Happy 60th to the Boss

[stew]

Love the mans music. BTW its funny how, according to some people Bruce cant sing or comment about politics however some gobshit3s on this site are experts on american polotics, at least hes american and entitled to comment on his own country.

He is a screaming liberal, Keith is a raging republician and I couldnt give to pinches of shite who they vote for, I wish they would stick to making music and steer clear of politics, it's bad enough in sport but ffs.

Do you have to be american to comment on america? I wasnt aware of that. 

[mountainboii]

Love the mans music. BTW its funny how, according to some people Bruce cant sing or comment about politics however some gobshit3s on this site are experts on american polotics, at least hes american and entitled to comment on his own country.

He is a screaming liberal, Keith is a raging republician and I couldnt give to pinches of shite who they vote for, I wish they would stick to making music and steer clear of politics, it's bad enough in sport but ffs.

Do you have to be american to comment on america? I wasnt aware of that. 

Nothing wrong with mixing politics and music, or any of the arts for that matter. Infact, I would encourage it considering some of the classic songs that have been borne out of political angst.

[Tyrones own]

I think the point is that if I'm going to spend a couple hundred dollars to go hear a legendary artist
perform, well that's what I want to hear, a performance of the material that made him what he is,
I really don't need his opinions and views of how he thinks it should be!
I'm perfectly capable of sitting at home forming quality opinions of my own

[mountainboii]

I think the point is that if I'm going to spend a couple hundred dollars to go hear a legendary artist
perform, well that's what I want to hear, a performance of the material that made him what he is,
I really don't need his opinions and views of how he thinks it should be!
I'm perfectly capable of sitting at home forming quality opinions of my own

But surely those same songs that you want to hear tell you just the same? Anyway, I think its madness to expect an artist with such an overtly political profile not to use whatever platform he is given to express his views further. Music and politics have always been linked, right back to Verdi and Beethoven, if you don't like what a musician has to say maybe you should listen to something else.

[Tyrones own]

if you don't like what a musician has to say maybe you should listen to something else.

Quite right you are...as soon as they start that shite, off it goes!
I think we needn't look much further than the Dixie Chicks on how
not to go about politicizing and mouthing their opinions.

[TacadoirArdMhacha]

if you don't like what a musician has to say maybe you should listen to something else.

Quite right you are...as soon as they start that shite, off it goes!
I think we needn't look much further than the Dixie Chicks on how
not to go about politicizing and mouthing their opinions.

Or Toby Keith of course.

Not ready to make nice would be on my favourite songs. Absolute classic.

[Declan]

Springsteen 'is a Mullingar man'
Born in the USA, but his ancestors hail from Co Westmeath
 
A new book unearths Bruce Springsteens's Irish roots
By John Spain Books Editor

Tuesday October 13 2009

BRUCE Springsteen's theme song may be "Born In The USA" but he's really a Mullingar man.

A new book celebrating the rock star's great concerts in Ireland over the past 25 years gives a detailed account of his family history and reveals his roots are in Co Westmeath, rather than his beloved New Jersey.

The book 'Land of Hope and Dreams' traces Springsteen's family tree back to the generation which left famine-ravaged Ireland in the 1850s.

Published to mark the 25th anniversary of his first Irish concert at Slane Castle in 1985, the book shows that Springsteen has very strong Irish connections.

According to the authors Moira Sharkey and Greg Lewis, these links go all the way back to Springsteen's great great grandmother. She was a young woman called Ann Garrity, who grew up in the Mullingar area and emigrated to America to escape the deprivation in Ireland in the immediate aftermath of the famine.

She arrived in the United States in 1852 and settled in the town of Freehold, New Jersey, where her descendants stayed over the next few generations, down to Springsteen's own arrival. The Boss himself was born in Freehold 60 years ago.

Like his father before him, Springsteen grew up in Freehold and went to the local St Rose of Lima School, where he was taught by nuns.

Springsteen was in the school from 1955 to 1963 and then transferred to Freehold High School where he joined his first rock band. He later made Freehold famous in one of his songs.

"This is the first time the full extent of Springsteen's Irish roots has been uncovered," said Derry-born Moira Sharkey.

"Bruce's paternal lineage is made up of generation after generation of Irish men and women."

So although his great great grandmother came from Mullingar, he also has links to other places in Ireland.

"His father's ancestors include the family names Garrity, Farrell, McNicholas, Sullivan, O'Hagan and McCann," Sharkey says.

Springsteen's grandmother on his father's side was an Irish woman called O'Hagan, and her family tree can be traced back to Ann Garrity from Mullingar.

"The Springsteen surname comes from his grandfather Anthony Springsteen who married into the Irish family -- his wife was Martha O'Hagan," Sharkey adds.

The authors suggest that this Irish heritage may help to explain why The Boss is so popular here.

"Springsteen has an incredible connection with Irish audiences, selling out show after show down the years. Perhaps this family history reveals why that connection is so strong," Sharkey says.

The new book, which is published this month, features more than 150 photographs from the 10 Irish tours which The Boss has done.

Published by Magic Rat Books at €19.99, it is available from www.springsteenin ireland.com and a limited number of bookshops.

[Billys Boots]

"His father's ancestors include the family names Garrity, Farrell, McNicholas, Sullivan, O'Hagan and McCann," Sharkey says.

Forget the oul' Mullingar sh*te - if he has Farrell's in the family tree he's a Longfordman, and no mistaking it.  Sure eastLongford was part of Longford then anyway, before they went off to become WestLucan.