Imelda May read out her moving poem ‘You Don’t Get To Be Racist And Irish’ for Culture on RTÉ today.
Imelda May will release Slip Of The Tongue, a debut EP of her poetry this month. The first track, Home, was released last month.
Today, Imelda read out her poem ‘You Don’t Get To Be Racist And Irish’, addressing what is currently going on in the US and around the world.
Watch Now: You Don't Get To Be Racist And Irish – Imelda May @ImeldaOfficial reads her stunning poem for our times: pic.twitter.com/ZPbjflKG4R
— Culture on RTÉ (@RTE_Culture) June 5, 2020
See the full poem below.
You don’t get to be racist and Irish
You don’t get to be proud of your heritage,
plights and fights for freedom
while kneeling on the neck of another!
You’re not entitled to sing songs
of heroes and martyrs
mothers and fathers who cried
as they starved in a famine
Or of brave hearted
soft spoken
poets and artists
lined up in a yard
blindfolded and bound
Waiting for Godot
and point blank to sound
We emigrated
We immigrated
We took refuge
So cannot refuse
When it’s our time
To return the favour
Land stolen
Spirits broken
Bodies crushed and swollen
unholy tokens of Christ, Nailed to a tree
(That) You hang around your neck
Like a noose of the free
Our colour pasty
Our accents thick
Hands like shovels
from mortar and bricklaying
foundation of cities
you now stand upon
Our suffering seeps from every stone
your opportunities arise from
Outstanding on the shoulders
of our forefathers and foremother’s
who bore your mother’s mother
Our music is for the righteous
Our joys have been earned
Well deserved and serve
to remind us to remember
More Blacks
More Dogs
More Irish.
Still labelled leprechauns, Micks, Paddy’s, louts
we’re shouting to tell you
our land, our laws
are progressively out there
We’re in a chrysalis
state of emerging into a new
and more beautiful Eire/era
40 Shades Better
Unanimous in our rainbow vote
we’ve found our stereotypical pot of gold
and my God it’s good.
So join us.. ’cause
You Don’t Get To Be Racist And Irish.
Imelda May is set to release her nine-track poetry EP on June 12. Speaking about the body of work, the singer explained, “Melodies swirl in my head. Footsteps become the rhythm to a song. But often words don’t feel like they need anything more than to be spoken aloud or read alone. ”
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