Thin Lizzy Tidbits

Tidbits and Excerpts

The Jailbreak     Roisin Dubh     Legend of the Vagabond    

The Jailbreak
(From the back of Jailbreak album)

The warrior locked himself into his video scanner and gazed throughout the Universe...until he came upon Dimension 5. Dimension 5 was now in the hands of the Overmaster, whose lust for ultimate power became an obsession. Religion and the media were all under his control and computer files were kept on all known living persons within the city zones.
Many were arrested and jailed.
It was therefore significant that The Jailbreak represented a freedom for so many yet to those involved at the time it was a series of events, the outcome of which no-one could have forseen. The plan was simple. By knocking out the alarm system in a riot, they then would cause an explosion which would blow half the cell blocks away. Outside help came from an organization known as Phono-Graphics, who if the plan was successful would eventually capitalize on the whole project.

The night of The Jailbreak all hell broke loose. A Red Alert was issued by the Overmaster himself. Robot trackers, military police, dogs and all available vehicles were on the hunt. All were caught, except four, who made it to the Rampic Buildings on the south side of the city. It was in these buildings that they broadcast and recorded selected material, some of which still survives today. Through these recordings they built up a following who eventually took to the streets in what was to become the Final War.
The Warrior had become weary and disillusioned with war, but seeing how the people struggled to be free he knew once again he must raise up his sword...
The music sailed out into the night then upward towards the skies, travelling on that thin border between reality and imagination.

The Legend Of Roisin Dubh
(From the Black Rose album)

"Dark Rosaleen" is a Gaelic poem translated by James Clarence Morgan who lived from 1803 to 1849. It is an allegory in which Red Hugh O'Donnell addresses Ireland and calls on the Pope in Rome and King Philip of Spain (late of the Armada) to come to his aid. The call to arms is well concealed in the poem to avoid 'Treasonable Utterances' for which the penalty is death.

Legend of Cuchulain
Pray tell me the story of young Cuchulain
How his eyes were dark and his expression sullen
And how he'd fight and always won
And how they cried when he had fallen
Tell me the story of the Queen of this land
And how her sons died at her own hands
And how fools obey commands
Tell me the legends of long ago

The second verse of Roisin Dubh touches on the saga of the wars between Queen Maeve of Connacht and the Red Branch Knights of Ulster. Cuchulain, the Hound of Ulster, was the champion and the greatest of all the heroes of the Red Branch. This all happened in the great days of long past. A statue of the death of Cuchulain stands in the GPO in Dublin.

Legend Of The Vagabond
(From the Vagabonds Of The Western World album)

According to the Ancient legends, of the Mythological Cycle, they tell us of a Celtic Otherworld to the West. A place where happiness reigns. There is no age, sickness or death, and a hundred years as one day.
One day, a rider approached from this Western World. A maiden, most beautiful to behold, dressed in a gown of gleaming gossamer, her steed, pure white with golden hooves. "I have come for your son," she said to the Ruler of the Land, in a soft silver tone:"to carry him away with me to the Western World."
Now when the Ruler's son saw the maiden he fell deeply in love with her, and in that moment's weakness, he bade his father farewell taking the 'Sacred Vows' never to return. On the journey she told him of a vision, where she was to be his wife, but his first born would be by another, and he would break the 'Sacred Vows.' But when they reached the Western World he was so overcome by its beauty that he quickly forgot her words of warning.
In the time that passed they were wed and lived in great joy and happiness, till his heart grew heavy with a longing to see his homeland once more. After much pleading she consented to let him go, with the white steed, on condition, that he return before a day passed, or he would grow old and die.
Returning to his homeland, he found things greatly changed, for many hundreds of years had passed while he had been away. In the guise of a vagabond he took to the road, to see his world one final time. On his travels through the world, he beheld many strange and wonderous sights, winning the hearts of all the fairest maidens.
Now when the time for his return to the Western World was nearing, he met a gypsy girl, her eyes were of the clearest blue and with dark magic and her charms she captured in his soul. In the spring of his last year she told him that she was to bear his child. He knew then, he must return for the child would be cursed. It was the night this child was born that he left. It is written from that day to this, all male descendants of the fatherless child are blessed in the art of love, to win the heart of any, but cursed never to be in love, or they will grow old and wither.

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