11 April 1993
Siobhan Fahey here becomes, as far as I can see, the first Irish-born woman to write two Irish number one singles. She had already sung ‘Young At Heart’ as a Bananarama album track in 1983 before it was recorded the following year by Scottish band The Bluebells, whose guitarist Bobby Bluebell—not his real name—was its co-writer and Fahey’s then-partner. It was a UK top ten hit and number 13 in Ireland for The Bluebells at the time, then nearly a decade later was dusted off for a car ad on TV, which led to its re-release and even greater success.
I’m guessing from the jaunty Celtic fiddle, nostalgic theme and lyrics about parents that The Bluebells were aiming for something like ‘Come On Eileen’. (On a related factoid, Siobhan Fahey’s sister Maire plays Eileen in the video for ‘Come On Eileen’.) No song could match that Dexys masterpiece, of course, and ‘Young At Heart’ falls well short. Its two-step showband bassline is stodgy and fuddy-duddy, its title and chorus is corny, and the twee fiddle hook just sounds gimmicky. Also, there’s one other crucial difference: ‘Come On Eileen’ is about being young; ‘Young At Heart’ is about being old, and it sounds it. Good factoids, but little else.
