Dropkick Murphys Feature-Virginian Pilot Newspaper

For 17 years now, the Dropkick Murphys have drawn inspiration from the blue-collar streets of Boston to create raucous anthems with a mix of merriment and mayhem.

The seven-piece band, which plays Wednesday at The NorVa in Norfolk, recently released the record "Signed and Sealed in Blood," which doesn't stray far from the punk-rock energy and folksy Irish spirit that fueled the group's familiar and rousing Irish rock anthem "I'm Shipping Up to Boston."

Since being released on the band's 2005 album "The Warrior's Code," the song, featuring lyrics from a Woody Guthrie poem, has become an integral part of the cultural lexicon. It provided the soundtrack to the Boston Red Sox's 2007 World Series championship season and was prominently featured in Martin Scorsese's 2006 Academy Award-winning Irish mob drama, "The Departed" - as well as playing in various commercials, video games and even an episode of "The Simpsons."
During a recent phone conversation, bassist and founding member Ken Casey was game to share a few stories about the Dropkick Murphys' signature song, from its Guthrie connection to why the band became more selective about licensing it.'

Bound for Glory

Woody Guthrie's daughter Nora was turned on to us by her son. He told her that we would be a good fit to record some of Woody's lyrics, so she invited us to look through his archives.
There were thousands of pages of lyrics that were never put to music. All of his papers are on microfilm now, but I was one of the last people to touch the actual pieces of paper they were written on. I had to sit in a special climate-controlled room and wear these white gloves.
It was really cool reading through all of these pages of, oftentimes, deep, mind-boggling lyrics. Then I stumbled upon "I'm Shipping Up to Boston," which has all of four lines, but I thought it showed a more lighthearted side to Woody.

the Boston Red Sox are world champs again!

Jonathan Papelbon, the Sox closer, used to come into the game with (the song) "Wild Thing" from that Charlie Sheen movie ("Major League"). A local DJ didn't like that song, so he conducted a poll for people to pick a new song for him to use. Ninety-eight percent picked "I'm Shipping Up to Boston." Someone played it for Papelbon and he liked it, so he made the switch.
The funny thing is the Red Sox have asked us to be involved twice. In 2004, we did the song "Tessie," which they still play at Fenway when the Sox win. So we were involved in 2004 and 2007 (World Series championship years). They haven't called us since. I'm not saying anything, but we're 2 for 2 in 90 years so they might want to rethink that.

the Oscar goes to...

I had a lot of friends who had bit parts in "The Departed" when it was shooting in Boston. They were all telling us, "I'm gonna get your music in the movie." Right before it was in final edit, we got a call from Scorsese, and he told us he loved the song and wanted to use it in the movie.
Turns out he heard the song because his musical director, Robbie Robertson from the Band, played it for him, but of course all my friends tried to take credit for it.
Scorsese was really nice to us. He let us use a lot of raw footage from the movie to make our music video, and we got to go to the premiere in Boston. When the song came on, it really stood out. I almost fell over in my chair.

ending the overkill

We're being a little bit more picky about licensing the song now because everyone and their mother is making a movie or a show about Boston. Now everyone's starting in with the reality shows. Wait till you see this new show "Wicked Single" on VH-1. It's premiering on St. Patrick's Day. The producers asked us if they could use the song, and we said no because the show is horrible. It makes the "Jersey Shore" people seem classy.