"Phil Lynott" is a 2008 single by the

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band

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, taken from their third studio album, ''

Ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...

''. Released on 19 December 2008, Jape fans were behind an unsuccessful online petition to establish the song as the

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number one in the

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

. "Phil Lynott" was well-received, with critics generally regarding it as one of the finer songs on the ''Ritual'' album and the ''

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'' naming it the best Irish song of the year.

Song information

"Phil Lynott" has been described as "a children’s

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type of song". It is a simple song with three chords which describes the events of one night when the writer attended a live performance by the heavy metal band

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. Mastodon performed a cover of a

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...

song – the band fronted by the musician of the title. Following the show's completion, the writer and his friends witnessed a

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. The lyrics "One day I will be a dead man who plays the bass from Crumlin/Like Phil Lynott" were praised in a review by the national broadcaster

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

for their mixture of "humour and seriousness through raw, emotional thoughts". Jape's founder Richie Egan, like Lynott, has connections to the Dublin suburb of Crumlin.

Criticism

Egan was reported as being "a bit annoyed at the “

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”" who gave him much criticism over the song. He was criticised in some quarters by people who claimed the song's lyrics were childish and who pointed out that it was a simple song with three chords. Egan describes "Phil Lynott" as "a totally honest song about the things that happened... ...one night. It’s just written the way it happened on the night, and I don’t see anything wrong with that".

Reaction

The ''Irish Independent'' described the song as "a real aw-shucks moment for Irish pop" in 2008, with the same publication later calling it the best Irish song of that year. Jape fans launched an online petition to establish the song as the Christmas number one in the Irish Singles Chart. However, it lost out to a cover of the

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

song "

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", performed by

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, that year's winner of

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television talent show ''

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''. The song is often covered by Irish indie musician

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phil Lynott (Song) 2008 singles Jape (band) songs 2008 songs