Nobody can take this song away from us, nobody.
The Fields of Athenry is sacred.
Hollywood star Russell Crowe joined Ian Dempsey on his Breakfast Show on Today FM on Wednesday morning to talk about his upcoming Irish gig with band Indoor Garden Party, their Irish ‘choir’ and his special connection with ‘The Fields of Athenry’ which is featured on their album ‘The Musical’.
Crowe fondly recounts the first time he heard the Irish anthem, on a grey and gloomy day in Landsdowne Road in 2002.
The Irish rugby team had just beaten the Wallabies for the first time in 23 years and the Irish fans were, doing what they do best, bellowing the song with pride, like so…
Clip via AnLaighin King
However, Crowe went on to make the wildly controversial claim – that, much to his delight, the song can actually be claimed as Australian.
He told Dempsey “Speaking of Fields of Athenry, I never really focused on the words of it until years later. I realised what the third verse was talking about.
“Sure she’ll wait and hope and pray, for her love in Botany Bay. It’s a direct connection with Australia,” he stated.
Crowe went on to add: “That’s why that song took on a greater meaning for me and I love taking the piss out of Irish people and saying it’s Australian. I say it to them and they argue it and go crazy and then I point out the lyrics.”
You can listen to the full interview here and he starts talking about the song from 8:00 onwards.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
