‘Tis day 2 av “Hell Week” whaich means, originally, we were gonna ter zip immediately from day camp ter ‘kids swimmin’ lessons wha oi wus gonna fore-go yoga wi’ de Coach in order ter slip in dis easy run raun de ‘ol naybor’ud, except, swimmin’ lessons are cancelled! Fan-fookin-tastic! Dare is a Bejasus. So nigh oi can go ‘um, ‘av dis easy 6.75k run withoyt time constraints an’ den plop me lazy arse into me ez-boy for whatever is lef av St. Patrick’s Day. It sure beats green Guinness an’ boiled spuds, that’s for sure.
Today’s listenin’ pleasure seein’ as ‘oy ’tis de ‘oliday n’ al’, is me favorite Irish-themed album, only ever; de ‘Rum Sodomy & the Lash‘ album by de Pogues.
‘Rum Sodomy & de Lash’ is de second studio album by de London-based Celtic folk punkers, released on august 5th, 1985 when oi wus jist 13 years auld at de time. De album’s title is taken from a quotashun often misattributed ter Winston Churchill:
“Don’t talk to me about naval tradition. It’s nothing but rum, sodomy, and the lash.”
So, yeah, lots av gran’ times dare boy.
Anyway, de album reached #13 in de UK charts. De track ‘A Pair av Brown Eyes’ (my favorite), based on an older Oirish toon, went on ter reach #72 in de UK singles chart. ‘The Old Main Drag’ lay-ra appeared on de soundtrack ter de filum ‘My Own Private Idaho’, whaich, for whatever inexplicable call, also ‘appened ter be a fixashun wi’ me ‘igh school mucker Michelle who whom, as chance wud also ‘av it, de Pogues are also ‘er favorite ban’. Oi tink she jist ‘as a tin’ for guys wi’ wooden teet. In 2000 Q magazine placed it at #93 in its list av de 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, de album wus ranked #445 on Rollin’ Stone‘s de 500 Greatest Albums av al’ Time list. Pitchfork Media named it de 67th Best Album av de 1980’s.
Oi guess oi failed ter menshun dat dis album wud also absolutely fend itself on me list av me favorite Desert Islan’ albums, so it wus juicy much guaranteed ter be a gran’ run raun Crystal Beach stran’ dis evenin’ al’ set ter bodhrans, penny whistles, whiskey, vomit, ‘e-man’s an’ she-males, an’ people gettin’ kicked in de barguckers. Gran’ times indeed. ‘Owever, waaat wus originally planned ter be an easy run quickly turned into more av a fartlek run whaen oi increased de pace whenever de music dictated oi chucker so, such as de case wi’ ‘The Sick Bed of Cúchulainn’, ‘The Wild Cats av Kilkenny’, an’ ‘Jesse James’. Recovery songs were more ter de tracks ‘Dirty Old Town’, an’ bassist Cait O’Riordan’s ‘auntin’ performance av ‘I’m a Man You Don’t Meet Every Day’. Ey, sometimes de run dictates itself an’ yer jist ‘av ter let things be.
Speshal notice the-day goes ter de driver who almost tuk me oyt along Erie Rd. whaen ‘is wee pug dag decided ter jump oyt av ‘is lap while yer man wus textin’. An’ a top o’ de mornin’ ter yer too, yer fookin’ eejit.
Music in Motion 