The Chieftains are a Grammy winning Irish musical group founded in 1962 (Du… Read Full Bio ↴The Chieftains are a Grammy winning Irish musical group founded in 1962 (Dublin, Ireland), known for performing and popularizing Irish traditional music.

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.

Ev Chistr 'ta Laou!
The Chieftains Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Ev' chistr 'ta Laou rak chistr 'zo mat, lonla,
Ev' chistr 'ta Laou rak chistr 'zo mat.
Repeat
Ev' chistr 'ta Laou rak chistr 'zo mat,
Ur blank ur blank ar chopinad, lonla,
Ur blank ur blank ar chopinad.
Repeat

Ar chistr 'zo graet e'it bout evet, lonla,
Ar chistr 'zo graet e'it bout evet.
Repeat
Ar chistr 'zo graet e'it bout evet,
Hag ar merc'hed e'it bout karet, lonla,
Hag ar merc'hed e'it bout karet.
Repeat

N'oan ket c'hoazh tri miz eureujet, lonla,
N'oan ket c'hoazh tri miz eureujet.
Repeat
N'oan ket c'hoazh tri miz eureujet,
Benn' vezen bamdeiz chikanet, lonla,

Benn' vezen bamdeiz chikanet.
Repeat

Overall Meaning

Ev Chistr 'ta Laou is a traditional Breton song that is still popular in modern-day Brittany. It describes the joy and happiness of drinking the local cider, which is one of the symbols of Breton culture. The lyrics are in Breton, a Celtic language spoken in Brittany in northwest France, and the Chieftains gave new life to the song by adding their signature Irish sound to it.

The first two lines "Ev' chistr 'ta Laou rak chistr 'zo mat, lonla, Ev' chistr 'ta Laou rak chistr 'zo mat" mean "Here is the cider of the people, because the cider is good." The song repeats this several times, indicating the pleasure and satisfaction that comes from drinking the cider. The following lines "Ur blank ur blank ar chopinad, lonla, Ur blank ur blank ar chopinad" refer to a kind of pancake that is typically served with cider. The words "blank" and "chopinad" are Breton words that do not have a direct translation in English.

The next few lines "Ar chistr 'zo graet e'it bout evet, lonla, Ar chistr 'zo graet e'it bout evet" mean "The cider is made to be drunk." The song emphasizes the importance of enjoying the cider to the fullest. The final lines "N'oan ket c'hoazh tri miz eureujet, lonla, N'oan ket c'hoazh tri miz eureujet" mean "I haven't yet spent three months without drinking, and I would rather be beheaded." This line underscores the Breton people's love for their cider, and their willingness to go to great lengths to enjoy it.

Line by Line Meaning

Ev' chistr 'ta Laou rak chistr 'zo mat, lonla,
Oh cider of Laou, because the cider is good, oh, yes.

Ev' chistr 'ta Laou rak chistr 'zo mat.
Oh cider of Laou, because the cider is good.

Ur blank ur blank ar chopinad, lonla,
A drop or two in the cup, oh, yes.

Ur blank ur blank ar chopinad.
A drop or two in the cup.

Ar chistr 'zo graet e'it bout evet, lonla,
The cider was made to be drunk, oh, yes.

Ar chistr 'zo graet e'it bout evet.
The cider was made to be drunk.

Hag ar merc'hed e'it bout karet, lonla,
And the girls must be loved, oh, yes.

Hag ar merc'hed e'it bout karet.
And the girls must be loved.

N'oan ket c'hoazh tri miz eureujet, lonla,
I hadn't been for three months yet, oh, yes.

N'oan ket c'hoazh tri miz eureujet.
I hadn't been for three months yet.

Benn' vezen bamdeiz chikanet, lonla,
If I had to live a thousand years, oh, yes.