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Now this was a surprise, the day I heard The Coronas singing a folk song called “The Lakes of Pontchartrain”.  If you haven’t heard of The Coronas, they are described on Wikipedia as an Irish rock and indie band and their own music – which I love – is far removed from this kind of traditional folk song.

But I suppose I shouldn’t really have been surprised, because the lead singer Danny O’Reilly would have grown up surrounded by all kinds of music but especially folk music.  His mother is Dublin woman Mary Black, a well known and well loved folk singer here in Ireland.  So he obviously inherited his mothers singing talent and absorbed some of the songs he heard around the house too.

The Coronas version of this song is just amazing. So moving. It gets me every time.  So even if you are thinking now that you don’t like folk music and you are planning on leaving this post without listening to the song, why not take 4 minutes out of your day, sit back and listen? I don’t think you will regret it.

Wikipedia states that “The Lakes of Pontchartrain is an Irish ballad about an unfortunate immigrant from Ireland who is given shelter by a beautiful Louisiana Creole woman. He falls in love with her and asks her to marry him, but she is already promised to a sailor and declines the offer.  The song is named for and set on the shores of the Lake Pontchartrain which forms the northern boundary of New Orleans.  The exact origin of the song is unknown, though it is believed to have originated in the southern United States in the 19th century”.  Click here for more about the song.

Hope you like it.

Update: I get regular hits on my blog from people searching for a download of this song by the Coronas. It is available at times on their website www.thecoronas.net. It is currently available FREE on their website until about mid/late September 2012 – after that they may take it down again.  For information on downloading the mp3 see here.