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Recovery

by SJ McArdle

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about

From the Droichead Arts Centre-produced song-cycle show PORT, touring November 2023 and March/April 2024.

“Recovery” was written in tribute to Drogheda’s extraordinary volunteer rescue and recovery services, a tireless, selfless service, never willing to give up on a family’s lost loved one. The Boyne, especially at the Port area, has been a menacing presence over the years, regularly taking souls. The work of the volunteer rescue and recovery organisations has changed the statistics dramatically and shone a light into the darkness.

PORT was born of a year-long research and writing project around the history and stories of Drogheda’s ancient Port, conducted during SJ’s tenure as Artist in Association at Droichead Arts Centre in 2019.

Along with its accompanying critically-acclaimed RTÉ Radio 1 Album of the Week Old Ghosts In The Water, PORT features Carol Keogh (Plague Monkeys), Graham Henderson (Moving Hearts, Sinead O’Connor) and Trevor Hutchinson (Lúnasa, The Waterboys) along with vocalist John Ruddy and fiddle player Barry Kieran (Kern).

PORT is produced by Droichead Arts Centre and funded by the Arts Council Touring Scheme.

Praise for the songs of PORT and Old Ghosts in the Water:

“An impressive song cycle ... the songs are intriguing and evocative; they are rooted in folk but coloured by expansive and imaginative arrangements.” – The Irish Times

"What a great, great collection of songs this is from SJ McArdle. I urge you to go out and get it." – Fiachna Ó Braonáin (The Hothouse Flowers, RTÉ)

“All the ingredients of great folk songs” – Lynette Fay (BBC)

lyrics

Cold and wet out at the break of dawn
The moon’s still up and all the street lights on
The race is on to try to bring you home
We are called and we will come
And they say the life you save
May be your own

We search by touch out here, we search by heart
We search for any small remaining spark
We are the brothers of the hopeless cause
We are the sisters of the darkest dark
There are old ghosts in the water In this old town

Recovery
Recovery
We are searching bank and quay
And we search
For the souls
Who have had too much to bear
For the old
And the young
And the souls just barely there

If you could only see how loved you are
If you could see the love that burns there yet
If you had only reached out one more time
If they had only known how cold it gets
And they show up every morning
Still seeking news

(who could tell what was in your heart?)

Off the Viaduct
Off Donor’s Green
Off the Bridge of Peace
In the dark, unseen
Out at the Curley Hole
The old North Strand
Off Dominic’s Bridge
When it was not manned
Gone by accident
Gone by your own hand

Recovery
Recovery
We are searching bank and quay
And we search
For the souls
Who have had too much to bear
For the old
And the young
And the souls just barely there

credits

released November 3, 2023
Written by Stephen Joseph McArdle
Produced and mixed by Trevor Hutchinson
Recorded by Trevor Hutchinson, SJ McArdle, Graham Henderson, Carol Keogh

SJ McArdle - vocals, high string guitar, harmonica, electric 12-string guitar
Carol Keogh and John Ruddy - harmony vocals
Trevor Hutchinson - double bass
Graham Henderson - accordion, Hammond organ, dulcitone
Barry Kieran - fiddle

Photography: Brian Connolly at BangBang Visual

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SJ McArdle Drogheda, Ireland

SJ McArdle is an Irish songwriter and musician who has toured internationally, had several songs in movies and has released four solo albums.

He is known in part for his former work with Kern and with Long Woman's Grave with Nuala Kennedy & Trevor Hutchinson.

“Bravo for an artist who has taken contemporary Irish music to parts it far too seldom reaches” – Hot Press

Artist photos: Brian Connolly ... more

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