Happy Saint Patrick's Day! You know what's super charming? An Irish accent. I am impervious to English, French and even Italian linguistic leanings, but that soft-as-butter Irish brogue will melt my heart every time. I once spent an entire 30 minutes talking to the most boring guy in a bar just so I could hear him talk (sample line of his: "I am enjoying California. It's very nice here. Much different than Dublin" me: "oh, DO go on"). In song, that lilt combined with heavy Irish-brand sorrow translates into pop gold. U2, The Cranberries, The Corrs, and The Thrills are all moping about and crying injustice. Even U2's uplifting songs have a decidedly tragic leaning. I mean it's a "Beautiful Day", but man don't fucking let it get away. But we're not here to talk about U2, because god knows even this obscure blog isn't going to feed Bono's monstrous ego. We're here to talk about the tomboy (ha!) pop outfit B*witched. Although Irish-born, they were having none of the traditional Irish sad-face. One of the girls in the group has a shamrock tattoo on her hand. If that's not carefree, I don't know what is! B*Witched's biggest hit by far was "C'est La Vie" in which the girls are trying to coax a boy down from his tree house to play with them. " I got a house with windows and door / I'll show you mine if you show me yours." These kind of playful lyrics are reminiscent of a children's nursery rhyme or a Led Zeppelin song. They continue on: "I'm the wolf today hey, hey, hey/ I'll huff I'll puff /I'll huff I'll puff and blow you away." Abandoning the idea of the Irish woman as a passive victim, these ladies are taking the reigns on their romantic endeavors into tree houses. I guess that's what Girl Power™ is all about!
Oddly, although B*Witched styled themselves after the teen girl groups of the time, most of them weren't teens. Of the foursome, only one could legally claim teen status when their album broke in 1998. Sinead O'Carroll (I guess there's not that many name variations in Ireland) was a full blown 25-years-old when this single dropped. However, they lied and said she was 20. Oh the dangerous trappings of the pop star world. B*Witched never hit it big in America aside from "C'est La Vie", but the group went Platinum on a couple albums in Europe. Like Abba, their brand of faux-pixie was a bit too psychedelic for American audiences...perhaps too gender bending what with their denim tomboy act. Ah well, c'est la vie!
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