David "Jinx" Lennon (born 20 August 1964 in
Dundalk
Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...
,
County Louth
County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
) is an Irish
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
and urban poet. As of Sep 2022, he has released 12 albums with songs on a broad range of themes. He uses a rap-like vocal style, in a heavy Dundalk accent. In October 2016, he released two new albums: ''Magic Bullets of Madness to Uplift the Grief Magnets'' and ''Past Pupil Stay Sane''. Lennon says he found himself in a "bind" because he hated the characters he wrote about on a previous album, ''Trauma Themes, Idiot Times'', and that it was too pessimistic.
Music
Lennon's work has been compared to
Mark E. Smith
Mark Edward Smith (5 March 1957 – 24 January 2018) was an English singer, who was the lead singer, lyricist and only constant member of the post-punk group the Fall. Smith formed the band after attending the June 1976 Sex Pistols gig at the ...
and
John Cooper Clarke
John Cooper Clarke (born 25 January 1949) is an English performance poet, who first became famous as a "punk poet" in the late 1970s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he released several albums. Around this time, he performed on stage with sev ...
for the "off-beat genius of his lyrics". Themes which have been explored in his music include childhood, poverty inequality, the
Celtic Tiger
The "Celtic Tiger" ( ga, An Tíogar Ceilteach) is a term referring to the economy of the Republic of Ireland, economy of Ireland from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, a period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment. ...
, domestic violence, mental health, loneliness, the importance of
self-love
Self-love, defined as "love of self" or "regard for one's own happiness or advantage", has been conceptualized both as a basic human necessity and as a moral flaw, akin to vanity and selfishness, synonymous with amour-propre, conceitedness, eg ...
,
recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...
,
emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
,
anti-Irish sentiment
Anti-Irish sentiment includes oppression, persecution, discrimination, or hatred of Irish people as an ethnic group or a nation. It can be directed against the island of Ireland in general, or directed against Irish emigrants and their descendan ...
, environmentalism, racism, the 2014
Garda whistleblower scandal
In 2014, material was revealed by two whistleblowers of the Garda Síochána, Maurice McCabe and John Wilson, to the Confidential Recipient. The disclosures and the handling of the disclosures, led to the resignation of Ireland's Minister for Jus ...
, the
Lisa Smith case as well as wider societal issues affecting the
border region
The Border Region (coded IE041) is a NUTS Level III statistical region of Ireland. The name of the region refers to its location along the Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border. It is not a cross-border region. It comprises the Irish coun ...
, Dundalk and Ireland at large.
In 2014, Lennon collaborated with Liverpool punk band
Clinic
A clinic (or outpatient clinic or ambulatory care clinic) is a health facility that is primarily focused on the care of outpatients. Clinics can be privately operated or publicly managed and funded. They typically cover the primary care needs ...
. A year later he contributed to ''Glór na hAoise - Songs of Solidarity and Resistance'', a compilation album of music and poetry celebrating over 15 years of struggle against
Shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard ou ...
at the
Shell to Sea
Shell to Sea ( ga, Shell chun Sáile) is an Irish organisation based in the parish of Kilcommon in Erris, County Mayo.
It opposes the proposed construction of a natural gas pipeline through the parish, as well as the ongoing construction—by ...
protest in north
County Mayo
County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...
. Lennon performed at Rock Against Racism in Dundalk on 10 February 2018; an event organised by local artist and activist Sarah Jane Hopkins and supported by the
Immigrant Council of Ireland
The Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI) is a non-governmental organisation and independent law centre based in Ireland which advises migrants on their rights while advocating for increased migrant protections.
History
Immigrant Council of Ireland ...
.
Discography
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
21st-century Irish poets
Living people
Punk poets
People from Dundalk
Punk rock singers
1964 births
Irish rock singers
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