During the entire year I’ve been in Ireland, I have been haunted by this one song. I would hear it over chatter in the pub, walking past shops on the high street, and before curtain at a local theatre production, but I could never catch it at the right time. The people with me would never have heard it, and I could never listen closely enough to pick up the lyrics. I pinned down the phrase “salty air” once, but that wasn’t enough to get any results on Google. An entire year went by, and this song kept teasing me.
A few weeks ago, I went to see About Time, because I am a big fan of movies about time travel. I am so jealous that Rachel McAdams keeps getting to marry time travelers, but as much as I want to hate her, I always end up liking her. I also share her About Time character’s love for Kate Moss. Oh, and I want that character’s job – she is a “reader” for a London publisher.
It didn’t hurt that the movie also stars Bill Nighy and Domhnall Gleeson. So now I have the About Time tennis-on-the-seashore scene and the official soundtrack listing to thank for leading me to:
This is one of those videos that offers little improvement on the music itself, and I actually prefer the longer version of the song, but there it is: “At the River” by Groove Armada. A song from the nineties. No wonder no one knew what I was talking about.
The Galway Train 