"Finnegans Wake"...the Song at the Dark, Lost, Nightful Heart of English

While there is more to it than what I am about to say, the old Irish drinking song called "Finnegans Wake" is a clue to the structure of the book by James Joyce. I have often said that to "open" a newly encountered work of art we have to have a key, or many keys; James Joyce sprinkled clues here and there to enable the reader to open Ulysses, and he did the same with Finnegans Wake; in the case of Finnegans Wake, the title of the book leads us to the old Irish ballad just as the title Ulysses leads us to Homer--and then, in each case, by a commodious vicus of recirculation, back to the book...but now armed with a key that will begin the process of revealment.

So, here's the song--and in the first link, Tom Clancy performs a wonderful introduction that delights entirely:
* Finnegans Wake performed by the Clancy Brothers and Robbie O'Connell
* Here is another performance of Finnegans Wake by the Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem--also rollicking good fun.
* Here is another rendition of the song "Finnegans Wake" that I enjoy: Finnegans Wake performed by The Kilkennys.