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Lyrics: American musician and Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan, originally written as a poem, in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 22nd – November 20th, 1962, which saw confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. This confrontation quickly escalated into an international crisis, when American deployments of missiles in Italy and Turkey were matched by Soviet deployments of similar ballistic missiles in Cuba.
The song is characterized by symbolist imagery, which communicates suffering, pollution, and warfare, latter once again being threatened within our time living on this earth.
Vocals: American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist Joan Chandos Baez.
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.
Oh, where have you been, my blue eyed son?
Oh, where have you been, my darling young one?
I’ve stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains.
I’ve walked and I’ve crawled on six crooked highways.
I’ve stepped in the middle of seven sad forests.
I’ve been out in front of a dozen dead oceans.
I’ve been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard,
And it’s hard, and it’s hard, it’s hard, and it’s hard,
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.
Oh, what did you see, my blue eyed son?
Oh, what did you see, my darling young one?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it.
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it.
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin’.
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a bleedin’.
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken.
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children,
And it’s hard, and it’s hard, it’s hard, it’s hard,
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.
And what did you hear, my blue eyed son?
And what did you hear, my darling young one?
I heard the sound of a thunder, is it roared out a warnin’.
I heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world.
I heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a blazin’.
I heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’.
I heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin’.
I heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter.
I heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley,
And it’s hard, and it’s hard, it’s hard, it’s hard,
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.
And who did you meet, my blue eyed son?
Oh, who did you meet, my darling young one?
I met a young child beside a dead pony.
I met a white man who walked a black dog.
I met a young woman whose body was burning.
I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow.
I met one man who was wounded in love.
I met another man who was wounded with hatred,
And it’s hard, it’s hard, it’s hard, it’s hard,
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.
Oh, what’ll you do now, my blue eyed son?
Oh, what’ll you do now, my darling young one?
Well, I’m a goin’ back out ‘fore the rain starts a fallin’.
Well, I’ll walk to the depths of the deepest black,
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty.
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters.
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison.
Where the executioner’s face is always well hidden.
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten.
Where black is the color, and none is the number.
And I’ll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it,
And reflect from the mountain so all souls can see it,
And I’ll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin’.
But I’ll know my song well before I start singin’,
And it’s hard, it’s hard, it’s hard, it’s hard,
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.
END
  
“I’ve Gotta Be Me” was once a popular song that first appeared in the Broadway musical “Golden Rainbow”, which opened in New York City at the Shubert Theatre on February 4th, 1968.
The song, which spent seven weeks at No1 on the ‘Easy Listening Chart’, and which is rarely played on radio today, has been used in the past in two advertising commercials to promote soft drinks, namely ‘Diet Coke‘ and ‘Dr Pepper‘ and also the compact crossover, Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), the ‘Mitsubishi Outlander‘.
“I’ve Gotta Be Me”
Singer: American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director, Sammy Davis Jr. [1925 – 1990]
Lyrics: American songwriter, playwright, screenwriter, and novelist, Walter Marks.
Whether I’m right or whether I’m wrong
Whether I find a place in this world or never belong
I gotta be me, I’ve gotta be me
What else can I be but what I am
I want to live, not merely survive
And I can’t give up this dream
Of life that keeps me alive
I gotta be me, I gotta be me
The dream that I see makes me what I am
That far away prize, a world of success
Is waiting for me if I heed the call
I won’t settle down, won’t settle for less
As long as there’s a chance that I can have it all
I’ll go it alone, that’s how it must be
I can’t be right for somebody else
If I’m not right for me
I gotta be free, I’ve gotta be free
Daring to try, to do it or die
I’ve gotta be me.
I’ll go it alone, that’s how it must be
I can’t be right for somebody else
If I’m not right for me
I gotta be free, I just gotta be free
Daring to try, to do it or die
I gotta be me.
END
Israeli actor, singer, and illustrator, Chaim Topol (also spelled Haym Topol), sadly passed away yesterday, March 8th, 2023, aged 87 years.
Mononymously known to most people as Topol, he is possibly best known for his portrayal of the character ‘Tevye’, in the musical ‘Fiddler on the Roof’.
He was a founder of ‘Variety Israel’, latter an organization serving children with special needs, and ‘Jordan River Village’, a year-round camp for Arab and Jewish children with life-threatening illnesses.
In 1956 he married Ms Galia Finkelstein, with the couple having three children; one son and two daughters.
Topol’s first film appearance was in the 1961 film ‘I Like Mike’, followed by the 1963 Israeli film ‘El Dorado’. His breakthrough role came as the lead character in the 1964 film ‘Sallah Shabati’.
In 1966, Topol made his English-language film debut as ‘Abou Ibn Kaqden’ in ‘Cast a Giant Shadow’.
His numerous TV appearances included ‘War and Remembrance’; ‘Queenie’; ‘The Winds of War’; ‘The House on Garibaldi Street’, and ‘The Going Up of David Lev’.
His Awards included; Kinor David Prize, (latter an Israeli cultural award), in 1964; Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer—Male, in 1964; Golden Globe for Best Actor, in 1971 and Israel Prize, in 2015, latter an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state’s highest cultural honour.
In ár gcroíthe go deo.
From today, March 1st, a ban on cutting hedgerows and burning gorse and heather has come into effect and will remain in place until August 31st 2023 next.
Over the coming months, birds and mammals, particularly those considered endangered species, who hopefully will have found a mate; will build their nest in an effort to lay eggs and rear young families.
Above video was taken on April 13rd, 2022.
Under the current Wildlife Act, the ban on cutting hedgerows is aimed at giving all birds and other animals the best chance possible to breed successfully and share our world.
There are a number of exemptions to the ban, including the summertime trimming of hedges in the ordinary course of gardening and the cutting of roadside hedges to prevent obstruction to motorists.
The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage said it is taking cases of wildlife crime seriously and has urged people to protect hedgerow and upland habitats.
Efforts last year to make email contact with Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Mr Malcolm Noonan, on numerous occasions over a two year period, while acknowledged, went unanswered.
It should be noted that the clearance of vegetation in the course of road or other construction works, or in the development or preparation of sites on which any building or other structure is intended to be provided, still remains exempt under Section 40 of the Wildlife Act. This rule therefore gives Tipperary Co. Council and Thurles Municipal Council and Developers free reign, to do whatever they wish, as we observed in April of last year, 2022.
The song sung hereunder, is about the Irish boxer, of the 1930s. Mr Jack Doyle latter who was known as ‘The Gorgeous Gael’.
Born into a working-class family on August 31st, 1913 in Cobh, Co. Cork; he would pass away on December 13th, 1978 in Paddington, London, England.
Jack was tall (six feet five inches), good-looking and a multi-talented individual. He was a contender for the British Boxing Championship; a Hollywood actor, and an accomplished Tenor (between baritone and alto), however his often generous nature and love of drink was to be his eventual downfall.
Doyle became involved with the actress Movita Castaneda. Following a celebrity wedding, in Dublin’s Westland Row Church, (Jack’s second wedding; he was previously married, in 1935, to Judith Allen), after which the couple toured both sides of the Irish Sea, selling out Music Halls and Opera houses.
About this time, Jack fought his last professional fight, against a journeyman named Chris Cole. Same took place in front of some 23,000 fans, in Dalymount Park, Dublin. He arrived for the event late, having stopped at The Clarence Hotel for refreshments. The bout saw an inebriated Doyle, go down in the first round.
Soon afterwards, having had enough, Movita packed up and moved back to Hollywood, where she would go on to marry film star Marlon Brando.
Doyle, shortly afterwards, found himself in Mountjoy Jail, Dublin, having assaulted and knocked out a Garda Detective, in a Dublin pub. Having moved to England he spiralled downwards into alcoholism and bankruptcy and found his friends had deserted him, as fast as his bank balance, latter spent in his own words on “slow horses and fast women”.
I had the privilege of meeting Jack on several occasions, in the early 1970’s, walking on the sea front in Bray, Co. Wicklow, where he had a flat for a short time. His only source of income during this time was an allowance he continued to receive, by agreement, from former wife Movita.
Sadly, Jack died in 1978, aged just 65 years, at St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, in the City of Westminster, Central London; his death caused by cirrhosis of the liver. He is interned in the Old Church Cemetery, on the outskirts of Cobh town, Co. Cork, Ireland, his grave today visited by thousands of people annually.
The Contender.
Singer: Irish (Co. Kildare) Folk Musician, Dan McCabe, [latter who is expected to tour in Co. Tipperary shortly].
Original Lyrics: (Shown Hereunder), From the pen of Cork born Irish singer and songwriter Jimmy MacCarthy.
The Contender. [Original Lyrics]
When I was young and I was in my day,
Sure I’d steal what woman’s heart there was, away,
And I’d sing into the dawning,
Saw a blaze into the morning,
Long before I was the man you see today.
I was born beneath the star that promised all.
I could have lived my life without Cassandra’s* call,
But the wheel of fortune took me,
From the highest point she shook me,
By the bottle live by the bottle I shall fall.
There in the mirror on the wall,
I see the dream is fading,
From the contender to the brawl,
The ring, the rose, the matador, raving.
And when I die, I’ll die a drunk down on the street.
He will count me out to ten in clear defeat.
Wrap the Starry Plough* around me,
Let the piper’s air resound me,
There I’ll rest until the Lord of Love I’ll meet.
There in the mirror on the wall,
I see the dream is fading.
From the contender to the brawl,
The ring, the rose, the matador, raving.
* In Greek Classical Legend, Cassandra was the daughter of Priam and Hecuba, endowed with the gift of prophecy.
* Starry Plough, a banner, a socialist symbol, the significance of which it was declared, that a free Ireland would control its own destiny, “from the plough to the stars”.
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