You're right , but before,during the Famine, and after, lots of Irish people came to Liverpool to sail to America and lots of them stayed there . Lennon and Mc Cartney for example, have Irish roots Even though the song is not purely Irish , it's been popularized by Irish or Irish-American singers and is now part of the Irish folk repertoire. Actually, when I first visited Ireland in 1978, it's one of the first songs I heard, in County Donegal, by a Country and Irish band!
@@armandpetiot6538 It's not a song about emigration. It's not a song about Irish people. It's not a song that was ever collected in Ireland. This version of the song was collected from a retired American sailor (Richard Maitland) by William Doerflinger in New York in the late 1930s. Doerflinger collected a different version of the song in the early 1940s from a retired American Captain called Patrick Tayleur, The song performed here is about a merchant sailor working out of the English port of Liverpool, who is looking forward to returning to Liverpool to be with his "own true love" again. That's it. Why you think it's about Irish emigration, or specifically the Irish in general is beyond me.
I think Johnny was best in this time era (I assume this is about the 70's or 80's) I have seen him live, and was dissapointed, he was great, very good, as he is here, but lately he has become rather commercialized and desensitized now.
He still has a nice voice but I preferred him in the sixties when he came on stage with a guitar and without all this accordion and other paraphernalia.
A great singer! His earlier recordings do him little justice due to such poor arranging and production. Maybe someone who understands modern production can remaster these recordings and perhaps even totally rearrange new tracts around his outstanding singing.
