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Extract From song
“My Land Is Kenya“
by Roger Whittaker.
“You only got one mama, you only got one pa.
You only got one life to live, no matter who you are.
You can go the whole world over, every city has its dawn,
But everybody liveth has one place where he was born.”
Earlier this month we learned, sadly, of the passing of British Folk singer-songwriter and musician Roger (Henry Brough) Whittaker aged 87 years, (22nd March 1936 – 13th September 2023).
Mr Whittaker was born in Nairobi, [name translated means ‘place of cool waters’] latter the capital and largest city of Kenya, to parents from Staffordshire, England.
His popular folk music; guitar skills; his trademark whistling ability, together with his baritone singing voice offered an eclectic mix of popular songs which made him instantly recognisable on the airways from the summer of 1962 onwards, and his appearance on the Ulster Television show “This and That” in the same year.
In 1964, Mr Whittaker met Ms Natalie O’Brien, and they married in August of that year. They had five children: two sons Guy, and Alexander and three daughters Emily, Lauren, and Jessica; who in turn gave them 11 grandchildren.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Mr Whittaker had great success in Germany, releasing 25 albums and although he was unable to speak German, he sang his songs phonetically. He earned a “Golden Tuning Fork” (Goldene Stimmgabel in Germany) in 1986, based on record sales and TV viewer votes.
He appeared on German television and was on the UK Top of the Pops show, on several occasions in the 1970s.
In 1986, Mr Whittaker published his autobiography, entitled “So Far, So Good”, which was co-written with his wife, latter who became his manager in 1989.
Having sold nearly 50 million records; his success will be widely remembered through his song hits like “Steel Men” (1962); “Durham Town (The Leavin’)” (1969); “New World in the Morning” (1970); “My Land Is Kenya” (1970); “The Last Farewell” (1975); “Skye Boat Song”; “Wind Beneath My Wings” (1982) and “Skye Boat Song” (1986).
On April 1st 1989, Mr Whittaker’s parents, while still living in Kenya, were subjected to a brutal attack by a gang of four men. During this attack, his mother was tortured for some eight hours and sadly his father was murdered. The attack resulted in his mother moving back to England.
After recovering from heart problems Mr Whittaker and his wife Natalie retired to live France in 2012, and retired from touring in 2013.
During his career, Mr Whittaker earned over 250 silver, gold, and platinum awards and was part of a successful British team that won the annual ‘Knokke Music Festival’ in Belgium, winning the Press Prize as the ‘personality of the festival’. He was awarded a ‘Gold Badge Award’, from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) in 1988.
Mr Whittaker was cremated and interned in a private ceremony on Saturday, September 16th, 2023 last.
In ár gcroíthe go deo.
  
Is That Alright?
Lyrics: By Aaron Raitiere, Lukas Nelson, DJ White Shadow, Nick Monson, Mark Nilan Jr. & Lady Gaga.
Vocals: Lady Gaga. Song from the film soundtrack “A Star is Born” staring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
Is That Alright?
Life is so simple.
A little boy, a little girl,
Laughing and loving,
Trying to figure out the world.
It felt like summer,
When I kissed you in the rain,
And I know your story,
But tell me again.
Nothing you say wouldn’t interest me,
All of your words are like poems to me.
I would be honored if you would take me as I am,
I want you to look right in my eyes,
To tell me you love me, to be by my side.
I want you at the end of my life.
I wanna see your face, when I fall with grace,
At the moment I die.
Is that alright?
Is that alright?
I hope you’re still with me when I’m not quite myself,
And I pray that you’ll lift me when you know I need help.
It’s a warm celebration of all of our years,
I dream of our story, of our fairy tale.
Family dinners and family trees,
Teaching the kids to say thank you and please.
Knowing if we stay together that things will be right.
I want you to look right in my eyes,
To tell me you love me, to be by my side.
I want you at the end of my life.
I wanna see your face, when I fall with grace,
At the moment I die.
Is that alright?
Is that alright?
Is that alright?
END.
Ms Maura Barrett, (Cashel Library) Reports:-
You are cordially invited to attend a Charlie McGettigan concert for Culture Night in Cashel Library, with special guest star Cashel, Co. Tipperary native Ms Alannah Manton, latter a contestant in the Junior Eurovision.
The event will take place at 7:00pm sharp on Friday evening, September 22nd, 2023.
Readers will remember that Charlie McGettigan performed with Paul Harrington, to win the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994, with the song “Rock ‘n’ Roll Kids” [words and music provided by Irish songwriter and novelist Brendan Graham]
Charlie has worked with artists like Maura O’Connell and Eleanor Shanley who both recorded many of his songs including “Feet of a Dancer”, “A Bed for the Night” and “If Anything Happened to You” posted hereunder.
Charlie’s songs have been recorded by many artists including De Danann, Mary and Frances Black, Ray Lynam, Daniel O’Donnell, Sandy Kelly and Hal Ketchum; to name but a few.
On Culture Night, refreshments will be served and while the event is ADMISSION FREE, booking remains essential [Tel: 062 63825.] (First come first served)
If Anything Happened to You
Vocals: Co. Leitrim Irish singer Charlie McGettigan.
Lyrics: By Charlie McGettigan.
If Anything Happened to You
If anything happened to you.
If my worst fears should ever come true.
I’d have no reason to carry on through,
If anything happened to you.
I cannot imagine a world,
Without you around me to hold.
My days would be empty, my pleasures be few,
If anything happened to you.
If anyone took you away,
Or somehow you wandered astray.
There’s nowhere I wouldn’t pursue,
If anything happened to you.
So promise me you will take care,
But it’s a wicked old world out there.
I’d be devastated, be broken and blue,
If anything happened to you.
If anyone took you away,
Or somehow you wandered astray.
There’s nowhere I wouldn’t pursue,
If anything happened to you.
So promise me you will take care.
But it’s a wicked old world out there.
I’d be devastated, be broken and blue,
If anything happened, if anything happened, to you.
END
Footprints in the Sand
Vocals: The powerful British singer, songwriter, actress and activist Ms Leona Lewis.
Lyrics: By David Kreuger / Per Magnusson / Richard Page / Simon Cowell.
Footprints in the Sand
You walked with me, footprints in the sand,
And helped me understand, where I’m going.
You walked with me when I was all alone,
With so much unknown along the way.
Then I heard you say.
I promise you I’m always there,
When your heart is filled with sorrow and despair.
I’ll carry you when you need a friend,
You’ll find my footprints in the sand,
I see my life flash across the sky.
So many times have I been so afraid,
And just when I have thought I lost my way,
You gave me strength to carry on thats when I heard you say.
I promise you I’m always there,
When your heart is filled with sorrow and despair,
And I’ll carry you when you need a friend,
You’ll find my footprints in the sand.
When I’m weary well I know you’ll be there,
And I can feel you when you say,
I promise you I’m always there,
When your heart is filled with sadness and despair,
And I’ll carry you when you need a friend,
You’ll find my footprints in the sand.
When your heart is full of sadness and despair,
And I’ll carry you when you need a friend,
You’ll find my footprints in the sand.
END
Annie Moore From Ireland
Ms Annie Moore (1874–1924), named in the song hereunder, was an Irish immigrant, and the first person in the United States to pass through federal immigrant inspection at the Ellis Island Station, in New York Harbour.
As the first person to pass inspection at this then newly opened facility, she was presented with an American $10 gold piece, by an American immigration official.
Annie had set sail from Co. Cork, Ireland, aboard the Guion Line steamship ‘Nevada’ in the year 1892. Her brothers, Anthony and Philip, who journeyed with her, were aged just 15 years and 12 years respectively.
Her parents, Matthew and Julia, had arrived in the United States 4 years earlier, in 1888, and were both residing at No. 32 Monroe Street, Manhattan, New York, USA.
Annie would go on to marry the son of a German Catholic immigrant, named as Joseph Augustus Schayer (1876–1960), latter a salesman at Manhattan’s Fulton Fish Market, with whom she had possibly some eleven children.
She sadly died of heart failure on December 6th, in 1924, at just aged 50 years. She was buried in Calvary Cemetery, at Maspeth and Woodside, Queens, New York City, New York, USA.
Lyrics: Irish songwriter and novelist Brendan Graham.
Vocals: The distinctive Irish (Galway) singing voice of Sean Keane accompanied by the six time Grammy award winning traditional Irish folk band ‘The Chieftains’.
Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears
On the first day of January, eighteen ninety-two,
They opened Ellis Island and they let the people through.
And the first to cross the threshold of that Isle of hope and tears,
Was Annie Moore from Ireland, who was only fifteen years.
Chorus
Isle of Hope, Isle of tears, Isle of freedom, Isle of fears,
But it’s not the Isle you left behind,
That Isle of hunger, Isle of pain I will never see again,
But the Isle of home is always on your mind.
Repeat Chorus
In a little bag she carried all her past and history,
And her dreams for the future in the Land of Liberty,
And courage is the passport, when your old world disappears,
But there’s no future in the past, when you’re fifteen years.
Repeat Chorus
When they closed down Ellis Island in Nineteen Forty-Three,
Seventeen million people, had come there for sanctuary,
And in springtime when I came here and I stepped onto it’s piers,
I thought of how it must have been, when you’re fifteen years.
Repeat Chorus
END
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