Thousands Are Sailing by The Pogues

Thousands Are Sailing is a song by Irish band The Pogues, released in their 1988 album If I Should Fall From Grace With God.

The song deals with the massive migration from Ireland to the USA caused by the Irish potato famine in the 1840s.

REFUGEES FROM FEAR OF PRIESTS WITH EMPTY PLATES

The causes that lead people to abandon their countries are multiple and varied. Most people are forced to leave their homeland and families behind due to the hazards of political persecution or armed conflicts. Sometimes, when your life is at stake, fleeing is the only way to survive. When you belong to a catholic culture, and you see people starve all around, even priests having to endure the shortage of food, then you know it’s time to seek for refuge elsewhere, otherwise, you are bound to perish.

The great Irish famine was the consequence of a potato blight that infected the crops and deprived the Irish poor of their staple food, the potato, thus causing massive starvation in a long period of Irish history, at a time when the whole island was still under British rule.

During this period, about one million people died and over a million more emigrated.

If you want to know more about the Irish Great Famine, you ought to see this documentary:

Ireland’s Great Hunger and the Irish Diaspora, narrated by Gabriel Byrne

ON A COFFIN SHIP I CAME HERE

In the lyrics video you can see a ship covered with skeletons. This ship is a bronze sculpture, part of the Famine National Monument in Murrisk, County Mayo.

The term coffin ship has two meanings; one refers to the overloaded ships that carried Irish immigrants away, often sick and always hungry.  The mortality rate during the voyage was between 20% and 50 %.

Hence they are sailing:

To a land of opportunity

That some of them will never see

The other meaning of coffin ship defines a vessel that is more valuable to its owner sunk than afloat and is, therefore, overinsured to provide a considerable benefit in case it sinks.

At the time of the Famine, some Irish coffin ships were both: they carried immigrants and were likely to sink, so that they were overinsured.

An example of this was the Hannah, a ship carrying Irish immigrants to Canada that sunk in 1849.  49 passengers died in the shipwreck, not the captain and the two officers, who took the only lifeboat and abandoned the sinking ship.

If we compare this historical shipwreck with the Titanic’s, either for implying a much smaller death toll  or for transporting only Irish farmers fleeing the Famine, made this story much less worth making a major motion picture.

The Dunbrody is the replica of a coffin ship found in New Ross, Wexford County; a tourist attraction that you should visit.

The Dunbrody - Irish Famine Ship

REFUGEES FROM GUILT AND WEEPING EFFIGIES

It’s quite unlikely that the effigies mentioned in the song are the same as the ones located on the Dublin quays, as these were not presented to the public until 1997 and the song was released in 1988.

The guilt may refer to the feeling produced by the need to leave family and friends behind: the weeping effigies saying goodbye on the quay.

DUBLIN, the spectacular and expressive IRISH FAMINE MEMORIAL, IRELAND

In the song we can find references to famous Irish immigrants or famous descendants of Irish immigrants who represent the spirit of Ireland migration.

And "the blackbird" broke the silence

As you whistled it so sweet

And in Brendan Behan’s footsteps

I danced up and down the street

BRENDAN BEHAN (1923-1964) was one of the greatest writers of all times, Irish Republican, heavy drinker, author of many witty remarks, such as: “If it was raining soup, the Irish would go out with forks.”

You can also visit his sculpture in Dublin, it’s located next to the prison where he spent some years, sitting on a bench and whistling to a blackbird, all of them in bronze.

Here, you can listen to his views on various issues:

Tipped our hats to Mister Cohen

Dear old Times Square's favourite bard

“Mister Cohen” is GEORGE M. COHAN (1878-1942). He was an American entertainer and composer, born to Irish catholic parents, considered the creator of Broadway American anthem due to his prolific career as songwriter.

You can know more about his work here:

AUDIO AND VIDEO:

George M. Cohan, 'The Man Who Created Broadway,' Was An Anthem Machine

Then we raised a glass to JFK

And a dozen more besides

JFK or JOHN FITGERALD KENNEDY (1917-1963), was the first catholic president of the USA; all of his grandparents were children of Irish immigrants.

THE ISLAND IT IS SILENT NOW,

BUT THE GHOSTS STILL HAUNT THE WAVES

Even though Ireland is an island, surrounded by a raging sea - perhaps populated by the ghosts of the drowned in the shipwrecks of coffin ships - some interpretations of the song identify the island of the song as Ellis Island.

Ellis Island was the gateway to the USA for immigrants from all over the world from 1892 until 1954. Here, the newcomers were “inspected” and “processed”. Quoting  Wikipedia; “Today, over 100 million Americans — about one-third to 40% of the population of the United States — can trace their ancestry to immigrants who arrived in America at Ellis Island before dispersing to points all over the country”

In this documentary, you can listen to testimonies of how immigrants’ health and capacities were tested.

Immigration Through Ellis Island Documentary 

Next to Ellis island is Liberty Island, where the newcomers could enjoy the view of the symbol of the USA, the Statue of Liberty. Inside the statue, you can read Emma Lazarus sonnet, The New Colossus, but you can also read it and listen to it here.

The New Colossus – Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

If you want to know more about the writing of this poem and its current controversy you should watch this video:

"Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor": Trump Admin Attacks Emma Lazarus's Iconic Poem on Statue of Liberty

POSTCARDS WE'RE MAILING OF SKY-BLUE SKIES AND OCEANS FROM ROOMS THE DAYLIGHT NEVER SEES

These lines refer to the bad conditions some immigrants were forced to live after their arrival in their new countries. Very often it was difficult for Irish immigrants to find a job. This discrimination had started in the UK, where NINA signs were common. These were called NINA as they read: “Help wanted- No Irish need apply”.

If you have enough knowledge of the Irish idiosyncrasy, you certainly will know that they adore singing their joys and sorrows away, so, from 1860 on, songs like this could be heard:

No Irish Need Apply Song

DEBATE 

• Recently, there has been much public debate on the media related to the arrival of immigrants in Europe and the USA.
• People seem to have opposing stands on immigration. Some feel that all of them are entitled to seek asylum and governments of any country are ethically obliged to admit them.
• Others oppose strongly to this idea providing arguments such as they are enjoying financial and medical help without having paid taxes beforehand; or that they usually cause an increase in unemployment by reducing the native’s opportunities to find a job.