Flogging Molly has released six major studio albums, Swagger, Drunken Lullabies, Within a Mile of Home, Float, Speed of Darkness, and Life is Good as well as an independent live album entitled Alive Behind the Green Door. Also, they released a CD/DVD combo entitled Whiskey On A Sunday, which included a CD with acoustic tracks of many of the band's songs and a brand new studio track, "Laura". They have toured with the Warped Tour and Larry Kirwan's American Fléadh Festival. They also contributed to the Rock Against Bush project. Also, as of late they have done extensive touring with the self proclaimed Gypsy punk band, Gogol Bordello, which is also signed under SideOneDummy Records.
Their music is heavily influenced by such bands as The Pogues,The Dubliners, Johnny Cash and ranges from boisterous punk rock like the pirate-themed "Salty Dog" and "Seven Deadly Sins," or the defiant "What's Left of the Flag" and "Rebels of the Sacred Heart" to more somber songs like "Far Away Boys", "The Sun Never Shines (On Closed Doors)", or "Death Valley Queen". In the Whiskey On A Sunday DVD King describes the band's music as a '21st century version of The Dubliners.'
The driving forces behind the music tend to be Dave King's gravelly voice and Bridget's manic fiddling. Prior to forming Flogging Molly, Dave King was the vocalist for Fastway, a late 80s-early 90s heavy metal band, featuring guitarist Eddie Clarke of Motörhead.
The band released a DVD and a full-length album entitled "Whiskey on a Sunday" on July 25th 2006.
The DVD "Whiskey on a Sunday" contains a two hour documentary that gives viewers insight into how the band members found each other and also talks about the members' attitude towards life, events that have shaped their lives and their motivation for making music.
The band released "Float" on March 4, 2008. It includes the band's first two chart hits: "Requiem for a Dying Song" (#35 Billboard Modern Rock) and "Float" (#40 on the same chart). During the tour for the album, vocalist Dave King married the band's fiddle player Bridget Regan in Tokyo, Japan.
The Speed of Darkness Songfacts says the band's fifth album, Speed of Darkness was released on May 31, 2011 by the band's own record label, Borstal Beat Records.The set was recorded at Echo Mountain, an old church building turned recording studio in Asheville, North Carolina. It was produced by Ryan Hewitt, who has also worked with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Avett Brothers.
Life Is Good is the name of the sixth studio album by Flogging Molly that was released on 2 June 2017. Their first studio album in 6 years (following 2011's Speed of Darkness), it is also their first album to feature drummer Mike Alonso.
http://www.floggingmolly.com
Life in a Tenement Square
Flogging Molly Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
From those cold gray blocks of stone
For seventeen years of squalor filled tears
A time now with innocence lost
As the sun split the room
With its rays filled with gloom
Turnin' all hope to despair
And the only thing left
That was life in a tenement square
I remember the song where the rats sang along
And danced for their daily bread
While the damp washed the walls
That were twenty feet tall
Not a child in the house was fed
On the porter filled face
Of the men left a trace
Of the coin they had already spent
While our mothers asked God
What was hell ever for
When you lived in a tenement square
Grab what's left of the coal
From the old cubbyhole
These cinders need more to be a fire
While the ghosts of the soldiers
That lived there before us
Laugh with their guns by their side
I hear them laugh, with their guns by their side
Now politicians they dwell
In that forgotten hell
Our misery's been turned into mews
Where the fat of the land
Now hog, hand in hand
A crime now of life was ever true
As the sun split the room
With its rays filled with gloom
Turnin' all hope to despair
And the only thing left
Was to flee from the nest
That was life in a tenement square
The lyrics of "Life in a Tenement Square" by Flogging Molly paint a vivid picture of the harsh and impoverished conditions of life in a tenement square. The song is a nostalgic and bitter reflection from the perspective of someone who has managed to escape this world of "cold gray blocks of stone" after seventeen years of "squalor filled tears." The singer remembers the song of the rats who were the only ones fed, while the twenty feet tall walls were washed by the dampness of the air. The men spent their coin on beer, and the mothers cried out to God in despair.
The second verse of this song amplifies the miserable conditions of the tenants. The singer reminisces how his family collected bits of coal in the cubbyhole to keep the fire going. The song conjures up the image of ghosts of soldiers laughing with their guns by their side. The song paints a bleak picture of an almost inhuman existence in which inhabitants must endure poverty, hunger, disease, and the absence of human dignity.
The final verse highlights the bitter irony of the situation in which trade and commerce have bloomed on the very ground where the poorest people of society once lived. Fat cats now live in the buildings that were once tenement squares. Politicians are now unaware or apathetic to the conditions of the past residents of the space, turning "misery's" history into "mews" without recognizing that crime is still life's reality. The chorus reasserts that the only way to escape a "life in the tenement square" is to fly the nest.
Line by Line Meaning
Well, I kissed the day, I was on my way
I felt relieved to be leaving the cold, gray, stone blocks that had been my home for seventeen miserable years.
From those cold gray blocks of stone
My former dwelling was unappealing and unwelcoming.
For seventeen years of squalor filled tears
The previous seventeen years were marked by poverty, despair, and frequent weeping.
A time now with innocence lost
Those years of struggle and hardship had taken away my youthful naivety.
As the sun split the room
Even the sun's rays felt dim and bleak in that dreary place.
With its rays filled with gloom
The daylight brought no warmth or hope.
Turnin' all hope to despair
The oppressive atmosphere in that building destroyed any optimism or positivity.
And the only thing left
As a result of this desolation,
Was to flee from the nest
I knew that my only option was to leave that oppressive environment and search for a better life elsewhere.
That was life in a tenement square
The tenement square was a wretched place to live.
I remember the song where the rats sang along
I recall hearing the sound of rats in the building, keeping time to a tune.
And danced for their daily bread
The rats were starving and desperate, like the human inhabitants.
While the damp washed the walls
The moisture in the air had stained the walls a dirty brown.
That were twenty feet tall
The building itself was enormous, a towering edifice.
Not a child in the house was fed
None of the children living there had enough food to eat.
On the porter filled face
You could see the effects of the drink on the faces of the men who frequented the local pub.
Of the men left a trace
These men had little to no money, but they still found ways to purchase alcohol.
Of the coin they had already spent
Whatever money they had was quickly squandered on drink.
While our mothers asked God
The mothers in this building had very little agency, and so they turned to a higher power for help.
What was hell ever for
They wondered why they were living in such terrible conditions, and what purpose these struggles could possibly serve.
When you lived in a tenement square
This sort of misery was all too common in buildings like this.
Grab what's left of the coal
We were so poor that we scavenged for leftover coal to use for heat.
From the old cubbyhole
We kept our meager supplies in a cramped, musty space.
These cinders need more to be a fire
We were never warm enough, and our heating source was pitifully inadequate.
While the ghosts of the soldiers
Previous occupants of the tenement, who had fought for their country, loomed over us like a specter.
That lived there before us
We were living where others before us had survived in similarly dire circumstances.
Laugh with their guns by their side
These former soldiers seemed to mock our current struggles, and we felt powerless in comparison.
Now politicians they dwell
The very people who were supposed to be improving society were instead profiting from the suffering of people like us.
In that forgotten hell
The misery of the tenements had been swept under the rug by the powers that be.
Our misery's been turned into mews
What had once been a site of suffering was now an upscale residential area.
Where the fat of the land
Those in power were now enjoying the fruits of our labors.
Now hog, hand in hand
The elite were greedily profiting at our expense, and they didn't care who they harmed in the process.
A crime now of life was ever true
It was a criminal act to make people live in such terrible conditions, but nobody had ever been held accountable.
As the sun split the room
Even in this new development, the sun's rays seemed to be harsh and unforgiving.
With its rays filled with gloom
The light brought no warmth or relief to those still living in poverty.
Turnin' all hope to despair
The situation felt just as hopeless as it had always been.
And the only thing left
In light of this,
Was to flee from the nest
We knew that our only real choice was to leave that place behind.
That was life in a tenement square
This is the sad reality that so many people have had to endure throughout history.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: BRIDGET A REGAN, DAVID R KING, GEORGE EDWARD SCHWINDT, JOHN T DONOVAN, MATTHEW A HENSLEY, NATHEN MAXWELL, ROBERT ANTHONY SCHMIDT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
D. Hurt
Been listening to Flogging Molly since I was a child. One of my top 3 favorite bands in teen-hood.
Steve Welling
gave me chills when i first heard it long time ago same thing happened when i saw them live so good
elmaschingon67
the only thing wrong with this song, is that it ends
kannibalkook
i think every single flogging molly song has been my favorite song at some point,depending on my mood...now it's this one's turn
pat anderson
I love "Celtic Rock", I call it Irish head-banging music!
Odvan Soto
me encanta esta cancion
Joshn569
Possibly the greatest song of all time.
stoutyoungladd
Love this song.
tom mullen
this is my favorite flogging molly song. :)
Jackalil
Love This Song