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.

The Lark In The Clear Air / Olam Punch
The Chieftains Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Ólaim puins is ólaim tae
Is an lá ina dhiaidh sin ólaim toddaí
Ní bhím ar meisce ach uair sa ré
Mo ghrása an déirc is an té do cheap í

Lá má bhím le híota tréith
Bím lá 'na dhiaidh ag glaoch na gcannaí
Lá le fíon is arís gan bhraon

Mo ghrása an déirc is an té do cheap í
Ólaim puins srl

aAr mo theacht a luí ar thréad
An bhuí san fhéith is na héimhe ag leanaí
Báisteach fhill is rinn ar ghaoth
Ó, táim le déirc ní baol do mo gharraí
Ólaim puins srl

Is sámh a bhím i mo luí le gríin
Gan suim sa saol ach sclíip is starraíocht
Gan cháin gan chíos ach m'intinn saor

Nach fearr í an déirc ná céird is ealaín!
Ólaim puins srl

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of the song "The Lark In The Clear Air / Olam Punch" by The Chieftains depict a person's admiration for their loved one. The first stanza speaks of the singer's love for two things - punch and tea, and how he only gets drunk once in a while. The second line suggests that he drinks to forget something painful, and the person who thought this method is his beloved. The second stanza speaks of his habit of drinking often after his daily work is done, and how he doesn't get drunk very easily. He also talks about how he calls his friends and enjoys a day with wine without getting drunk. The third stanza speaks of the singer lying on the grass with his love and feeling content in his heart. He doesn't care about the world and its problems, and all he needs is his mind to be free. He talks about how the joy of his love is better than any skill or art.

Line by Line Meaning

Ólaim puins is ólaim tae
I drink punch and I drink tea

Is an lá ina dhiaidh sin ólaim toddaí
And the day after that I drink today

Ní bhím ar meisce ach uair sa ré
I don't get drunk except once in a while

Mo ghrása an déirc is an té do cheap í
My love is for the land and the one who buys it

Lá má bhím le híota tréith
On a day when I have a traitorous thirst

Bím lá 'na dhiaidh ag glaoch na gcannaí
I spend the following day calling for the cans

Lá le fíon is arís gan bhraon
On a day with wine and again without a drop

An bhuí san fhéith is na héimhe ag leanaí
The yellow in the rushes and the embers with the children

Báisteach fhill is rinn ar ghaoth
Rain returned and wind blew

Ó, táim le déirc ní baol do mo gharraí
Oh, I am with love, no danger to my garden

Is sámh a bhím i mo luí le gríin
I am content lying down with my love