Remembering Irish singer–songwriter Glen Hansard
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This is Fresh Air. I'm David Bianculli. Glenn Hansard, the Irish singer-songwriter who got his start busking on the streets of Dublin and later became famous for playing a Dublin street musician in the Irish film Once, died Wednesday from a motorcycle crash. He was 56. Irish President Catherine Connolly said Hansard would be remembered as one of Ireland's great singer-songwriters. Bruce Springsteen, who invited Hansard in 2013 to join him on stage during a show in Kilkenny, said, Here on E Street, we are heartbroken. We met in Ireland many years ago, and he was nothing but a great musician, a good friend, and a generous and gracious man. Glenn Hansard formed the rock band The Frames in the 1990s, made his film debut in The Commitments playing guitarist Outspanned Foster, and won an Oscar for co-writing the song Falling Slowly for the film Once, in which he starred as a struggling musician.
The movie was later adapted into a Tony Award-winning musical. Hansard went on to release a number of albums as a solo artist, and he was an advocate for the homeless, performing at an annual Dublin Christmas Eve busk to raise money for people at risk of homelessness. The low-budget indie Irish film that became an international success, titled Once, was written and directed by John Carney, who previously had been in Hansard's band, The Frames. Hansard wrote the music for the movie. In 2008, Terry Gross spoke with Glenn Hansard and with Czech singer Marketa Erglova, who co-starred in the film. Let's begin with the Oscar-winning song Falling Slowly, which they co-wrote.
I don't know you But I want you All the more for that Words fall through me And always fool me And I can't react And games that never amount to more than they're meant will play themselves out. Take this st. Kimball and port it home. We've still got time. voice you have a choice
Glenn Hansard, Marketa Erglova, welcome to Fresh Air. Congratulations on the Oscar and all the success you've had with Once.
Who was Glen Hansard and what news prompted this tribute?
You co-wrote Falling Slowly. Had you ever written a song together before writing for the film?
No, that was actually the first song we wrote together and it was one of those things where I'd been working on the song and I wasn't really sure where I was going with it. All I had was the verse and I had an idea for the chorus and it was only when I sat down with Mar and I played her the idea because I was talking about a harmony in the chorus and she said, well, what if you take the lower one or you take the higher one and I'll take the lower one and You know, on the moment where it goes, we've still got time. And for me, that was like the key of what made the song suddenly work. And then so I wrote the chorus with Mar and then I really felt like we had a solid song in our hands and it was something that I could give to John and feel confident with.
Glenn, you pointed out that the movie was not written with you in mind as the performer or with Marchetta in mind. Cillian Murphy was supposed to be the star of the film, but he had to back out at the last minute. So I guess that's how you ended up being cast yourself.
Yeah. I mean, what happened was that Cillian was involved in the project all along and Cillian likes the frames. And so he was happy to sing my songs. But I think some of the songs that turned in, I think Cillian probably felt a little bit... Cillian's a great singer, but I think he felt a bit... unprepared for some of the, because John, the songs that John chose were some of the more dynamically, like vocally challenging songs, because I just gave John a bunch of songs and he chose which ones he liked, which ones he didn't. And I think Killian got a little bit sensitive about, maybe possibly about the idea of singing a few of these songs and being able to sort of do them justice.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–3:49
2
Who was Glen Hansard and what news prompted this tribute?
3:49–12:52
3
How did Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová write the Oscar-winning song “Falling Slowly”?
12:52–22:49
4
Why did John Carney cast musicians instead of actors in the film Once?
22:49–41:20
5
How were songs recorded and used on-screen in Once to maintain authenticity?
41:20–50:58
Speakers
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