The sorrow of the Celtic songs - WHY?!?!?!?!

Originally Posted by Dawn

Anywho. Just wondering, WHY are so many Celtic songs so heart-wrenchingly sad, yet so terribly beautiful at the same time? I've been listening to the Secret of the Kells soundtrack for over an hour now and despite as much as it's making be get all emotional and sappy, I don't want to stop listening! lol

Any ideas? I'd love to hear them!

Original, old school folk, is often about sad things so it is written in a minor key. It is the minor key that makes us feel sad.

If you think, the lives of the people who wrote a lot of these songs was hard. Folk music is the music of the people, they are often expressing the feelings of their lives....

Have you listened to Kate Rusby? She sings English folk and I got to the point where I couldn't listen to it... it's just too sad. I'll stick to the jigs and reels... much more cheerful

Originally Posted by Time

Think of it in lord of the rings. The elves songs are all full of sorrow for the most part for the hardships their race have endured. And tolkeins lore is pretty much taken directly from celtic mythology

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Oh ya, names, places and situations are taken from Snorri's work, namely one of the Eddas. Which is a poetic directory, written with the accounds of old norse traditions.

But the Eddas are Norse, not celtic.

Very old music is structured differently to the "celtic" music you listen to now. In fact the stuff that Enya plays is modern. If you want to hear some proper sad irish folk listen to Last Night's Fun, some of the aires (sp?) are stunning!!!

I have a friend who plays folk... I'll ask her about the history....