From Ireland's vast library of gorgeous folk songs comes "The Fields of Athenry," a piece about the Irish Potato Famine, composed in the 1970s by Inchicore songwriter Pete St. John.  (Thank you, Wikipedia!)

And a more beautiful song I've not heard in a good while; lyrically powerful, melodically touching.... and thus begins my quest to obtain every version out there. (Sort of my equivalant to Ryu's "Canon," I suppose.)  So far, I've gotten Paddy Reilly's version, Sir James Galway's, Jill Anderson's, Drop Kick Murphys, and the Gaelforce Orchestra's.  So far, Anderson's is my favorite, but the Murphys version is balls-to-the-wall awesome.

A sample of Anderson's and Dropkick's versions; contrasting as they are.

So, I think I just about cleaned out iTunes' full library of versions available for "The Fields of Athenry."  Including the ones I mentioned already, that brings my count up to.... forty-nine.  T'was $49 bucks well spent, me thinks.  Now I have to scope out any other individual CD releases that might feature the song.

Athenry even beat out the twenty-three versions of "I Think We're Alone Now" that I went for earlier this year.