Sunshine

You were my Sunshine. No, wait, I am not consigning you to the past. You are my Sunshine. You are not just a memory, you are a constant. You are with us, as always. We feel your presence in the house as if you never left: at the windows you always looked through, watching out […]

That music’s lost its taste, so try another flavour: Chart Music

This blog has always been behind the times. It doesn’t wear this as a badge of honour, partly because it can’t be bothered to go out and find one. The tragedy of it is that I Have Grave News took a six year hiatus (and no one noticed because they were all getting on with […]

Ghosts of music past

I heard a well-known pop song from 2003 on the television the other night. I was watching a lifestyle programme of some kind, I can’t even remember what, but the song immediately brought a smile to my face. I tapped along. As I recall, it came out around the time my first child was born. […]

Interview: Steeleye Span…. “there’s nothing sweet about us”

Originally published on State.ie Old school indie fans will know that any animated pub discussion about The Fall inevitably degenerates into reminiscence about that band’s almost innumerable personnel changes – the legendary whipping boys and girls who did their best before falling foul of Mark E. Smith’s iron thumb, and which particular line-up was the best. […]

Talk about pop music, talk about pop music…

Music criticism is no place for the squeamish Over the past decade, I’ve found that being a music critic of any repute requires a thicker skin than most musicians could dream of owning. Putting an opinion out there, into the vast muddle of public irritation and apathy, requires a lot more gumption than people might […]

New Year, new list of ill-conceived, unachievable goals – or not

Every Sunday, I sit on my favourite armchair for approximately seven minutes (an unscientific average) and feel truly excited and inspired by the possibilities within my grasp. There’s a reason why this happens. I have flicked through my favourite sections of the Sunday papers for those seven minutes, made a mental reminder to return to […]

Snacks Bygraves

A pleasant cup of tea? Then I’ll meet you at the cemetery gates. For a blog with the preoccupations this one has, how pleasant to find that a quaint tea room has opened in the quiet surroundings of Deansgrange Cemetery in South Dublin. In a place I like to visit often, this is a very […]

Trying a medium for sighs

I’m being menaced from the other side. Ghosts are haunting my inbox and after my money. It’s my own fault. In my anxiety to win a silly online prize (the sort of thing Michael Parkinson sends you free if you subscribe to a 50+ life insurance plan), I stupidly said ‘yes’ when asked if I […]

Marr, Morrissey and the notion that comebacks don’t work

Last week, as I write, this blog and its beloved went to see Johnny Marr play at that lugubrious Dublin venue, The Academy. For anyone in their 40s who had seen The Smiths in their heyday (i.e. any point in their brief career), it was an extraordinary experience. Johnny Marr has finally settled back into […]

Depression – don’t just pretend to be aware, become properly Aware.

On World Mental Health Day, it’s worth noting, again, just how alone people with depression are and feel. Not everyone seems to realise this, and there is still an astonishing amount of ignorance and denial, despite a great number of awareness campaigns on depression. Aware do incredible work in this field with their “I Am […]