![\"makem2.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/makem2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Dear Tommy Makem: Your voice basically WAS my childhood. I still listen to those old Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem albums, and it’s always the oddest feeling, a mixture of present\/past. Am I a child? Are these records playing on a battered turntable as I dribble a popsicle down my T-shirt? Or is it now? These songs are woven into my life, they’re just a part of who I am. I will leave it to others to talk about how the Clancy Brothers influenced an entire generation of singer\/song-writers (Dylan is eloquent on this) … For now, I mourn the loss. A fragile thread of connection to my childhood, the continuum.<\/p>\n
I was a bit afraid of Tommy Makem when I was a child. Because he was NOT a Clancy and I just didn’t really understand that. I don’t know why I found it baffling, but I did. “What’s HE doing there?” was my basic reaction. I also found his face slightly frightening. The Clancy brothers look like O’Malleys. They all could be my uncles. But Makem had something different to his look, and I guess it freaked me out. I remember my father saying to me, and I had to have been 6 or 7 – I must have announced, “I don’t like Tommy Makem!” – and I remember my dad saying, “Ahh, but he’s the real singer.”<\/p>\n
In time, I have come to know the truth of that statement.<\/p>\n
Funny what you remember.<\/p>\n
Rest in peace, Mr. Makem.<\/p>\n
I wonder if you have any idea what you have truly meant to people. I hope so.<\/p>\n
I’ll play some Clancy Brothers and Makem tonight, in memoriam. I can’t raise a glass because I’m not drinking … but I will raise one in my head and my heart.<\/p>\n
Thank you.<\/p>\n
Here’s a link to the Intl Herald Tribune obituary of this amazing artist.<\/a><\/p>\n Major nostalgia below:<\/p>\n \nDan and I had identical childhoods<\/a>. Beautifully said, Dan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dear Tommy Makem: Your voice basically WAS my childhood. I still listen to those old Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem albums, and it’s always the oddest feeling, a mixture of present\/past. Am I a child? Are these records playing on … Continue reading
\n![\"makem.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/makem.jpg\")
<\/p>\n