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.
Jordan Am A Hard Road To Travel
The Chieftains Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's all the truth for certain
We can't live high if we get by
And get on the other side of Jordan
Oh pull off your overcoat and roll up your sleeves
Jordan is a hard road to travel
Pull off your overcoat and roll up your sleeves
Jordan is a hard road to travel I believe.
The public schools and the highways
are causing quite an alarm
Get a country boy educated just a little
and he won't work on the farm
Now I don't know but I believe I'm right
the auto's ruined the country
Let's get back to the horse and buggy
and try to save some money.
I know a man an evangelist
his tabernacle's always full
The people come from miles around
just to hear him shoot the bull
You can talk about your evangelists
you can talk about Mr. Ford too
But Henry's shaking more hell out of the folks
than all the evangelists do.
The Chieftains' song "Jordan Am a Hard Road to Travel" is a folk bluegrass track that speaks to the difficulties of life and the struggles people face while trying to navigate them. The lyrics talk about how people must work hard to get by in life and that there is no easy way to cross the metaphorical river or hurdle that we may face in our everyday lives.
The song begins with the singer telling his audience that he has a new song to share with them that is going to tell the truth about life. He then goes on to say that living life high on the mountain is challenging and that the only way to succeed is by rolling up your sleeves and working hard to cross Jordan, which represents the difficulties of life.
The second verse speaks to the changes occurring in society, particularly with regards to education and technology. The singer argues that modernization and education are removing people from the land and that people are losing touch with their roots. The final verse reflects on a religious revival happening in the south during the early 1900s. The singer suggests that people are more impressed with Henry Ford's accomplishments than various evangelists' revival. The song's overarching message appears to be that hard work, dedication, and perseverance are the only keys to success in life.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm gonna sing you a brand new song
I am going to share some new insights
It's all the truth for certain
What I am going to say is true
We can't live high if we get by
We cannot live luxuriously by just getting by
And get on the other side of Jordan
And reach the other side of our struggles
Oh pull off your overcoat and roll up your sleeves
Get ready for hard work
Jordan is a hard road to travel
Achieving success is not easy
Pull off your overcoat and roll up your sleeves
Prepare to work hard
Jordan is a hard road to travel I believe.
I strongly believe that success is not easy
The public schools and the highways
Modernization and education
are causing quite an alarm
Are causing some concerns
Get a country boy educated just a little
A bit of education can change a farmer's life
and he won't work on the farm
He wouldn't want to work on the farm anymore
Now I don't know but I believe I'm right
I am not sure, but I think I am correct
the auto's ruined the country
Cars have destroyed the nation
Let's get back to the horse and buggy
Let's go back to the old ways of transportation
and try to save some money.
In an attempt to conserve resources
I know a man an evangelist
I am familiar with a preacher
his tabernacle's always full
His place of worship is always full of people
The people come from miles around
People travel long distances to listen to him
just to hear him shoot the bull
Just to hear him talk nonsense
You can talk about your evangelists
People talk about preachers
you can talk about Mr. Ford too
They also talk about Henry Ford
But Henry's shaking more hell out of the folks
But Henry's innovations have disrupted people's lives more
than all the evangelists do.
Than any preacher ever did
Writer(s): Paddy Moloney
Contributed by Leo G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
tom canterbury
on North Amerikay
the great accapella version by kevin on tribute to their harpist