Vince Brophy The Man With A Dublin Heart

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One evening I was performing myself in New South Wales in a smokey
bar in Cowral in the Southern Highlands .
The entertainment of evening was put on by local folk club .
Apart from myself another Irish singer songwriter was there .Vince
Brophy.

Its a special something about Dublin that makes Vince Brophy tick .
.
I was lucky enough to pick up some of Vinces albums for my Irish Radio
program Craic With Mc .
As I listened to Vince and his songs I was very impressed with his work
.
A definite Dublin was there on all of his albums.

One of my favourite albums of his is entitled ," Stronger Than You
Think "
First released in Australia in 2002 and like a dark glass of Irish
stout that takes time to pour and enjoy, your man
is much the same .

As I sat down and had a listen to the album I discovered a
lifetime
of emotion in a single CD .
I felt the pain and hurt in the songs and a great strength there as
well .
Its one of those albums where together there are songs of families
,
songs of days on the boats ,
songs about a lover ,
songs about friends and songs about being an exile .
Life as an exiled Irishman far away in Australia .

The album is a musical jigsaw and I have to say an album no puzzle to
me .

I would like to talk about some of the songs on the album and so I'd
like to begin with the title track itself which is a tribute to the
virtue of those Irish people left behind as their loved ones where send
away . As they left the land how hard it must have been and yet they
continued to remain strong with all the hardships they had to endure .
When during those black days in Irish history when the coffin ships
where leaving Ireland , when the hunger pains turned the young into
weak and old ,
the Irish were stronger than you know . When Irish convicts were
transported to Australia, and punished for a crime they never committed
, the Irish were stronger than you know , and even today when our land
has seen a troubled hand grind
away at the very flagstones we walk upon, the Irish were Stronger Than
You Know .
One thing we Irish are blessed with is a strong Celtic heart, and long
may that beat and tell the world that we are always stronger than you
know .

The track Ceildhs On Sundays is one of those songs we can all relate to
.
I still recall every Sunday at my Grannies my sisters and I dancing and
singing ,like there was no tomorrow . Sure for many people after mass
on a Sunday is when you
would gather and share a story or a song or two . Memories are often
like an image that we can pass on to another generation . In this song
Vince tells how important it is not to loose that culture .

I think this is the first time I have heard The Star of The County Down
played as the love song that it was meant to be . Here is a timeless
song performed with the delicate precision of a heart surgeon .

I am reminded of so much in the track entitled Kiss The Child .
There is a vast sea of emotion stirring between the lines of this song
.
Being Irish we know well the loss of things near and dear to us , that
is why we have learnt to walk silently with it all, even our tears have
been worn as the smile in a brave disguise . This track has a beautiful
vocal arrangement and one of the deepest
emotions on the album come through here .

On the track called Dublin Rain , Vince remembers his Father . If you
listen to the song you'll find Vice has put a lot of powerful and very
personal parts of himself into this song , and so you can almost be
there with him in the Dublin Rain .
The track Flight Jig has a lovely feel to it . The guitar work has
crafted itself well into the lyrical hooks that play a major role with
this number .
Like that famous line in one of Mc peaks songs , he's been away now for
so many years , he's read all the papers and pulled back the tears .
This essence of being in Exile is one of the keys to unlock the
extraordinary talents of this excellent singer /songwriter now living
in Australia .

There are two songs on the album that have emerged from Vince playing
around the world . They are Calling Wooden Boat To Brest and We Must
Away .
For the serious musician theres no feeling like performing live to an
audience .
It is also an welcome invitation for the songwriter to become inspired
. In these two tracks Vince reminds us to recharge our life and pours
us a drop of friendship ,
A toasts to the health of all those who write songs , play music and
hardly ever become rich in the process .

Watching the blue and green is a song that reflects the emptiness of a
stare into the wilderness when you are either in exile or imprisoned .
This song highlights part of the experience of being somewhere between
the devil and the deep blue sea .

There is a genuine statement very revelant in the track ,
In A Moments Truth .
The perfect person for us all is the hero . What better hero is there
than one who loves us better than we do ourselves ?

I think the best track on the album is Macquaries Curse (Out
There)
There is a magic presence with this number that poses the question
,
who are they that try to keep us in our chains when we are born to roam
this earth .

Shame on those tyrants who have made a hell for the innocent .

Talent like Vince Brophy doesn;t just happen , it's worked for very
hard .
Vince helps many people and often attends workshops all over the world
to achieve the hughest skill of musicianship and craftsmanship with his
lyrics .

Long may people such as this continue to bring their original material
into the world . It indeed is Stronger than you think .

THE END

By Paul McCann