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Sleeve Notes
"Only someone as tough as Finbar Furey can sing songs this tender. Only someone who has lived all the lives Finbar Furey has lived, can stop us in the busy street of our own life and still us into focusing on one very real soul in a song like 'Annabelle'. We believe him when he sings of the lost and losing faith. We trust him with our own doubts, but strangely, with such balladry he gives us more faith and courage to go on."
Bono
"Finbar Furey, even his name sings defiantly. It's worth living long enough to hear that defiance and wisdom deepen, soften, yet never bend. It's so great to see him. Whenever I do I'm reminded of the promise I made to myself: stay the road, stay true to yourself and your song. This man has it in spades".
Glen Hansard
"Finbar Furey proves that he is not just a massive force in Irish music's heritage, he is a massive force in shaping it's future as well."
Shane MacGowan
Finbar is the jewel of Ireland. A rough cut, perfectly polished, precious, invaluable treasure of ours. He lives and breathes every word of every song he writes and performs. It feels like he sings every one just for me. Watch him … he mesmerises … with each gesture, each moveement, each expression, he draws you in with his unmistakable, deep, dulcet, husky and yet sweetly soft, intimate, often delicately vulnerable voice. With every song he sings I am covinced he can see inside my heart and I his. He is the master. This is an icon at his best … so far."
Imelda May
With all my heart I thank each one of you …
Sweet Liberty of Life — Liberty, life and freedom are words that capture the true spirit of humankind in every imaginable way — even in today's global and tangled democracies.
Annabelle — Old Annabelle was a friend of my mothers. I'd often be with them as they'd share a bar of chocolate sitting on the roadside in Dublin in the '50s. I wrote the song in 1994, and still it goes on …
Sarah Waits — All wars are crazy, and it seems endless. No war to end wars. There's no victory in taking life nor losing it, and all is left are memories etched in stone or wooden crosses.
After Sunday Mass — It is of course where the Irish Emigrants meet to share information and exchange gossip from home. It could be New York or Sydney, Hong Kong or London. It goes on the world over and in every religion and sect too.
Dan O'Hara — Sitting here writing this I can picture my Auntie Dolly, my father's older sister, singing this beautiful old and proud song of famine, loss and emigration. It's a gem in the crown of Irish heritage and folk history. Dan O'Hara's past in Connemara calling him home awhile.
The Ballad for George Best — I always admired this breathtakingly talented genius on the football field, and met him a couple of times. He was a natural master of his trade and a wonderful human being. He's sadly missed as a person and to the world of football.
The Old Man — This song was written by Phil Coulter one evening when he and I sat and talked and swapped stories of our lives. I told him about my father, Ted Furey and he wrote this and dedicated it to him.
Finbar Furey, 2018