Originally Posted by
Marked Man
It's a little unfair to compare Damien Dempsey with Bob Dylan (45 years of recording experience) and Billy Bragg (about 25 years). Dempsey is still fairly early on in his career, and at the corresponding points in their careers, both of the other two artists named above had a fairly straightforward and earnest approach to their craft. Look at Dylan's "The times They are a-Changing" most of the songs there are extremely literal protest songs. Similarly, Bragg's first few eps/albums are made up largely of literal songs that describe either his own personal experience or protest aspects of Thatcherite England ("it says here", "lovers town revisited"). When he attempted the metaphorical, the results were sometimes embarrassing ("I am the milkman of human kindness, I will leave an extra pint...").
For the record, I like all 3 artists. My point is that songwriters develop their craft as they go along, and it's not uncommon for young songwriters to favor direct, literal lyrics, before they become adept with the use of imagery.
And while there's nothing wrong at all with literal, direct lyrics (or else how would the Sex Pistols or The Clash be any good?), there's plenty of imagery in Dempsey's songs (look at how he plays with pre-existing imagery: the idea of the Celtic Tiger as a vicious animal, New York as the apple of his eye; or uses images of ghosts of the departed on building stairwells, or the image of a blizzard to set the scene for an acid trip gone wrong; or images from Irish history: woodcairns, seanchais, etc...).
In the end, you either like him or don't, but there is plenty of imagery to be found if you're willing to put the time in with him that you would with other artists.
