This is the most powerful song I've heard since "Blowing in the Wind"

[Hekate]

15. I was introduced to Tommy Sands and his music courtesy of Robbie O'Connell's Celtica Tours...

I went twice to Ireland with a friend, both times with Robbie. It's a good land tour of the sights, and the music is exquisite. Robbie seems to know every talented vocalist, instrumentalist, and dancer on the island, and if there's still a blank spot on the schedule Robbie sings and his brother in law fiddles. His brother in law Sean, by the way, travelled with us and is the most staggeringly talented fiddler I've ever heard -- and no, he has never recorded.

So there we were one night and our entertainer was Tommy Sands. I'd never heard of him -- I thought he was an American pop singer/heartthrob from the 1950s-1960. Same name, different guy.

The Irish Tommy was (I'm remembering this from his book, Song Man) a seminary student when he started writing antiwar songs, at least one of which was clandestinely recorded and hit the radio; finally he left the seminary the night before he was to be ordained, and headed on foot toward the scene of some major demonstrations taking place many many miles away. His siblings pulled up in a car packed with instruments and hailed him -- they didn't know he was out, but they were on their way to the same city.

Anyway, I was blown away by this man's music. Listen to There Were Roses: the two lads murdered in the song were in real life two of his friends. The roses grew in Tommy's parents' back yard.

Many of his songs brought me to tears. I couldn't get Down by the Lagen Side out of my mind.