One of our posters on NDNation undertook a project with the Irish group The Wolfe Tones, and we wanted to share the results with our readership.

It’s less than a week until kickoff.

Several years ago, I mentioned to El Kabong the possibility of getting the Wolfe Tones to revise their “You’ll Never Beat the Irish” (The Wolfe Tones) to reference Notre Dame football.

It was a pipe dream, but he said that if I made it happen, he’d put it on this site. Like me, he loves the Wolfe Tones.

Two years ago, I went to a concert on Long Island, NY. I approached Tommy Byrne, and I broached the idea of changing their song to make it about Notre Dame football. He laughed at the idea, and he asked Noel Nagle if he’d pay me a beer to write the song.

Nagle didn’t seem like it was that dumb of an idea. He gave me his business card.

I sobered up. A year passed. Notre Dame started out 7-0. We went to Norman, and we won.

I decided to contact Nagle. I told him that ND football had essentially been dormant for decades, and it was about to bust loose. The Wolfe Tones became interested, and Nagle put me in touch with Brian Warfield. Both admitted they didn’t know anything about the sport.

Nagle asked me to rewrite the song.

I rewrote it. I could show you the lyrics I wrote … which are dramatically different from what they are now. It doesn’t matter. They embody the spirit of what I wanted to do. The Tones agreed to record the first song that was written to chronicle the history of ND football, rather than merely reference the football program anecdotally.

The lyrics aren’t perfect, but they do follow the timeline of the football program. Yes, the 1919 thing is an error, which I take responsibility for. It originally was written without a year reference. It doesn’t matter, because we did beat Army in 1919, and we did revolutionize football by introducing the forward pass. We just didn’t do both that year.

The release of the song was rushed because of the National Championship game. Several on the site noticed the music was “electronic.” Compare it to the other versions of, “You’ll Never Beat the Irish.” It doesn’t have to be electronic … the timing was rushed.

The Wolfe Tones have professed that they will amend the song as necessary to make it what it needs to be.

To be truthful, the Wolfe Tones became interested in this project because of its potential to be profitable. I became interested because I thought it had the potential to be a great thing for my Alma Mater.

I convinced the Wolfe Tones against their judgment to make the full version, including the video, free on YouTube because this was about more than selling a song. I made them understand that, and they are willing to re-record it as necessary to get it right.

I ask you folks only this:

(1) Please comment on whatever you think needs to be corrected for this to be worthy of our football program
(2) If you like it, let others know about it

I know not all of you think much of this project (e.g. ACross). That’s okay. I grew up loving the Wolfe Tones and Notre Dame. This was a dream come true for me. If you feel the same way, share it.

If you think it sucks, let me know that too. If it’s something that can be fixed, we’d like to know.

Gerry