Today KNEECAP share a 12-minute short film for ‘Irish Goodbye’, the latest track to be taken from the album.
Featuring Kae Tempest, ‘Irish Goodbye’ is a deeply personal and moving track written by Móglaí Bap about his sadly departed mother and the beautifully shot Thomas James directed film perfectly captures the profound poignancy of the single.
WATCH THE FILM FOR ‘IRISH GOODBYE’
Talking about the track Móglaí Bap said:
“I never meant to write a song about this. But someone sent my brother a documentary about my Dad in the 90s, when he was president of Conradh na Gaeilge. The film crew came to my house, and we were just kids doing our homework, messing around. We weren’t the kind of family who had films of ourselves when we were young, just photographs, so it was the first time I saw my Ma in a video. And she was happy.
That had a profound effect on me, seeing her happy. I was so emotional seeing her like that. I had written a song about her before, called MAM, which came out in 2020. She was sick at the time with depression. The idea I had in my head with MAM was, if I wrote it, she’d hear it, and maybe she’d feel her worth, because when you suffer from depression, you can’t see your own value.
At that time, we went for a walk, and I told her I had written a song for her, but that it wasn’t completely finished yet, so I’d wait until the next week to play it for her. But by then it was too late.
Suicide is hard. And when someone is sick with depression and dies by suicide, it’s hard to remember the good moments. You get caught up in the dark times.
Irish Goodbye is about the mundane things me and my Ma did together. I never realised it was the day to day stuff I would miss when she was gone; going for a walk in the park, her giving out to me or keeping me in line, offering me pieces of advice. It’s all the small things that you miss.
Watching that footage of her and writing this song, unlocked a part of my brain that gave me the opportunity to override the constant sad memories. It allowed me visualise happier times, instead of being so angry at the world.
Dan Carey wrote the music, and then Kae Tempest got involved, which was such an honour. Kae delivered something so vulnerable and emotional to the song. That was a really special moment for us.
Suicide is such a complex thing. It’s hard to confront the reality of what has happened. When you’re trying to deal with it, you get caught in this in-between world; you understand and then you don’t understand, you’re sad and then you’re angry, there’s shame and there’s guilt. There’s grief, of course, but it’s a specific kind of grief. You feel like you’re carrying this weird other burden.
It’s a very hard conversation to have. Who the fuck wants to talk about it, really? Death is depressing enough. But we need to talk about it, because we have to alleviate that extra burden of shame and guilt on top of the burden of grief. You can’t change what happened. You’re not necessarily able to save people from themselves.
People ask me how I coped. I didn’t cope. It takes years. So you cope in whatever way you can in the moment. But there’s help out there too. When I was eventually able for it, therapy was the thing that helped me. A lot of our parents’ generation don’t believe in therapy. But we’re different. We can ask for help, we should ask for help, and there should be services there for us to get help.
As Irish people, we have a good relationship with death and the rituals around it. We can remember people how they were, not how they ended up. I hope that this kind of death, even though it’s awful, can be included under that approach, as hard as it is to deal with.
I’m hoping if people listen to the song, and watch the video, maybe something will connect that gives them some sort of relief. You can’t carry this stuff around with you and blame yourself. It’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault. It’s about the process of dealing with it. And you can deal with it. You can.“
Thomas James, the director of the short film, added:
There’s a line in the track which encapsulates everything I’d like to say, “It’s not an issue, I just want to say I missed you.” That’s the mentality of this film. It’s not angry at those who have chosen to leave by taking their own life, but it’s compassionate to those that are still here.
It’s not often I’m candid or honest when I write these things – but this deserves more than hiding behind some shitty quip about the craziness of the shoot, or some arbitrary, benign detail you fully know is going to become a pull quote.
This film, this song, all deals with something incredibly personal, and incredibly close to my heart, and to many people’s hearts. To be a part of this, to write and think and work, with everything this song is about, has been a privilege – but it also felt like an owed responsibility.
I couldn’t be prouder to have been involved in something. It’s been a beautiful, sorrowful and contemplative experience – and I really hope that shows in the film.
I’m forever grateful to so many people who helped make this one a reality.
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