''Ordinary Man'' is the tenth studio album by

Irish folk Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there we ...

artist,

Christy Moore Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore (born 7 May 1945) is an Irish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist. In addition to his significant success as an individual, he is one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts. His first album, ...

. It features songs like "Ordinary Man", " St. Brendan's Voyage" and "Another Song is Born". The album featured songs by Peter Hames, Johnny Mulhearn, Hugh McDonald, Colm Gallagher and

Floyd Red Crow Westerman Floyd Westerman, also known as ''Kanghi Duta'' ("Red Crow" in Dakota) (August 17, 1936 – December 13, 2007), was a Dakota Sioux musician, political activist, and actor. After establishing a career as a country music singer, later in his life ...

; as well as some backing vocals by

Enya Enya Patricia Brennan (; ga, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin; born 17 May 1961), known professionally by the mononym Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician known for modern Celtic music. She is the best-selling Irish solo arti ...

on "Quiet Desperation", "Sweet Music Roll On" and "The Diamondtina Drover" and some fine

uilleann pipes The uilleann pipes ( or , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from thei ...

work by

Liam O'Flynn Liam Óg O'Flynn ( ga, Liam Ó Floinn, 15 September 1945 – 14 March 2018) was an Irish uilleann piper and Irish traditional musician. In addition to a solo career and as a member of Planxty, O'Flynn recorded with: Christy Moore, Dónal Lun ...

. The original release of the album featured the song "They Never Came Home" which Moore wrote for the victims and families of the

Stardust fire The Stardust fire was a fatal fire which took place at the Stardust nightclub in Artane, Dublin, Ireland, in the early hours of 14 February (Valentine's Day) 1981. Some 800 people had attended a disco there, of whom 48 died and 214 were injure ...

. The song was quickly removed from the album because the lyrics were found to be libelous.

Summary

''Ordinary Man'', as the name suggests, was an album for the working man. The songs and music reflected the economic atmosphere of

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 ...

and of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

at the time. The title song, "Ordinary Man", was written by

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of L ...

musician Peter Hames and depicts a factory worker losing his job as the plant closes down, and his struggle to survive. The album also has a strong link to Moore's Irish roots with songs like "St. Brendans Voyage" and "Delirium Tremens" both relating directly to Ireland.

Dónal Lunny Dónal Lunny (born 10 March 1947) is an Irish folk musician and producer. He plays left-handed guitar and bouzouki, as well as keyboards and bodhrán. As a founding member of popular bands Planxty, The Bothy Band, Moving Hearts, Coolfin, Mozai ...

played a major part in the album, writing much of the music for the songs. A long time friend of Moore, Lunny was also a member of

Planxty Planxty were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972, consisting initially of Christy Moore (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, guitars ...

and has worked closely with him for many years. The other former bandmates from

who worked on the album were Andy Irvine and

. And

Moving Hearts Moving Hearts is an Irish Celtic rock band formed in 1981. They followed in the footsteps of Horslips in combining Irish traditional music with rock and roll, and also added elements of jazz to their sound.Harris, Craig''Moving Hearts'' AllMusic ...

bandmate of both Moore and Lunny, Noel Eccles, lent some percussion aid to a couple of songs.

Songs and music

The songs and music are linked with the economic climate of Ireland at the time, the general dissatisfaction at government and still retains close links with Irish Music.

Arty McGlynn Arty McGlynn (7 August 1944 – 18 December 2019) was an Irish guitarist born in Omagh, County Tyrone. In addition to his solo work, he collaborated with different notable groups such as Patrick Street, Planxty, Four Men and a Dog, De Dannan ...

, is the guitar mastermind on most of the songs on the album but the title song was written by Peter Hames and "Delerium Tremens" was written by Moore himself—"DTs" was perhaps the most memorable song from the album. It is a satirical song, directed towards the leaders in Irish politics and culture. Some of the people mentioned in the song include: *

Charles Haughey Charles James Haughey (; 16 September 1925 – 13 June 2006) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach on three occasions – 1979 to 1981, March to December 1982 and 1987 to 1992. He was also Minister for the Gaeltacht from ...

, former Fianna Fáil leader *

Ruairi Quinn Ruairi Quinn (born 2 April 1946) is an Irish former Labour Party politician who served as Minister for Education and Skills from 2011 to 2014, Leader of the Labour Party from 1997 to 2002, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1989 to 1997, ...

, at the time a Labour TD, later the party leader *

Dick Spring Dick Spring (born 29 August 1950) is an Irish businessman and former politician. He was a Labour Party Teachta Dála (TD) for the Kerry North from 1981 to 2002. He became leader of the Labour Party in 1982, and held this position until 1997 ...

, former Labour Party leader *

Roger Casement Roger David Casement ( ga, Ruairí Dáithí Mac Easmainn; 1 September 1864 – 3 August 1916), known as Sir Roger Casement, CMG, between 1911 and 1916, was a diplomat and Irish nationalist executed by the United Kingdom for treason during Worl ...

, he was captured bringing German guns to Ireland for the 1916 Rising " St. Brendan's Voyage", another Christy Moore composition, depicts St. Brendan The Navigator and his journey in an unconventional way. The original release of the album featured the song "They Never Came Home", which Moore wrote for the victims and families of the

which took place on 14 February 1981, in Dublin. The song heavily criticizes the Irish government and the owners of the nightclub. At the time of the album's release an investigation into the fire had concluded that the cause was most likely arson, a finding which was heavily contested by survivors and families of the victims. However, that meant that in Ireland the song lyrics were found to be libelous and the song was quickly removed from the album.

Track listing

All songs composed by Christy Moore except where indicated. Much of the music for the songs were written by

. Side One #"Sweet Music Roll On" (

Graham Lyle Graham Hamilton Lyle (born 11 March 1944, in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. Between 1970 and 1997, he co-wrote 18 British Top 40 hits, 9 ''Billboard'' Hot 100 entries, 4 US Country No ...

, Tom McGuinness) #"Delirium Tremens" #"Ordinary Man" (Peter Hames) #"Matty" (Johnny Mulhearn) #"The Reel in the Flickering Light" (Colm Gallagher) #"The Diamondtina (sic) Drover" (Hugh McDonald) Side Two #"Blantyre Explosion" (traditional, arr. Moore/Lunny/McGlynn) #"Hard Cases" (Johnny Mulhearn) #"Continental Ceili" (Johnny Mulhearn,

) #" St. Brendan's Voyage" #"They Never Came Home" † #"Quiet Desperation" (

) † later pressings replaced "They Never Came Home" with "Another Song is Born", due to a lawsuit.

Personnel

: lead vocals, guitars *

: guitars (1,4,6,7,8,9,12), keyboards (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,12), mandolins (4,8,12), bouzouki (4,8,10,11,12), vocals(911) *

: guitars (1,3,4,6,7,8,9,12), pedal steel(3) *

Ní Bhraonáin: vocals (1,6,12) * Liam Óg O'Flynn:

(1,7,9,12), tin whistle (12) * Andy Irvine: mandolin (8,10), uncredited harmonica (4)? *Noel 'Nollaig' Bridgeman: accordion (6,8,9) *Noel Eccles: percussion (3), chimes (5) *Tony Molloy: bass (3) *

Nicky Ryan Nicholas Dominick Ryan (born 14 July 1946) is an Irish music producer, recording engineer, and manager. He is best known as the longtime business and recording partner for the singer, songwriter and musician Enya alongside his wife, poet and lyri ...

: vocals (9)

Production

*Recorded at Aigle Studio, Dublin *Produced by

*Engineers: Philip Begley,

Liner notes

''"My gratitude to Dónal Lunny for the tender loving care he gave to this album and for his inspiration and encouragement in all things at all times."'' ~ Christy Moore, June 1985

References

{{Authority control 1985 albums Christy Moore albums