With all the negative news right now, I wanted to write about an album that I find so uplifting, not so much because the songs are particularly happy but because they are comforting and have a spiritual feel to them. Glen Hansard’s 2015 release, Didn’t He Ramble, is one of those albums where you hear the first song and say, “This is my favourite song on the album!” Then you hear the next and say, “No wait… it’s this one!” And so on, all the way through.
In September 2015, Irish singer/songwriter Glen Hansard was on CBC Radio to talk about the album and sing a couple of songs live in studio. Listening to him sing “Winning Streak” and “Her Mercy” gave me chills and I think I downloaded the album the same day. It’s been a regular feature on my playlist ever since. The CBC interview and performance can be found here.
I can’t say I’d heard of Glen Hansard before then, although I probably should have. He was in the movie The Commitments which I saw when it came out in 1991. And he and his band The Frames were in the film Once, with Hansard and Markéta Irglová winning an Oscar for their song “Falling Slowly”. In any case, it’s never too late to discover an artist you enjoy!
Didn’t He Ramble begins with the inspirational “Grace Beneath the Pines”. One continuous string note in the background with just Hansard’s natural vocal over top, only later joined by more strings, piano, bass, and brass instruments:
There’ll be no more running round for me,
no more backing down, you’ll see —
whatever lies in store for me,
I’ll get through it.
There’ll be no more going half the way,
you’d better listen to these words I say —
whatever ties they bound to me,
I’ll cut through them.
All building towards his plaintive “I’ll get through this” repeated over and over. And back down to finding “grace beneath the pines.” So moving and suggesting we all can have the strength to stand our ground and fight on.
“Winning Streak” is an acoustic song written in part for Hansard’s father, who had been a boxer. Beautifully sung with a catchy rhythm, the lyrics wish for the listener only good things…”May good fortune wait on every bend and may your winning streak, may it never end.”
Hansard was inspired by Leonard Cohen when he scribbled “Her Mercy” on a napkin on a plane — he said that he felt almost like a cat bringing a mouse to lay at Cohen’s feet. “When you’re doubting your given powers, when you’re ready for her mercy, when you’re worthy, it will come.” It starts simply with electric guitar and drum and grows to a full instrumentation with strings, brass, and a gospel choir. Amazing!
The lyrics of “McCormack’s Wall” describe it as a drinking song — but it’s not like any Clancy Brothers’ song I ever heard! It is mournful and apologetic, with the singer concluding that “here we are, what’s there to do.” It has a gorgeous fiddle part towards the end, going from smooth violin over piano to a lively jig to finish the song. I think the fiddle is my favourite part. (There I go again with the favourites!)
I could go on and on, because every song is my favourite in the moment, but I’ll leave you with a link to the full album here.
If you have any recommendations of other Glen Hansard songs that you like, I’d love it if you shared them.
I'm Feeling This 
What a great recommendation. I know Glen Hansard, too – of course, she says in her smug, faux-Irish way – saw him first 25 years ago in “The Commitments”, later became a fan of The Frames. Saw them live at Electric Picnic 2010 – great live band Incidentally one of those bands that the Irish like to call “world-famous in Ireland”, i.e. massive stars here, critically acclaimed, never quite made it elsewhere. Loved “Once”, it was such a realistic view of Dublin just before the big economic disaster. The Frames have been rather quiet in the last few years, although not disbanded.
I had not kept up with Hansard until very recently. He made an appearance on Ireland’s biggest late night talk show (“The Late Late”) where he more or less spontaneously urged people to join an act of civil disobedience in order to end the homelessness and housing crisis in Ireland. I won’t get into the specifics (too long) but will just say he stayed involved as an activist in the issue and managed to rally the people. He played an informal concert in aid of the homeless charity “Home Sweet Home”, which I went to. He comes across as a normal, but great guy. It was a surprise to me that his music is so quiet, melodic as The Frames had a slightly heavier sound. I can totally see why he has become a favourite of yours. I think I’ll have to download that album, too. Thanks for writing this post!
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I would love to see him live! And I’d heard he was active against homelessness. Somehow I haven’t seen Once, but I would like too. Hard to believe The Commitments was more than 25 years ago!)
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Every year before Christmas, he busks on Dublin’s main shopping street (which is about 10 minutes from where I live) for homeless charities. (I’ve never seen him play there, though, because Christmas Eve is the big family event in a German household – can’t leave the hearth.) Anyway, that’s how he got involved in the recent activism. Essentially, a number of people got together and occupied an empty office building that has been repossessed by the state and is not being put to a good use, such as giving homeless people shelter. The initiative was widely supported by the public and received many donations. Other big names were involved, such as Hozier for instance.
I can only recommend Once. It is a bittersweet story, lots of music, very “Dublin”.
They recently showed The Commitments on TV again – trip down memory lane. The film is still pretty good.
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I thought I remembered reading about his Christmas busking on your blog, but I did a search before my post and couldn’t find it. Maybe I saw it elsewhere ?
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Not sure whether I mentioned it before. Maybe in a comment somewhere? Here he is last year (with videos): http://www.newstalk.com/Glen-Hansard-busking
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Would have loved to be in that crowd!
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I have to check it out on Spotify but ‘Falling Slowly’ never gets tired for me.
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Not sure how I missed it when it came out!
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Somewhere everyone discovers something for the first time. People see someone discover something and love seeing it happen.😊
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Spotify!! Great recommendation Fatima!!
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Cool! Thanks!
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