Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

The 12 days of Christmas have passed, but the memories linger on. One of the favourites is of "The JCB Song", which topped the charts over the holidays. The story is of a young boy growing up in England who's happiest when sitting in the cab of his Irish father's earth-moving machine. Written by Luke Concannon and performed by his band Nizlopi, the song gained cult status on the net with an hilarious animated video. The lyrics really rock:

Well, I'm rumblin' in this JCB.
I'm five years old and my dad's giant sitting beside me.
And the engine rattles my bum like berserk
While we're singin, 'Don't forget your shovel if you want to go to work!'

And I wanna transform into a Tyrannosaurus Rex!
And eat up all the bullies and the teachers and their pets

One of the coolest things we heard about "The JCB Song" over the Christmas was that it was written and recorded during the annual Willie Clancy Summer School in Miltown Malbay. If you think that that's improbable, just listen to those lovely Uilleann pipes' drones that cut in during the chorus and round out the track. Could they belong to Mikie Smyth, whose bass drone sounds a fourth above the tonic? A bit arcane that, but piping knowledge is arcane, just as drones are distinctive.