The band has recorded many albums of instrumental Irish folk music, as well as multiple collaborations with popular musicians of many genres, including Country music, Galician traditional music, Cape Breton and Newfoundland music, and rock and roll. They have performed with Van Morrison, The Rolling Stones, Sting, Roger Daltrey, Elvis Costello, Tom Jones, Sinéad O'Connor, James Galway, Jackson Browne, Nancy Griffith and numerous Country-western artists. In 1975, the group won praise for their playing of "Women of Ireland" for Stanley Kubrick's movie Barry Lyndon.
They have won six Grammy Awards and have been nominated eighteen times. In 2002 they were given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the UK's BBC Radio 2. The front covers of the first four albums were designed by Edward Delaney.
Paddy Moloney is the band's leader, and composes or arranges most of the band's music. While the band's members changed numerous times in the band's early history, the membership solidified in 1979 when Matt Molloy replaced Michael Tubridy.
From then until 2002, members included:
Paddy Moloney (uilleann pipes, tin whistle, button accordion, bodhrán)
Matt Molloy (flute, tin whistle)
Kevin Conneff (bodhrán, vocals)
Seán Keane (fiddle, tin whistle)
Martin Fay (fiddle, bones) (born 1938; died 14 November 2012)
Derek Bell (Irish harp, keyboard instruments, oboe) (born 21 October 1935; died 17 October 2002)
In 2002, Fay retired from active membership. In the same year, Bell died due to complications following a minor operation. Fay died on 14 November 2012.
A la Orilla de un Palmar
The Chieftains Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Yo vi de una joven bella
Su boquita de coral
Sus ojitos dos estrellas
Al pasar le pregunte
Que quien estaba con ella
Y me respondi llorando
Sola vivo en el palmar
Soy huerfanita ah!
No tengo padre ni madre
Ni un amigo ah!
Que me venga a consolar
Solita paso la vida
A la orilla de un palmar
Y solita voy y vengo
Como las olas olas del mar
Soy huerfanita ah!
No tengo
padre ni madre
Ni un amigo ah!
Que me venga a consolar
The lyrics to A La Orilla De Un Palmar describe a young and beautiful girl the singer saw by a palm grove. The singer asks who she is with, and she responds, crying, that she lives alone in the palm grove. She explains that she is an orphan with neither a mother nor father or friends to comfort her. She spends her life alone at the shore of the palm grove and moves like the waves of the sea. The lyrics express deep sadness and loneliness, as the girl has no one to turn to in life.
The song describes the harsh reality of life for many people, particularly orphans who have to live alone and fend for themselves. The imagery of the palm grove and the waves of the sea evoke a sense of isolation and abandonment. However, the beauty of the young girl is also emphasised, perhaps representing the hope and resilience that people can find in difficult situations.
Line by Line Meaning
A la orilla de un palmar
I was by the edge of a palm grove
Yo vi de una joven bella
And I saw a beautiful young woman
Su boquita de coral
Whose mouth was like coral
Sus ojitos dos estrellas
Whose eyes were like two stars
Al pasar le pregunte
As I passed by I asked her
Que quien estaba con ella
Who was with her
Y me respondi llorando
And she responded to me, crying
Sola vivo en el palmar
I live alone in this palm grove
Soy huerfanita ah!
I am an orphan
No tengo padre ni madre
Without fathers or mothers
Ni un amigo ah!
Nor a friend to console me
Que me venga a consolar
When I am tired of being alone
Solita paso la vida
I spend my life by myself
A la orilla de un palmar
On the edge of this palm grove
Y solita voy y vengo
Alone, I come and go
Como las olas olas del mar
Like the waves of the sea
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: RICARDO ROMERO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
tom canterbury
on North Amerikay
the great accapella version by kevin on tribute to their harpist