Songs 6 and 7

Hard Times Come Again No More

Hard Times Come Again No More was written in 1854. The songs seems to be literally about "hard times" that people go through, especially those who are poorer and dealing with them. Because this song was originally done in 1854, it appears to have been written by someone who was able to closely observe "hard times". Whether he went through them himself or just closely observed I'm not sure. The song seems to paint a vivid portrait of what the poor were going through, since the writer used a lot of adjectives. I thought this song was okay, I thought that the recording artists did a really good job of sound sad, like it seemed like she was actually in the situation that the lyrics portrayed. I think this song helped to show me what was going on in the US around 1854. There must have been difficult things happening for someone to have sat down and written such a sad song. And I know that the song says that hard times will come again no more, but it didn't feel like they believed that they way it was sung. It sounds more like their destined for doom than for better things to come.

Paddy's Lament by Sinead O' Connor

Paddy's Lament was written in 2002. The song tells about an Irish person named Paddy telling of how he immigrates to America because of hard times in Ireland. Paddy then tells that once he arrived to America he was forced to start fighting in the American war. Throughout the song Paddy tells"boys" back in Ireland to stay in Ireland because the only thing happening in America is war and that he wished he could come back home to Ireland. The story is told from Paddy's point of view. The song is written such that it sounds like a letter that Paddy would have sent back home to the "boys" in Ireland. First let me say that when I saw we had a song from Sinead O' Connor I was super excited because I love her song Nothing Compares 2 U. However, when I first heard this song I was little confused and didn't understand until I had looked up the lyrics. That being said, once I understood the song I liked it. Although the song isn't written from an American standpoint, it made me think of how other countries feel when we are in war. Especially when America was younger and a lot of immigrants came over for a better life,( not that there are not immigrants like that now), and were immediately expected to help and understand what struggles America was going through.