Damien Dempsey, Seize The Day
(2003 - Clear Records)

by Martin Ryan

I think he represents the sort of voice
in Ireland that's not allowed to be heard.
Sinead O'Connor

"Seize The Day" was Damien Dempsey's second album and is as good a place as any to begin to explore his music. Damien (Damo to his many fans) is a singer-songwriter from Donaghmede, a broadly working-class area of north Dublin. It's been said that he follows in a tradition from people like Luke Kelly, Christy Moore and Shane McGowan but this, of course, is only part of the story. His uniqueness lies in the fact that he documents the lives and lifestyles of a social group that heretofore was not represented in the field of Irish popular music. More importantly, in contrast to his contemporaries, he chooses to sing in his native Donaghmede accent, thus re-enforcing the messages in his songs: e.g. "love yourself today" from "It's All Good". This affirmation of his accent and of the tradition that lies behind it is what gives his music its potency and is the most important aspect of what Damien is.
The track that stands out on first listening is the above-mentioned "It's All Good" which made its debut on his first album and here appears with full band, including uilleann pipes and Sinead O'Connor helping out on vocals." I am an angry man, yeah, I vent it when I can, on the bag not the skag" (skag: heroin) are the opening lyrics which lead us to the chorus of "it's all good, yes it's all good." This could be read as either a straight-ahead positive message or, more likely in my opinion, a stoical resignation to the fact that life must go on no matter what.
"Ghosts of Overdoses" introduces us to inner-city Dublin life, where "they drive you from the city to make way for all the yuppies", a reference to the gentrification of the area. Damien's strong sense of history, evident in all his work, produces one of his best lyrics here when he sings "and the ghosts of overdoses replace the ghosts of tuberculosis". Ireland suffered a huge number of deaths from T.B. in the 40's and 50's and tenants of the "tenement" areas of Dublin, which are the subject of this song, suffered more than most. The same areas felt the ravages of heroin addiction in more recent times and, again, this song is typical of Damien's desire to tackle in his songs the issues that matter to him.
"Factories", a song about his own area of Dublin, again treats us to some beautifully evocative lines like "and from the corner of Holywell Road, see the sunset over St. Donagh's " (both streets in Donaghmede). We also hear of how Howth Junction, the local train station, could "take you away and in hayfields we'd squander the day". A memory of childhood fields on sunny, summer days takes the "local" experience onto a "universal" stage and is something we can all feel. These and other lyrics from this song present Damien at his best.
"At the moment I regard him as a musician that is walking the thin line between the tribe and the world. I'd like to see him just leave the tribe and become a tribune of the world... of the working classes of the world", said Eoghan Harris, member of Seanad Eireann. Nobody's perfect, however, and there are some songs on the album that fall into the category of pandering to the "tribe" that Senator Harris refers to.
"Jar Song" is a list of famous Irish drinkers and their exploits. "Christy Moore was an awful hoor" borders on embarrassing and, believe me, it's not the worst of it. The entire song seems to be designed to appeal to Irish who want to be told that it's OK to get stupid drunk on a regular basis and foreigners who like to cling to the stereotypical "John Bull" picture of the ape-like Irishman with a cudgel in one hand and a bottle of poteen in the other. Damien regularly rails against British mis-treatment of Ireland but for all his protests he could quite easily submit this lyric to the Daily Express. The infuriating thing about this album is that he can produce a song as good as "Ghosts of Overdoses" then, lazily in my opinion, produce this.
I could provide at least one more example of this kind of song but won't, primarily because I think the album as a whole is much stronger than its weak points with "Factories" and "Ghosts of Overdoses" being worth the price of admission alone: "No star ever played the Cellar Bar" ("Factories").
Damien's audience is not, as might be expected, from the "working class" but is more likely, in fact, to be a student-type, Hot Press, Irish Times reading middle-class or disaffected working class type whose traditional heroes would be people they see as "outsiders". He is more likely to be found collaborating with Christy Moore, Sinead O'Connor or Sharon Shannon than any "pop" artist who is likely to appeal to what might be considered his natural audience.
His songs address this audience and provide a much-needed affirmation of their culture (excluding the "drink till you're stupid" silliness). If he is to reach them and get his message across, he's going to have to come to where they are, i.e. the pubs and clubs where their kind of music is playing. He doesn't have to change. There's enough of the truth in his music to turn the head of the most ardent dance music lover. Maybe we'll get to see Damien play the Cellar Bar in the Donaghmede Inn as a first step in this direction.