Category Archives: Spirituality and Philosophy

Posts that specifically relate to discussions about life, the universe and everything.

Happy 156th Birthday Mr Yeats

Posted on June 3, 2021 by Daniel Kelly

For Yeats Birthday this year, I recorded a setting of the poem The Two Trees. I purchased Loreena McKennitt’s album The Mask and Mirror very close to when it came out in 1994, but had never realised the lyrics to … Continue reading →

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Four Treasures of Ireland

Posted on August 19, 2020 by Daniel Kelly

I have been working my way through The Secret Rose and Other Stories, which is a compilation of several short stories and essays by William Butler Yeats. As a ballad collector and writer I was very pleased to find many … Continue reading →

Posted in Ballad Analysis, Blog Post, Folk Music, Spirituality and Philosophy | Leave a comment

The Fall of Skywalker?

Posted on December 25, 2019 by Daniel Kelly

It is with some trepidation that I take my family to see the final installment in the Star Wars saga that has been running since the year I was born. A New Hope, just Star Wars back then, was the … Continue reading →

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Loving the Common People

Posted on July 20, 2019 by Daniel Kelly

A lot of folk song, due to its origin, speaks about poverty. Some songs that immediately come to mind are Poverty Knock, A Begging I will Go, Four Pence a Day and some that have been recycled several decades apart … Continue reading →

Posted in Blog Post, Folk Music, Spirituality and Philosophy | 6 Comments

The Prodigal Guitar

Posted on January 23, 2019 by Daniel Kelly

Here is a picture of me back when I was young and naïve. I’m playing the guitar that my now beautiful and long-suffering wife (then girlfriend of 12 months) owned. From the class ring I’m wearing, it was probably the … Continue reading →

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The Stolen Rhyme

Posted on February 9, 2018 by Daniel Kelly

I have always loved the haunting ethereal beauty of Loreena McKennitt’s setting of William Butler Yeat’s poem, The Stolen Child, to music. I tried to practice singing the song before doing this recording for my YouTube channel, but even after … Continue reading →

Posted in Ballad Analysis, Blog Post, Folk Music, Lyrics and Chords, Poetry, Spirituality and Philosophy | 4 Comments

Dan Brown – Origin – A Guided Tour

Posted on December 30, 2017 by Daniel Kelly

I have been a big fan of Dan Brown’s books, all the way back to Digital Fortress and Deception Point. Origin, the latest book in the Robert Langdon series, is no exception. Even though the books follow a fairly predictable … Continue reading →

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Lessons from the Garden

Posted on November 5, 2017 by Daniel Kelly

Apart from my interest in folk music, I also love gardens. No so much the tame and manicured, but the rambling and full of life. Spring is one of the most beautiful times of year here in ‘cold-climate’ Australia, The … Continue reading →

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Faery Exodus in 1530

Posted on October 4, 2017 by Daniel Kelly

I have been reading Rudyard Kipling’s book Puck of Pook’s Hill, after being prompted to look at his poetry after hearing some of Leslie Fish’s recordings (Oak and Ash and Thorn in particular). Earlier in the book I read Sir … Continue reading →

Posted in Ballad Analysis, Blog Post, Folk Music, Spirituality and Philosophy | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Charlottesville

Posted on August 19, 2017 by Daniel Kelly

We live in an age, for better or worse, where ignorance is no longer an excuse for bigotry. Back in the 1500s, you could excuse the populous for joining a bloody fight over a few flavours of Christianity. Even though … Continue reading →

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