where The Boys Are Sad (2022)  
• Irish: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 61 (2023)

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10. Westlife, “Flying Without Wings”  

💿 Westlife • 🏷 BMG Entertainment • 📅 1999   

“Everybody’s looking for that something / One thing that makes it all complete.” Sigh, who doesn’t heart a teen pop ballad, especially one from an Irish boy band? We love heartthrobs, and 🎙 Westlife qualified, no cap.  Furthermore, the boys had a marvelous ballad on their hands with 🎵 “Flying Without Wings.” The Irish boy band does a superb job highlighting a gorgeous melody penned by 🎼 ✍ Wayne Hector and Steve Mac.  Furthermore, the production is radiant, with its use of keys, strings, and acoustic rhythm guitar. The sound is idiomatic of the teen-pop of the late 90s and early aughts.  As far as the form, it’s the soaring bridge that serves as the best section of “Flying Without Wings.”

“So impossible, as it may seem  

You’ve got to fight for every dream  

‘Cause who’s to know which one you let go  

Would have made you complete?”    

Other factors that make “Flying Without Wings” awesome? How about those harmonized backing vocals? Also, can’t neglect the colorful ad-libs Westlife incorporates.  Had Westlife been the only artist to record this gem, it would’ve been sufficient.  Of course, later, 🎙 Ruben Studdard, would record a marvelous rendition which reached no. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.  

Appears in 🔻:  

• Westlife vs. Ruben Studdard: Head 2 Head 🗣️ No. 32 (2021) 

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11. Enya, “Orinoco Flow”  

💿 Watermark • 🏷 Warner Strategic Marketing • 🗓 1988  

“Let me sail, let me sail / Let the Orinoco flow…” 🏆 Grammy-nominated, Irish New Age musician 🎙 Enya penned the soothing, 1988 classic, 🎵 “Orinoco Flow”, alongside 🎼 ✍ Roma Ryan.  It was produced by 🎛 Nicky Ryan. A top-40 hit, it peaked at no. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1989. Parent album, 💿 Watermark, peaked at no. 25 on the Billboard 200, eventually reaching multiplatinum status. “Sail away, sail away, sail away…” Those are the lyrics that stand out from “Orinoco Flow.” Enya was referring to the📍Orinoco River in 🗺️ South America. It’s not all about the Orinoco River, however.  In the first verse, Enya also has us navigating additional geography: beaching “On the shores of 📍Tripoli [Libya],” and beaching “Far beyond the 📍 Yellow Sea [Western Pacific Ocean].” Additional verses offer an assortment of locations.  Clearly, 🎵 “Orinoco Flow” is all about location, location, location, and, of course, sailing away! The best way to describe this picturesque, New Age, Celtic folk song – a vibe.  

Appears in 🔻:  

• Enya, Orinoco Flow: Bangerz N Bopz 🔥 No. 1 (2023) 

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12. Hozier, “Take Me to Church”    

💿 Hozier • 🏷 Rubyworks / Columbia • 📅 2014    

🎵 “Take Me to Church” was a no. 2 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 – a huge, breakthrough hit for Irish singer/songwriter 🎙 Hozier. Furthermore, the standout from 💿 Hozier (2014) was 🏆 nominated for the Grammy for Song of the Year.  Listening emptily, it’s easy to see why it was a massive hit.  Who doesn’t enjoy a song that references sex?  Considering the depth of its subject matter analytically, it’s almost unbelievable it achieved the commercial accolades it did.    

    

In a NY Mag interview, The Irish singer/songwriter describes the song as being about sex, humanity, and disdain for the church “teaching shame about sexual orientation.”  The lyrics of the song confirm those strong feelings:    

“My church offers no absolutes    

She tells me ‘worship in the bedroom’    

The only heaven I’ll be sent too    

Is when I’m alone with you.”      

Furthermore, in the interview, he tackles the influence of the church in Ireland, and homophobia in Russia. Key lyrics, such as “We were born sick, you heard them say it,” confirms this.   Throughout its course, “Church” amplifies blasphemous references to make a statement.  Ultimately, that statement is that all humans, regardless of sexuality, should be able to love and be with whomever they’d like.     

Appears in 🔻:     

• A Compendium Comprised of 100 Notable LGBTQ+ Songs (2020)    
• 15 T Songs Selected with No Rhyme or Reason (2020)    
• Church ⛪: 5ive Songs No. 44 (2022)    
• Irish: 3 to 5 BOPS No. 61 (2023) 
• Incredible Songs: 2010s, Vol. 1 (2023)  

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13. The Boomtown Rats, “I Don’t Like Mondays” 

💿 The Fine Art of Surfacing • 🏷 Mercury • 🗓 1979

“Tell me why / I don’t like Mondays / I wanna shoot the whole day down.” Mondays tend to be an unpopular day, but in the case of 🎵 “I Don’t Like Mondays”, the hatred is far more pronounced.  Irish rock band 🎙 The Boomtown Rats wrote and recorded a song that references the Grover Cleveland Elementary School shooting. Infamously, 16-year old Brenda Spencer, who truly didn’t like Mondays, killed two adults and injured eight children with a .22 caliber semiautomatic rifle at the elementary across from her house 😢. A worldwide hit from their 1979 album, 💿 The Fine Art of Surfacing, the song marks the only charting single by The Boomtown Rats on the Billboard Hot 100. Notably, “I Don’t Like Mondays” was a top five hit in many countries, including hitting no. 1 in Ireland, Australia, and the UK. In the United States, it settled for no. 73.  

“The silicon chip inside her head / Gets switched to overload / And nobody’s gonna go to school today / She’s gonna make them stay at home.” Those lyrics, from the first verse of “I Don’t Like Mondays”, capture an unhinged person, in this case, a delusional mass murderer. In the first verse, 🎙 Bob Geldof captures the shock of Brenda’s father, asserting, “And daddy doesn’t understand it / He always said she was good as gold.” This sometimes occurs in cases of mass murderers and serial killers where the parents didn’t see any signs, hence why “And mother feels so shocked, father’s world is rocked” (verse two).  The third verse is incredibly disturbing:

“And all the playing’s stopped in the playground now  

She wants to play with the toys a while  

And school’s out early and soon we’ll be learning  

And the lesson is how to die.”    

Morbid, morbid, morbid. Beyond the songwriting, 🎵 “I Don’t Like Mondays” is incredibly ear catching, thanks to its art pop/New Wave sound.  The piano and keyboard work is brilliant by 🎹 Johnny Fingers.  Furthermore, the backing vocals only accentuate Geldof’s fabulous lead.  Also, shout out the marvelous strings/string arrangement. 

Appears in 🔻:   

• 12 More Songs About Mass Murderers (Vol. 3) (2018)  
• 15 Songs for the Days of the Week (2018)  
• 13 Unsettling Songs About Female Murderers (2019)  
• The Boomtown Rats, I Don’t Like Mondays : 1 Hit WONDERful 👏👏👏 No. 5 (2023)  

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13 Songs Courtesy of Musicians from Ireland 🇮🇪 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; BMG Entertainment, Chrysalis, Columbia, Island, Mercury, Neon Haze Music Ltd., Niall Horan, Riggins Recording, Ryan Mack, Sony, UMG Recordings, Warner Strategic Marketing; Elias, KERBSTONE, OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay]

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