Dónal Donohoe

A video with a tune I wrote called “Get Hooked” and some animation that I made for yarnclasses.com featuring photographs of some of the many woolly wonders to be found there.

I wrote Carousel some years ago for someone close whose best friend had just committed suicide. It was about five o’clock one Friday afternoon when I got the call telling me the news and when I put the phone down without really thinking about it I started playing the guitar. Within a few moments Carousel just came out and about a week later I played it live at a gig, after that it was just another song that I had written which was stored away in my musical bottom drawer, so to speak.

Years went by until one Sunday afternoon a friend came by quite distraught saying that his young niece had just taken her life in similar circumstances. He was in shock and as the girl was so young I thought that surely it was just an accident, but shortly after he left I saw through the window a hearse driving up the road and I realised that it was no accident and the girl was gone. Filled with a deep shock and sadness that descended on everybody in the area that day I took up my guitar and although it had been some years since I had last played Carousel it somehow seemed like the right thing to do that day. When the time came to record the album Slipstring I decided to include Carousel as the opening number and although it is maybe not a happy song as such it is one of the songs from which I have received the most feedback on that album.

Dónal Donohoe – song: The Voyage of Bran

Playing at the Storytelling Session for Families at Chapters Book Store, Dublin last April organized by the Bardic Storyteller Richard Marsh.

From the album ‘Midnight ’til Noon’ featuring:

Dónal Donohoe – Electric Guitar & Vocal
Jeffrey Daniel Jensen – Drums
Christian Dawids – Bass
Tony Uter – Percussion

Through The Smoke by Donal Donohoe

Ring-ting is a song from my recently released ‘Slipstring’ album and is a tongue in cheek take on today’s prevalent mobile phone culture.

It was nice to play in Conary Hall again last Saturday night to a lovely audience many of whom came up to chat with me after the gig, it was encouraging to hear so many say that they had enjoyed the set. JP and Andy played a lovely and entertaining set too and Eoin O’Grady was on sound for the night. Many thanks to Pat Nolan who not only organized the event but who also served up nice cups of ‘Barry’s’ tea for everyone during the the interval.

‘Round and ’round around we go
And where it ends no one knows
In and out fast and slow
When your turn is up
It’s time to go

‘Round and round the wheels turn fast
When the ride gets rough some don’t last
You’d lost your friend you’d said goodbye
I saw the sorrow in your eyes

I put a flower in your hand
Here at this crossing of our ways
May you have happiness and health
For the rest of your days

Her parents were called Kathleen and Larry
They lived in a house down by the canal
She would fetch fresh milk in a jug each day
As the eldest she helped out in her way
Larry worked delivering bread to earn his pay

She had three brothers and three sisters
When trouble started she made sure it missed her
Then up the stairs to the top
Where he’d turn and standing there alone
Larry would sing ‘our house is a happy home’

With strips of leather and a cobblers last
Larry would mend all his children’s shoes
As she cycled along one day he saw her
Pass by wearing a yellow hat
And that to all intents and purposes was that

She asked him home to meet her kin
With some trepidation he agreed
But as the door closed behind him
Was it fate or just a whim
When Larry said Kathleen lock the quickly while we have him

They married soon after and set forth
Across the canal and headed north
And as they crossed the Tolka river
He said there was nothing he would not give her
And they settled down in a house with a view of the Dublin hills

How green this valley so quiet and still
It’s peaceful here but not around those far away hills
Killed when they try fleeing, killed if they stay
Caught in the middle they ask how the world can turn away
Some say it’s alright that children die in Lebanon tonight

Thay wage war by proxy and don’t give their name
People are dying but they let someone else take the blame
Bombs fall like rain, death fills the breeze
A land destroyed and rebuilt is once again brought down on it’s knees
Some say it’s alright that cities burn in Lebanon tonight

How green this valley so quiet and still
It’s peaceful here but not around those far away hills
Dreams come true in this world though not easily
People can live together in peace and friendship and in harmony
So try with all your might Lebanon to make it through this night

Lebanon by the sea
Dreams come true wait and see

At the High Chaparral he looked at her fondly
As though she were Gráinne and he was Dermot
They rode on his horse toward
The Californian Hills of Ballyfermot
And it’s high ho Silver take us home
To where there’s no need to roam

She was fair and he was handsome
Who was boss was hard to know
He could charm her, she could romance him
He was a baker but she had the dough
Back where the seventy eight goes
There are secrets that only he and her know

You’ve got to find where there’s no need to roam
We’ve little time here, don’t spend it all alone

The lights grew closer, the sun had gone down
A man came and stopped him just outside the town
And said I’m the sheriff around here say who you are
I don’t know your name you look like a stranger
He held the sheriff’s gaze for a while
Then replied just a lone ranger

Quickly he found the place midway down on main street
If things went as planed then later that’s where they’d meet
The talk was local for the most part
And of the damage caused by the tornado
A woman asked a man for a coin
And the jukebox played ‘The Streets Of Larado’

He waited there until he felt that he’d been had
Around him some were shouting the rest just looked sad
A man pushed another then stood and stared
To give the impression he could defeat a
Herd of wild horses, a army of men
To win the hand of the señorita

Intent not to dwell on one more broken dream
He made his way to the door and slipped out unseen
He turned at the corner the side street was dark
Quiet and empty and as he walked down
The sounds from the night grew faint in his ears
And no one noticed as he left town

Come home babe you know my love is strong
The wind and rain know that I’ve waited long
And when you reach that crossroad
I know you’ll know the way
You know you’ll find me waiting
Every night and day

I’ve travelled long with you on my mind
Let’s journey together and see what we find
Till there’s no day without that
Magic in the air
And no hour when you don’t
Know how much I care

If you’d stayed after I’d gone
It was closer than close to all going wrong
And there’s no tongue can tell
What we would have missed
A love that could dare
Even time to resist

Yatsuhashi wakes in the land of the rising sun
Getting paid for having fun like a cat with the cream
He remembers the day he left Kushimoto
With his suitcase and his Koto to follow his dream

Spin the globe around till sunlight hits on
The minaret in Mustafa’s town
Where once in the bazaar he saw a veil of lace
Fall from a face now his feet don’t touch the ground

Somewhere else the sky is blue and from far and near
They come to hear the sounds of marching bands
From Monserat to Timbuktu it’s Saint Patrick’s day
And Paddy scraps his poems in the sand

Darkness descends and till dawn comes
None can know what tomorrow will bring
Yatsuhashi sleeps as Mustafa proudly plays his oud
And Paddy starts to sing

The king sipped from his chalice
And looked out from his palace
He thought of all he’d be able to meet
No one would know if he went incognito
That it was he who was king
And what tales that it would bring

So he went to the market
Amid stalls of fruit and carpet
He stopped to buy a loaf of bread
The man said why not have two instead
And taking two from the shelf
He said I’ve enough for myself

He walked down by the quayside
A boat was being untied
He said I’ve longed to go fishing for so long
The man said why don’t you come along
But no money or fare would he take
As they sailed out on the lake

The fisherman let out his line
And held high a gourd filled with wine
He said it’s time for a drink how about you
The king said I don’t mind if I do
He looked at his home on the hill
And they sat there drinking their fill

He listened to songs and tales of yore
He’d not felt free like this before
Do you know he asked and could you tell if you will
Who lives in the palace on the hill
The fisherman said that he knew
He thought everyone else did too

He said Louis XIV lives there
The throne was vacant and he was heir
I’m Louis XIV said the king
The palace, the land I own everything
The fisherman checked on his line
And said yes it’s very good wine

I’m your ring-tone baby ting-a-ling-a-ling
I don’t know who it is or what news they bring
But someone’s on the line answer if you feel inclined

I’m your ring-tone you can listen to me chime
When someone tries to call you I’ll tell you every time
No story or no song to explain would take too long
Ting-a-ling-a-ling

I’m your ring-tone till you find somebody new
Then you’ll be moving on I guess I will be too
You’re wanted on the phone would you like to be alone
Ting-a-ling-a-ling

An old friend of mine
When I met him first he lived down a lane
Now he has kids they’re his life
And a place in out of the rain

An old friend of mine
Said keep it simple keep it clear
And while you’re at it you can
Get that dog out of here

We played ‘Northern Sky’
But the crowd didn’t take to the tune
He turned to me and said
Look what it’s doin’ you’ve got to

An old friend of mine
Was there when times turned black
And if there’s a way
I’ll someday pay him back

Views vary but can’t deny
No matter what a heart that tries
Be happy just getting by
Be ready when beauty flies
Off the radar before you go
You may not reap but still you sow
Off the radar out of sight
But keeping watch through the night

Stick with it as best you can
When no one gives a damn
No need for somewhere else to be
Without much but still free
Off the radar before you go
You may not reap but still you sow
Off the radar out of sight
But keeping watch through the night

Stick with it as best you can
When no one gives a damn
Be happy just getting by
Be ready when beauty flies
Off the radar lying low
Till summer’s end brings winter’s snow
Off the radar heading home
So small beneath the starry dome

To get more details click here and you can listen to a sample too.

The time has come to release another collection of songs into the ether, where they will end or whether anybody will listen to them or like them, no one can know. But the work is done, the CDs are pressed or replicated to use the correct terminology and the album is called ‘Slipstring’.

It is my third release since returning to live in Ireland and follows on from ‘Midnight ’til Noon’ released in 2005 and ‘Ceol ’s Rann’ released in 2007.  ‘Slipstring’ is out on CD from my website and from CDBaby.com, it is also be available to download on iTunes, Amazon and other online digital stores either as single tracks or as an album.

‘Slipstring’ is a collection of eleven new original songs some of which touch on the personal and political, others are story songs written about people, places and events that through a process of osmosis percolated to the forefront of my imagination. You can listen to one of the songs from ‘Slipstring’ called ‘No Need To Roam’ on the player below.

No Need To Roam by Donal Donohoe

An t-Oileán is the Irish for ‘the island’ and the song comes from my fascination with islands, which I have always enjoyed visiting both in Denmark and off the west coast of Ireland. Built over a minor riff that changes to major in the chorus, the song was written in Irish and has two verses with an instrumental section at the end. It tells the story of a journey to an island and the anticipation of the reunions that will take place upon arrival there.

An t-Oileán by donaldonohoe