Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Happy St. Patrick's Day - Westlife


Left to right: Shane Filian, Kian Egan, Nicky Byrne, Mark Feehily.

Indeed, first they were five, then four, boys from Ireland who had a major impact on the British music scene, and were signed by Sony/BMG executive Simon Cowell in 1998. They came together as a boy band, singing pop songs with an R & B flavor, and have gone on to soundly conquered the world, save the US. But they have matured, both as men and as performers, and have placed themselves in more of an adult contemporary feel, prolonging the life of the band for more than most bands of the era. While they have maintained a pop sound, they did record the song You Raise Me Up for the 205 album Face To Face with a strong Celtic feel. That should come as no surprise, considering the boys are from Ireland, and the music was written by Rolf Løvland and the lyrics by Brendan Graham for the movie Secret Garden. The melody is based on a traditional Irish tune (especially the opening phrase of its chorus), the Londonderry Air, which is best known as the usual tune to the 1910 song Danny Boy.


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