‘Each fantasy chosen begin’: the music of The Divine Comedy

Magennis, Caroline

Abstract

This article considers the cultural and social context for the music of the Northern Irish band The Divine Comedy. It focuses on three mid-1990s albums – Liberation (1993), Promenade (1994) and Casanova (1996) – and debates the significance of this performance of alternative Ulster masculinity during the peace process. It will detail the lyrical obsession with a very particular type of imagined Anglo-Irishness during the first two of these albums, and then consider the complicated uses of the ‘Britpop’ genre in Casanova. This music is baroque, literary and written by an Anglican bishop's son, Neil Hannon, who grew up in Enniskillen during the Troubles. It will consider how Hannon cobbles together an acceptable identity through the use of literary pretentiousness and a carefully crafted pop persona.

Citation

Magennis, C. (2013). ‘Each fantasy chosen begin’: the music of The Divine Comedy. Irish Studies Review, 21(2), 178-187. https://doi.org/10.1080/09670882.2013.774229

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: May 3, 2013
• Deposit Date: Jul 30, 2023
• Journal: Irish Studies Review
• Print ISSN: 0967-0882
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 21
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 178-187
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09670882.2013.774229