7 September 1972
There are a few factoids and minutiae to get out of the way first. This is the second chart-topping single for Sligo folk-showband balladeer Dermot Henry, after 1970’s rich-people-have-feelings-too sobfest ‘If Those Lips Could Only Speak’. We won’t see such Sligo dominance of our number one spot again until the advent of Westlife. ‘The Gypsy’ also shares with a previous Irish number one, ‘The Travelling People’ by The Johnstons from 1966, a romanticised and antiquated view of the Traveller community that blocks out the real-world discrimination and hardship they face. The song itself is a meek two-step country & Irish ditty, a hang sangwich for the ears, that the avuncular Henry is happy to run through perfunctorily.
But what’s really notable and memorable about ‘The Gypsy’ is that it’s a number one single with a plot twist. Right in the last line is a reveal, with the music dropping out to frame it, that will make your jaw hop off the floor. I’ll say no more about it, or how we’d regard it today, to avoid any spoilers. You can check it out for yourself in the video below. Enjoy!
