The Songwriter - Chapter 12

 The Songwriter

Chapter 12

Getting Used To Appreciation  

I got on board the green double decker bus outside the airport in Dublin . I noticed  everyone greeted each other the same way . God bless they would say .I realised after a while they must have known who the driver was . He almost tilted the bus up on one side as we turned at every  street along  the way . I asked the driver , Mr Two Wheeler if he could drop me off near Frenchman’s Lane as the youth hostel was there  . I got off the bus in the rain and was lucky to get a room all to myself . It had a window to the stars and a comfortable single bed . In the evening I came downstairs with my guitar and sat down near the piano in the common room ,  I was immediately joined by a fella who sat down on the piano stool . I stared to play one of my songs and he added some keys . An American lady come over to me and asked me for a light . I lit up her cigarette and she told me she loved me . I had never set eyes on her in my life and was knocked out by what she had said . I told her I love you too .She went away for a little while and then she returned with a fiddle and joined in a few songs  . The fella playing the piano took a rest and said to me . I want to show you something . Follow me . He took me outside to his car and opened the boot . He produced an over proof bottle of Jack Daniels Whisky and said that it was a very rare drop and he told me .  only a few bottles of the are made once every year . Then he said ,

“Come on , lets have a drink.”

.A few moments later a good crowd had gathered and we drank and sang until the wee hours of the morning . There was no one came to tell us to stop or to keep the noise down . It was a fantastic session with about six of us in the end before we had a break .

I had a lie down afterwards when I awoke most of the people who were there at the session were getting ready to leave . all of us talked about the great night we  had. They told me they enjoyed my songs and asked if I wrote them . I had never had that kind of appreciation before .

 

So in Dublin’s fair city , I went with a song in my heart to have a look for the first time at the people on the streets and around every corner I found a theatre or a pub with an open invitation for a writer or a singer , a photographer or comedian , an actor or an actress , a musician or poet or whatever you wanted to be. I saw a place with a wealth of history bursting with talent .  The Liffey people and the gypsy folk scattering their wares from O’Connell Street  to St Stephens Green . I took a seat in Sean O’Caseys Pub and listened for a while to the most beautiful spoken English you would ever hope to hear . The seat were occupied all along the bar with glasses all lined up like soldiers in a row waiting for another order to come . The men in their caps and jackets sat talking about times gone past and the ladies dressed up like models sitting around the tables with an elegance not seen much these days .

In no hurry to leave I sat there in the corner and wrote the first few lines to a song called Coming Back To Dublin .

The people in the bar were in no hurry to leave and they sat talking about the love of life and the conversations were like songs being sung .

At the end of the night I had finished my song and all I needed was a place to go busking. So with my guitar under my arm I went to O’Connell Street and stood outside the G.P.O. and began to busk to no one in the pouring pain .        

Coming Back To Dublin

By Paul McCann

 

I’ve been around , a roving around ,

like the crafty old fox, I’ve been chasing the hound

but Oh how it seems I’ve been just chasing dreams ,

Its time to come back to Dublin Town .

 

With a fa-la-la- de-da-da-da-de-da  I’m coming back.

With a fa-la-la- de-da-da-da-de-da  to Dublin Town ,

How I missed you Ana Liffey

Now it won’t be long till I’m with you

Turn around and you’ll find me Dublin Town .

 

Exiled I smiled as the tears fell down

So I wiped away all my memories Dublin Town

But its hard to forget where your roots are set

I’ve sewn all my seeds on the Holy ground .

 

With a fa-la-la- de-da-da-da-de-da  I’m coming back.

With a fa-la-la- de-da-da-da-de-da  to Dublin Town ,

How I missed you Ana Liffey

Now it won’t be long till I’m with you

Turn around and you’ll find me Dublin Town .

 

Quell this wanderlust heart , my feet will tread no more

the streets and the sidewalks of many a foreign shore

No longer I’ll roam now that I’ve come home

Its time to settle down and close the door .

 

With a fa-la-la- de-da-da-da-de-da  I’m coming back.

With a fa-la-la- de-da-da-da-de-da  to Dublin Town ,

How I missed you Ana Liffey

Now it won’t be long till I’m with you

Turn around and you’ll find me Dublin Town .

 

I saw a tall man walking up the street towards in the rain . He stopped in front of me as big as a mountain and put his arms around me and said “I love you and walked away .

After that I made my way home to the youth hostel in Frenchman’s Lane .

Day in , day out , the tourist arrive mixing with the locals in the shops and restaurants , night clubs and bars . Things happen fast on the streets in Dublin , if you stop to have a look ,  you’ll miss it . They’re a weird and wonderful breed , the young and old , the weak and strong they belong to the place .

 

In the light drizzle of a morning where I stood busking a lady came over to me and said ,

”I’ll tell you what , do you know U2”  

“I do “

said I and then she says .

“Do you know Kevin Barry too?”

 

“Sure I do “  I said .

 

“Do you think you could do James Connelly:”:

She asked me .

 

‘”Well I’ll tell you what . I’ll do U2 for you “

I said to her .

“See me , I grew up with Bono and the lads .  I knew them in their childhood days.”

She said.

I played my original version of a U2 song , I still haven’t found what I’m looking for and the lady began to dance . Then she started to sing along with me   . The rain was getting heavy and she said to me ,

“Come on lets go for a cup of tea”

:That’s awful nice of you”

I said to her .and she answered

.

“No problem son . When the day comes when old Molly can’t get a visitor a cup of tea I’ll stand on my hands and walk up the Liffey. “

She took me to a small coffee shop near the Abbey Theatre and we sat down at a table in the corner   :The old lady went over to the counter and asked the girl there for two cups of hot water . She brought over the two cups and placed them on the table /in front of me and then she pulled two tea bags out of her handbag  and placed them in the cups . She jiggled them around a little and put them back into her handbag , I looked on as she produced two scones from her bag , some sugar and milk . She did the honours and we sat and swallowed down tea and scones and chatted away like two swells .

;Aren’t the shops just begging for some lifting ?”

She asked me .

:I don’t know , I’ve never lifted one before .“ We both laughed .

“I’m a shop lifter and every day I’m at work . Here and there , a bit of this and that. “

:Have you ever been caught ?” I asked her .

Once I had to go to court “ She said .

“What was it you stole Molly ?”  I asked her .

 “I took a sheet and two pillow cases . They stopped me as soon as I walked out of the shop so there was nothing I could do so I pleaded guilty but insane .“

“Did you get off “ I asked .

She gave me a wink and said .

“They hadn’t got a leg to stand on . I’m too sharp got them . I got a good behaviour bond “

“I enjoyed our cup of tea .Thanks Molly “ I said .

“I like your music son “ she said .

“ I could get used to this appreciation Molly “Said I .

“Anytime” She answered .

“Right then,I’ll be seeing you  molly. “

I slipped ten punt into her hand and got up off the chair .

I took to the street and bought a few post cards of Dublin to send to my Aunt Lily and cousins in Belfast . Just to let them know where I was and everything was ok .

I went down to the post office in O’Connell Street and was very impressed by the size of it . Inside were these tall marble pillars and light came streaming into the building from all corners . I found a spot to write a few words on the post cards

Hi its Paul here . “I’m staying at the youth Hostel in Dublin . The people are great and all  is well and hope the same is for you too .

All my love – Paul

 

Then I got in the queue to get some stamps and posted off the cards to Belfast .

 

After that I went to have a look inside the Abbey Theatre. When I wandered in there was some kind of exhibition on there and people stood around drinking champagne in tall glasses there were being served canvas food brought to them by waitresses . No one questioned me or stopped me . I walked through the doors and down into the theatre seats . A piano sat there on the bottom left of the stage . I couldn’t resist it . I sat down and played a song I had written called Sweden . I was expecting to get thrown of the theatre , but no one came . I thought to myself I play another one and after that I made my way back up the steps to the exit doors past rows of empty seats . When I got to the foyer , I wasn’t challenged by anyone about who I was and what I was doing .

Maybe they were all too drunk to have even noticed but I had just played two of my songs inside the Abbey Theatre in Dublin .

 

I was amazed by the amount of buskers around Dublin and spoke to some of them who I met in different spots . . Gerry was a friend of the famous Furey family who were the driving force begin the Irish folk music scene for decades . Gerry was even on the road with them as they toured around in different countries . I shared some of my songs with Gerry who appreciated my work .  Then there was Jilly who I though was a girl but he was a fella . He busked every day in the same spot and each time I saw him he was singing the same song , that I fell In love with . It was a Jimmy McCarthy song called Ride On . Jilly played an semi – acoustic guitar that he plugged into a small amplifier that was connected up to a car battery.

Then there was Brian who played with a famous band in England , He told me he had everything at one stage in his life . A home , a family and lots of money before his addictions took them all away . Now he goes around busking some of Donovan’s  songs all over the place . We played together a few times while I was there . His version of Colours was brilliant . There are many stories about great musician’s that end up on the skids . That’s part of the journey . It can eat you up and spit you out and leave you with the dogs on the street .

 

One day on my return to the youth hostel the manager told me that the Garda came looking for me . She told them I was out busking and to come back later . I was shocked and wondered what was going on . The next day early in the morning I had a phone call come through to the youth hostel . The manager brought me the phone and I said hello .

My Mother in Australia spoke to me to let me know that my Father had passed away . I was speechless . I told her I couldn’t get back to Australia because I had no passport . I started to tell her some of the things that had happened to me since I left Sydney .

I never told any of my family what I was going through since leaving because I never wanted them to be worried . They though everything was ok and I was having a ball of a time .

My Mother said that Dad had died of a massive heart at a work function . He was only in his  fifties and still very fit . Now he was gone and I was ten thousand miles away and couldn’t get back for his funeral .

The next day I left Dublin on a train for Belfast to be with my relatives .

It was very hard for me at that time because no one was able to provide any shelter for me due to some family issues that was going on . ,

My cousin walked me over to a homeless refuge called the Simon Community on the Cliftonville Road in North Belfast . That place became my home for six months, A few of the local lads were giving me some grief there so I was transferred to one of the Simon Communities cluster homes in Haypark Avenue in  the University area of Belfast .

It was good that I told Pat from Kennington where I was living because a letter was sent to me from the Australian High Commission in London . They had received my replacement Certificate of Citizenship from Canberra and now I was able to lodge my passport application with them . That day I told Gabriel another homeless man like me , the good news that I could now get my Australian passport . He asked me out that night to celebrate and I accepted . We headed into Shaftesbury Square and had a few drinks in some of the bars.

Just when things seemed to have taken a turn for the better something unexpected happened . As we walked out of this bar a fella outside confronted Gabriel and a scuffle began . I tried to break the fight up and a small group turned on me . Somebody got behind me and another in front of me . I was pushed and pulled falling heavily to the ground and kicked until I went unconscious. An ambulance was called and I was taken to hospital with broken bones and fractures .

I asked Gabriel what all that was about . He mentioned that he was part of a detox rehabilitation group at a mental health unit  . One day there was a group therapy session and an argument started with this guy over some issues . That fella was the one who spotted Gabriel as he walked out of the bar that night when we went out to celebrate my good fortune . He was part of this gang and one of them had a handgun ran off as the police arrived . Gabriel had made the police report that was a key to making an arrest .An arrest had been made and I was lucky t be alive .It was months before I had recovered .

 

I was paid a small amount of money from the criminal assault pool in court and I had enough money to buy a ticket to Australia .

I went and said my goodbyes to relatives in Ardoyne then bought a ticket on a flight to London where I could sort out my Australian passport.

Leaving Belfast behind wasn’t that hard to do .

 

 End Of Chapter 12

.

https://www.abctales.com/story/mcscraic/songwriter-chapter-13

Link to Chapter 13

.