{"id":8212,"date":"2020-04-26T18:59:26","date_gmt":"2020-04-26T17:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cassandravoices.com\/?p=8212"},"modified":"2020-04-26T18:59:26","modified_gmt":"2020-04-26T17:59:26","slug":"shane-macgowan-and-the-riddle-of-ballinalee-in-bob-dylans-i-contain-multitudes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/casswp.eutonom.eu\/index.php\/2020\/04\/26\/shane-macgowan-and-the-riddle-of-ballinalee-in-bob-dylans-i-contain-multitudes\/","title":{"rendered":"Shane MacGowan and ‘the Riddle of Ballinalee’ in Bob Dylan’s ‘I Contain Multitudes’"},"content":{"rendered":"

At Cassandra Voices we uncover stories behind stories. Just occasionally these accounts reach the mainstream. So it has proved with what is being popularly referred to as \u2018the riddle of Ballinalee<\/span>\u2019.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s recall the adventure so far. Last week our then anonymous sleuth advanced a theory as to the origin of the words in the opening lines of Bob Dylan<\/a><\/span>\u2019s new song \u2018I Contain Multitudes<\/a><\/span>\u2019. It might just explain why the previously unheralded village of Balllinalee in County Longford has shot to global prominence:<\/p>\n

Today and tomorrow and yesterday, too,
\nThe flowers are dyin\u2019 like all things do,
\nFollow me close, I\u2019m going to Ballinalee,
\nI\u2019ll lose my mind if you don\u2019t come with me.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Ballinalee, County Longford, Ireland.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We are now quite convinced that Ballinalee is indeed an Irish reference, especially considering \u2018the flowers are dyin\u2019\u2019 in the line preceding is an obvious play on the second verse of the Irish ballad: \u2018Danny Boy\u2019.<\/p>\n

But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying,
\nIf I am dead, as dead I well may be,<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s certainly a ballad that would be well known to Dylan.<\/p>\n

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a plotline that might have been lifted from a Cold War spy novel. Our agent\u2019s identity has been revealed. Like the best of them, pride proved his undoing.<\/p>\n

The honey trap was an invitation to be interviewed on Shannonside FM, a local radio station broadcasting to the Longford area, and surrounding counties<\/em>. He is Dr Francis Leneghan of Oxford University no less. George Smiley himself couldn\u2019t have found a better cover.<\/p>\n

In the interview \u2013 which is available here as a podcast<\/a><\/span> \u2013 Dr Leneghan repeats his hunch that the Ballinalee reference might be traced to a banquet involving Dylan and his excellency, the resident Bard of Ballsbridge, Shane MacGowan, formerly of the Pogues and the Popes. The meeting of bards, now the stuff of legend, took place at the Intercontinental Hotel in Dublin in 2017<\/a><\/span> while Dylan was touring Ireland.<\/p>\n

The Word from Ballsbridge<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Lo and behold, The Sunday Times<\/em> reports: \u2018Bob Dylan fans tangled up in clue to solve Irish riddle of I Contain Multitudes<\/a><\/span>.\u2019 Perhaps unsurprisingly, the journalist fails to credit this august publication when he writes:<\/p>\n

In online forums, some fans state that Dylan might have picked up Irish poetry tips from Shane MacGowan, with whom he spent time on a trip to Dublin in 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Bob Dylan fans tangled up in clue to solve Irish riddle of I Contain Multitudeshttps:\/\/t.co\/wjbMrMPO54<\/a><\/p>\n

— Frank Fitzgibbon (@SoFrankFitz) April 26, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n