Marie Burns

by Elizabeth Bauchner

"Bring Them Home," Marie Burns' anti-war song inspired by a lifetime of living with the fallout of war, has been nominated "Song of the Year" by the Folk Alliance of North America, which includes all of the United States and Canada and, Marie explains, is "sort of the folk subculture of the music world."

The song was released in October on the latest Burns Sisters' CD, Wild Bouquet. Marie, along with her sisters Jeannie and Annie, have been making records and CDs since the early 1980s. They all write songs and sing, though Marie wrote 'Bring Them Home.'  "Bring Them Home" is based in part on Marie's family's experience. Her mother was widowed in World War II when Marie's older brother was a small child. Her mother later married Marie's father. They eventually had twelve children.

Marie says the song was also inspired by going to Camp Casey in Crawford, Texas in August, 2005, as part of the anti-war demonstration led by Cindy Sheehan. "I was just so moved by meeting some of the young members of Iraq Veterans Against the War," Marie explains. "There was a young woman who had been a medic in Iraq, and she wasn't allowed to treat Iraqi children who had been victims of a car bombing—she couldn't even touch them."

Another inspiration for the song came from the Burns Sisters' tour last year with Arlo Guthrie to benefit musicians in New Orleans. Guthrie organized the tour when a passenger train from Chicago to New Orleans re-opened after Hurricane Katrina, and invited the Burns Sisters to ride the train along with several other musicians, including Cyril Neville and Willie Nelson. The tour ended in New Orleans with a concert at Tipitinas, the famous New Orleans nightclub that regularly hosts such bands as the Meters, Dr. John, the Radiators and the Neville Brothers.

As for the nomination, Marie says she feels honored—and a little bit shocked. "Traditional folk music is not generally seen as political," she says. But when they played the song last August at the Philly Folk Festival, they received a standing ovation.

"Maybe it's because the political climate is changing in America," she muses.

Whatever the reason, they won't know if they've won until possibly February. "It's just an honor to be recognized by your peers, even if nothing else comes of it," Marie says.

You can catch the Burns Sisters this Saturday performing their Annual Holiday Concert at Club Euphoria, 115 N. Cayuga Street in downtown Ithaca. The concert is part of the Crossing Borders Live Concert Series. Most certainly they will perform "Bring Them Home," as well as others from the new album, including their cover of the Leonard Cohen song, "Democracy."

You can also listen to "Bring Them Home" on You Tube, accompanied by photos of anti-war protests and New Orleans: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_VOD235DLk

You can also watch the up-and-coming Burns family musician, Finnian, age 4, play the fiddle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryCn-Ci1tcw .