Secret Garden featuring Brian Kennedy • You Raise Me Up

Left: Secret Garden members Rolf Løvland and Fionnuala Sherry. Right: Brian Kennedy.

As tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, I thought I would bring you a classic favorite from an unexpected source. While most are familiar with a "You Raise Me Up" when sung by either Westlife or Josh Groban, I thought I would bring in the song as performed by Secret Garden. At the center of Secret Garden are Fionnuala Sherry and Rolf Løvland, instrumentalists who meld Celtic and Nordic Folk music to create some amazing results. That would include the song "You Raise Me Up", with lyrics by Brendan Graham and music by Rolf Løvland. The duo invited Irish vocalist Brian Kennedy to lend his considerable talents to the recording session, and, as you might expect, something special happened. This is "You Raise Me Up" by Secret Garden and featuring Brian Kennedy.

Sadly, while it might be the original recording, it was not the best selling. Westlife had that honor in Europe and elsewhere in the world, and Josh Groban in the United States and other countries around the globe. "You Raise Me Up" can e found on 'The Best Of Secret Garden 20th Century Masters - The Millemmium Collection', available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon.

Westlife • You Raise Me Up

Sometimes on a Sunday morning, I just need my Irish boys to sing to me. So here are Mark, Kian, Shane and Nicky to make my morning better with You Raise Me Up.

Celebrate With Some Irish Boys!

Here are those handsome Irish boys from Westlife, singing a live version of their song, You Raise Me Up. For their 10th Anniversary concert, they use a lovely Celtic sound for it.

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.