Covid ‘anthems’ give Galway songs a new lease of life

Covid may have been an unmitigated disaster for the arts sector – but separate pandemic-related projects have just provided a major boost to two of Galway’s finest on the music front.

A re-interpretation of the Saw Doctors’ chart-topper N17 – by Afro-Irish singer Tolu Makay with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra – is closing in on one million views on YouTube, since it featured on the channel’s New Year’s Eve concert.

And a version of Johnny Duhan’s Don’t Give Up ‘Til It’s Over – with new Danish lyrics – has been labelled as that country’s Covid anthem, after it was aired on Denmark’s top morning television show.

This week, the original artists were both reflecting on their unexpected return to the top of the tree – at a time when their industry, like so many others, remains in complete lockdown.

Saw Doc’s guitarist Leo Moran described it as ‘a great privilege, first of all’ that RTÉ and Tolu chose the song for the programme – and then that they did such a beautiful job with the arrangements.

“She absolutely makes it her own. It’s a difficult thing to do, but the arrangements were fantastic,” he said. “She must like it – she put great emotion into it.”

“It’s lovely to see the song getting out to a generation of people who might never have heard it before, and from what I can see the reaction has been completely positive,” said Leo.

“There have been a few who said they’d prefer the original alright, but this is a wonderful version”.

The Saw Doctors recorded the original version, produced by Mike Scott of the Waterboys, back in 1989, when it was their debut single on Solid Records.

And Leo admits that the notion of it still going strong – and getting a new lease of life – in 2021 was the last thing on their minds.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now – or you can download your digital copy from www.connachttribune.ie