WHILE ED SHEERAN’S Galway Girl has been a resounding success with his Irish fans (just as he intended it to be), it hasn’t received such a rapturous reception elsewhere.
The Guardian called it: “A song so ludicrous his label tried to prevent it from appearing on the record.”
The Irish Times said it has “all the authenticity of an Irish bar in Malaga that serves buttery chicken wings”.
But all of this pales in comparison to an extremely angry opinion piece published by the New Zealand website Stuff today.
Entitled ‘Ed Sheeran’s new single is cultural theft – and it’s not OK’, the article lays into Galway Girl and Sheeran with a fervour no actual Irish person has yet managed to conjure up.
Putting aside the fact that the writer doesn’t seem to like the singer at all (seriously, read the piece) he is capital-M Mad at him for ‘appropriating’ Irish culture for the song:
…Sheeran has resulted to that hoary English trope of cultural theft. For starters he’s appropriated an entire Irish folk tradition. And not only musically: his lyrics are essentially a grab bag of Irish stereotypes that stops a “to be sure” short of “diddly-dee potatoes”.
Well, yes. It’s a bit heavy handed with the stereotypes and the drinking. But it’s OK, you don’t need to go to bat for u-
Why? Well, obviously science proves everyone loves a bit Irish with all that craic, Mrs Brown and other random Irish stuff. Which means it’s guaranteed to be played in all those ghastly faux-Irish pubs that infest cities everywhere where punters deep in their cups will sing along and think it the best song since What Does the Fox Say?
Is he done? Oh he’s not done:
…After dancing all over The Pogues, Ed shows us how street he is by going all hip-hip rapper on our asses. Really? Get in the (Irish) sea you little bleeder. And then give yourself a clip.
Hey man, it’s alright. Ed has an Irish granny. We’ll forgive it… but we doubt this guy ever will.
