I think that I’ve mentioned this before, but I feel a certain amount of sympathy for Mexican-descended Americans who get to watch what was a minor holiday for their ancestors be turned into a booze-drenched bacchanalia (yes, yes, that’s redundant). It’s a detached sympathy, because that’s what exactly what American culture did to St. Patrick’s Day and nobody said boo then – but, hey, this is all part of the assimilation process.
But still: Happy Cinco de Mayo! Stay off of the roads, please.
Completely unrelated, I was shocked to hear a heavy metal band cover a Simon and Garfunkel tune, and have it turn out really, really well. (Like, possibly even better than the iconic original.)
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And after thinking about it, I’m irritated with myself for being surprised. The song is minor key, with a dark theme. How would a heavy bass counterpoint and a baritone singer *not* be appropriate?
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Anyway, if you’re so inclined to check it out, I present Disturbed’s version of “The Sound of Silence”. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Du9Dg-g7t2l4&ved=0ahUKEwiglfmKvcTMAhUX4mMKHU2pCh4QyCkIKjAB&usg=AFQjCNE7WJAvttGDBSzZk9ywu3k4Melqqw&sig2=hdxH60DPUYV-jtcN7KJu0w
There’s an Atlanta heavy metal band called Local H that covers Simon & Garfunkel– or at least they did in 1999 when I heard them covering I Am A Rock. I still have a copy of them covering Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard.
Wait. I have it on the very best authority that the name of the holiday is “Cinco de Cuatro” … When did they change it?
Not quite Irish, but the MexiCeltic mashup brought this to mind: The Ballad of the Mexican-Scotsman
The term “gringo” is actually from Irish Mercenaries who fought alongside of the Mexicans against the invading U.S.
One of the songs they enjoyed singing in camp was “Green Grows the Grass”, which now lives on as a racist epithet.
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(Yes, I know too much useless trivia.)
Unfortunately for the San Patricios, they were deserters from the US Army, so they wound up getting hanged when they were captured…
I use Sink-o to to remind me that April 30 is the “Birthday ” of the French Foreign Legion at the Battle of Cameron where a company of the Legion held of 3,000 mexes for a coupe of days until there were only three left alive . It is their November 10 . The French Army has a bad reputation because of bad generals , but at the battalion and company level , the poilou is a very nasty customer .
I cleverly went to a Mexican restaurant on May 4, when it wasn’t overwhelmed but they already had margarita specials.