Ok you know what, I freaking love bagpipes. Like, they make me emotional… I’ve recognized more and more over the years that I have a devastating and heartbreaking love for bagpipes and Celtic music, and it moves me in ways no other music does. Case in point, “Caoineadh Cú Chulainn” on this playlist just about wrecks me every time.
I’ve admired Celtic culture since, oh probably somewhere around 1997, when I was but a wee lass of seven or eight. I would’ve been aware, by this time, of my Scottish and Celtic heritage on my mother’s side, and I think that my adoration for the culture is tied to three key events that occurred around this formative era for me.
1. Being enrolled in my beloved tap and ballet classes when a performance by the step-dancing phenome, Riverdance, aired on the local PBS station.
My dad, who danced many a style of dance with me in the living room when I was very young, recorded the show on a VHS tape in the VCR for me to watch and dance to over and over again. Heck, he loves Riverdance, too! In fact, it’s kind of one of our cheesy things to bond over.
And whenever I need some inspiration, I watch the video of Riverdance’s first performance on a major stage — their 1994 Eurovision premiere in Dublin, where they were the interim act that stole the show.
— Step-dancing starts at 2:00 min —
I just love everything about this vintage video clip.
I love the captioning at the bottom of the screen that tells the story and hypes the scene, I love Michael Flatley’s brash confidence and almost Elvis-like persona in all his silk-shirted, step-dancing glory (I’ve often wondered if Flatley wrote the captioning himself), and I love the drama of rows and rows of step-dancers emerging from the darkness with ever-intensifying taps. Celtic chills. Plus, the audience’s and hosts’ reactions — along with the gleefully relieved, almost surprised looks on Butler’s and Flatley’s faces — always make me smile.
Everyone in that performance hall suddenly realized just how Badass Riverdance is.
2. I watched Braveheart
I don’t know what it is about circa ’90s movies being soooo loooong, but I will GLADLY sit through a four hour showing of Braveheart that airs on basic television AND will likely talk through the whole thing about how much I love the film because of its story, location, and soundtrack AND how actually it’s probably my favorite film of all time even though that’s a really hard thing to narrow down but this is an exception AND how that’s really saying something because I’m the type of person who sees a film once and then doesn’t want to see it again for another decade AND did you want to know this interesting little tidbit about the story’s historical accuracy, filming location, or musical score?
3. I attended Tulsa’s annual Scottish Games festival
Going to the Scottish Games when I was young girl with my grandmother in the city where I was born, circa 1997 or somewhere in there, is one of my most cherished memories.
I had my face painted with beautiful and sparkling faerie designs that I didn’t wash off for days, and I got to shop for the tartan plaid pattern of my family clan in Scotland to take home and wear. The beret in the clan plaid that I found was probably the most stylish thing I’ve ever owned. We saw men in kilts throw logs the size of telephone poles, and I got to watch and MEET real-life Celtic step-dancers, with their velvet green dresses and spiral curls and everything.
This was big stuff for little girl me, and it surely contributed to my love for Celtic music.
And finally, to the playlist.
If you’re still reading — cool. I rambled on for a bit there…
Without further ado, here is the Celtic playlist that this whole novel-of-a-blog post is supposed to be about, anyway. Is it basically just the Riverdance soundtrack mixed with the Braveheart soundtrack? It sure is.
P.S. The Braveheart song titles kinda tell what happens in the film… like, exactly what happens. So, I guess *spoiler alert*? Except, this movie has been out for 25 years, so…
Anyways, enjoy.
