"Western Wind" set to music.

February 6, 2011 11:09 AM

Who did it and where can I find their music? 25 years ago in an Irish coffeehouse in the Bronx, I heard a band perform a rendition of "Oh Western Wind, when will thou blow? The small rain down can rain. Christ if my love were in my arms, and I in my bed again". It was sung by a beautiful brunette woman. Lately,I've had it stuck in my head again. This is my first question to askmetafilter and I've got faith in the hive mind...
posted by Jandoe to Media & Arts (4 answers total)

Best answer: The timing may be a little off, but Susan McKeown does a version of that, and I'm pretty sure she played An Beal Bocht in the Bronx regularly in the early 90s. There's a snippet of her version here.
posted by craichead at 11:18 AM on February 6, 2011 [4 favorites]

Response by poster: Wow. That's amazing! That was the coffee house, and the musician! Thank you so much!
posted by Jandoe at 11:26 AM on February 6, 2011

You're welcome! I had a feeling that's who/ where you were talking about. The song is on Susan McKeown and Chanting House's album Bones. Susan McKeown is still around, although she's not playing with Chanting House anymore.
posted by craichead at 12:44 PM on February 6, 2011

An Beal Bocht was going to be my guess. Ah, memories.
posted by mlis at 9:37 PM on February 6, 2011