If music is to mean anything in our lives it must have a root. Sure, we also consume music as aural wallpaper in shopping centres, at the gym, at leisure and so on, but music which stays with us often has something more to it than just a backdrop to modern living. There is a long history of music that reflects cultures, and another lineage that reflects protest and politics. Arch exponents of the art form include Joan Baez, Billy Bragg, Nina Simone, Pink Floyd, U2, Billie Holiday and, of course, Big Country, who I wrote of previously.
Runrig originated from the Isle of Skye, and this is reflected in their Celtic-inspired rock music, with songs that often reference Scottish history, places, culture, and politics. Some are even recorded in Scots Gaelic as well as in English. Of course, their irreplaceable singer, Donnie Munro, and keyboard player, Pete Wishart, both entered politics after their time in the band, and Munro has now taken up a role at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Scotland’s National Centre for the Gaelic Language and Culture. Part of Runrig’s legacy is that they have contributed to the renaissance of the Celtic language in Scotland. Not bad for a rock band! If you are not familiar with Runrig’s work, check out their rendition of Loch Lomond:
“When you marry music and mountains you create something quite mesmeric”.
I discussed the musicology of Big Country’s music in my previous article. Runrig are also arch exponents of songs predominantly written in the Celtic pentatonic scale. In terms of lyrical content, songwriters Rory MacDonald and Calum MacDonald took their inspiration not from boy meets girl populism, but from Celtic history, as this extract from Dance Called America demonstrates:
“The landlords came
The peasant trials
To sacrifice of men
Through the past and that quite darkly
The presence once again
In the name of capital
Establishment
Improvers, it’s a name
The hidden truths
The hidden lies
That once nailed you
To the pain”
Dance Called America is a reflection on emigration from Scotland to America in the 1700s. It’s a story that will resonate with people seeking a better life in any country in the world at this time. Many Scottish people who emigrated to America, Canada and Australia did not survive the journey due to dysentery and smallpox. On arrival, others did not prosper. Just like Brexit, the promise of sunny uplands did not come to pass as part of the drive for British colonial expansion.
Some were forced to leave the country in a chilling echo of Suella Braverman’s policy on asylum, migration, and Rwanda. During the Highland Clearances, crofters were forcibly removed from their land as it was converted for sheep farming or deer hunting. Without money or access to the law to protect them, these people were forced to move.
Another of Runrig’s more political songs is Fuaim A’ Bhlair. The song tells the tale of how Highlanders were recruited as cannon fodder for British Empire wars. Runrig tell it like it is, unvarnished, unspun and unafraid.
Runrig also wrote songs about agriculture, land conservation and religion. It’s not the usual diet of a rock band. (As an aside, a Run Rig was a pre–Agricultural Revolution farming practice in which each landholder had several strips of land that were not contiguous.) Maymorning is one such example as a story of renewal and environmental consciousness:
“I’m alive again on a Maymorning
Going to wipe the slate clean
Follow my dreams
All the yearning buds are here again
With the the promise of a new life to come
Spring is here again”
With enduring themes harking back hundreds of years, it is clear that Runrig’s music still has much to say in the 21st century, addressing current issues with a unique poignancy. The UK has fallen five places on a global list ranking countries by happiness to 18th position. In a world where we need more focused uplift, we need music artists and bands like Runrig more than ever.
