"I'm Shipping Up to Boston" | ||||
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Single by Dropkick Murphys | ||||
from the album The Warrior's Code and The Departed: Music from the Motion Picture | ||||
Released | 2006 | |||
Studio | Q Division (Somerville) | |||
Genre | Celtic punk | |||
Length | 2:34 | |||
Label | Hellcat | |||
Composer(s) | ||||
Lyricist(s) | Woody Guthrie | |||
Producer(s) |
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Dropkick Murphys singles chronology | ||||
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"I'm Shipping Up to Boston" is a song by the Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys, with lyrics written by folk singer Woody Guthrie.
The original version of the song was released in 2004 on Give 'Em the Boot IV and was re-recorded for their certified gold selling 2005 album, The Warrior's Code . The song gained worldwide attention for its use in the 2006 film The Departed , which boosted the band's popularity.
The song's lyrics describe a sailor who lost a prosthetic leg climbing the topsail, and is shipping up to Boston to "find my wooden leg." These were taken from a fragment of paper that Ken Casey found while looking through Woody Guthrie's archives. [1] The Dropkick Murphys put music to the lyrics as they did with the song "Gonna Be a Blackout Tonight" from the 2003 album Blackout .
The single is the band's most successful to date and was certified double platinum. It reached No. 1 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and sold over 1,044,000 digital copies without ever entering the Hot 100 chart. [2]
The video features the Dropkick Murphys performing the song on the waterfront in East Boston. The band is also seen "hanging out" with hooligans while being chased by Boston police officers. The "hanging out" parts were later replaced with footage from The Departed for a second video tying in to the film. During President Joe Biden's April 2023 trip to Ireland, he went onstage for a speech to the song. [3]
Chart (2007) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 ( Billboard ) | 1 |
Chart (2012) | Peak position |
France (SNEP) [4] | 174 |
Ireland (IRMA) | 54 |
Chart (2013) | Peak position |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [5] | 45 |
Chart (2016) | Peak position |
Czech Republic Modern Rock (IFPI) [6] | 3 |
This section needs additional citations for verification .(July 2013) |
At sporting events, the song is often used as a de facto anthem for Boston.
Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. The current lineup consists of co-lead vocalist Ken Casey, drummer Matt Kelly, co-lead vocalist Al Barr, rhythm and lead guitarist James Lynch, lead guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Tim Brennan, multi-instrumentalist Jeff DaRosa and bassist Kevin Rheault. Casey has been the band's only constant member since the band formed.
"Tessie" is both the longtime anthem of Major League Baseball (MLB)'s Boston Red Sox and a 2004 song by the punk rock group Dropkick Murphys. The original "Tessie" was from the 1902 Broadway musical The Silver Slipper. The newer song, written in 2004, recounts how the singing of the original "Tessie" by the Royal Rooters fan club helped the Boston Americans win the first World Series in 1903. The name Tessie itself is a diminutive form used with several names, including Esther, Tess, and Theresa/Teresa.
"Dirty Water" is a song by the American rock band The Standells, written by their producer Ed Cobb. The song is a mock paean to the city of Boston, Massachusetts, and its then-famously polluted Boston Harbor and Charles River.
"For Boston" is the traditional fight song of Boston College and Boston College High School. It was written and composed by T.J. Hurley, a member of the Boston College Class of 1885.
Blackout is the fourth studio album by Dropkick Murphys, released in 2003. A music video for "Walk Away", the album's first official single, was also released. The song went on to become a minor radio hit and received some minor airplay on MTV. "Fields of Athenry" was also released as a single. The album was released with a DVD, which contained live videos for "Rocky Road to Dublin" and "Boys on the Docks", a music video for "Gonna Be a Blackout Tonight", and a trailer for their then upcoming untitled full-length DVD, which became On the Road With the Dropkick Murphys and was released the following year in March 2004.
The Warrior's Code is the fifth studio album by the Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys. Released in June 2005, it is also their bestselling. It features a dedication to Lowell's own "Irish" Micky Ward who is featured on the album's cover and is the subject of the album's title track. It is also their final record with Hellcat Records before moving to their own vanity label, Born & Bred Records.
The use of music at sporting events is a practice that is thousands of years old, but has recently had a resurgence as a noted phenomenon. Some sports have specific traditions with respect to pieces of music played at particular intervals. Others have made the presentation of music very specific to the team—even to particular players. Music may be used to build the energy of the fans, and music may also be introduced in ways that are less directly connected with the action in a sporting event.
Kenneth William Casey Jr. is an American musician who is the primary songwriter and one of the lead singers of the Boston Celtic punk group the Dropkick Murphys. Casey was one of the original members, starting the band in 1996 with guitarist Rick Barton and singer Mike McColgan. He is the only original member of the Dropkick Murphys left in the band, though drummer Matt Kelly joined shortly after formation in 1997. He is known for his melodic vocal parts and solid punk rock bass playing. Okemah Rising, the Dropkick Murphys twelfth and most recent album, was released in 2023. Casey also founded the charity group The Claddagh Fund, owns two Boston restaurants, McGreevy's and Yellow Door Taqueria, and runs his own boxing promotion called Murphys Boxing. Casey has a small role in the 2016 film Patriots Day, about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and the subsequent terrorist manhunt.
The Ducky Boys are a street punk band from Boston. Since forming in 1995 in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, the band has released six full-length albums and over 80 songs. The band's name is derived from the name of an Irish street gang in the 1979 movie, The Wanderers.
The Boston College Marching Band (BCMB), also known as the Boston College "Screaming Eagles" Marching Band, is the marching band for the Boston College Eagles. Founded in 1919, The Band is the largest and most visible student organization at Boston College, and represents the school at home football games, most bowl games, international events, and parades.
The 2010 NHL Winter Classic was an outdoor ice hockey game played in the National Hockey League (NHL) on January 1, 2010, at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. The third edition of the Winter Classic, it matched the Boston Bruins against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Bruins won the game, 2–1, in overtime. With the victory, the Bruins became the first home team to win a Winter Classic. After the game, the roster of the United States men's hockey team for the 2010 Winter Olympics was released, which included Bruins' goaltender Tim Thomas.
Going Out in Style is the seventh studio album by the Dropkick Murphys and was released on March 1, 2011. It was the band's second studio release on their Born & Bred Records label. The album is the band's highest charting to date making its debut at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 200 album charts. It was also the first to feature new member Jeff DaRosa.
American Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys has released twelve studio albums, three live albums, four compilation albums, sixteen extended plays, thirty-six singles and forty-six music videos.
Rob Kelly is an Irish rapper, record producer and MC.
Signed and Sealed in Blood is the eighth studio album by the Dropkick Murphys. The album was released on January 8, 2013, on the band's Born & Bred Records label. The album debuted at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, the third highest debut for the band.
"Sirius" is an instrumental by British rock band The Alan Parsons Project, recorded for their sixth studio album, Eye in the Sky (1982). Nearly two minutes long, it segues into "Eye in the Sky" on the original recording. From the 1990s onward, "Sirius" has become a staple of many college and professional sporting events throughout North America, most prominently Chicago Bulls games.
11 Short Stories of Pain & Glory is the ninth studio album by American band Dropkick Murphys and was released on January 6, 2017, on the band's Born & Bred Records label. It was the band's first studio album in four years since 2013's Signed and Sealed in Blood. The album made its debut at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 200 album charts giving the band their second highest debuting album of their career behind 2011's Going Out in Style which made its debut at number 6.
This Machine Still Kills Fascists is the eleventh studio album by American band Dropkick Murphys and was released on September 30, 2022, on Dummy Luck Music. It marks the band's first studio album since Do or Die to not feature vocalist Al Barr, who was on hiatus from the band to take care of his ailing mother. It is the band's first acoustic and is composed of unused lyrics and words by Woody Guthrie.
"Slapshot" is a 1995 song written by Ray Castoldi, the music director and organist for Madison Square Garden. The song was written as a goal song for the New York Rangers and was debuted on January 20, 1995, in Madison Square Garden. The Ontario Hockey League's Kitchener Rangers also use the horn, along with the same or similar horn. The recording of the song that is used by the Rangers at their home games was created by local rock band Bad Apple.
Okemah Rising is the twelfth studio album by American band Dropkick Murphys, released on May 12, 2023, on Dummy Luck Music. The album was recorded in 2022 during the band's recording sessions for This Machine Still Kills Fascists and like the songs from that album, the songs are composed of unused lyrics and words from Woody Guthrie. Like with the previous album, Okemah Rising does not feature vocalist Al Barr who was on hiatus from the band to take care of his ailing mother. The album was executive produced by Guthrie's daughter Nora Gutherie and also features appearances by Violent Femmes, Jaime Wyatt, Jesse Ahern and Woody's grandson Cole Quest. The album features a reworked "Tulsa Version" of the band's biggest hit, "I'm Shipping Up to Boston", which was originally written by Guthrie.