“Sweet Home Alab—err—Edinburgh?”

 “Sweet Home Alabama, where the skies are so blue.”-Lynyrd Skynyrd

This past Sunday I spent much of the day studying for a Phonology Test-the same test I am taking a break studying from right now. Sunday afternoon, I met a couple of friends at the student center to study phonology together. Several hours later and a few frustrated statements later, we concluded that we have a better grasp of the subject and should celebrate. One friend said there was a live band playing at a pub (Finnegan’s Wake) that was supposed to be pretty good. The rest of us agreed to join her later in the evening.

So at 10 that night I joined the small, but fun group at Finnegan’s Wake, not knowing what to expect. I had discovered from one of my flatmates that it was an Irish Pub, and that it was.  Irish flags and signs filled the pub. The band (Absent Friends) eventually came on stage to perform. They were an Irish group playing Irish folk songs. I really enjoyed them and the music was fantastic. Occasionally I would recognize a song, including Galway Girl, Christmas in New York, and other songs from (what I soon realized) “P.S. I Love You.” Sadly the performers were older and not near as cute as Gerard Butler, but it was fun nonetheless.

Not a very good picture, but that's Absent Friends playing Christmas in New York.

Then out of the blue, the intro to Sweet Home Alabama started playing. This is where embarrassment on my part nearly ensued. In Texas, OBU, a car filled with my friends, and basically any concert I go to, when Sweet Home Alabama starts to play, one automatically begins raising his/her arms in the air and cheers. Loudly. We are trained at an early age to do this. As my mom pointed out, it’s a bit like Sheldon trying to train Penny by giving her chocolates (Big Bang Theory). Apparently they don’t do this custom here, and if they do, they don’t do it at Finnegan’s Wake. So there I was, the lone Texan, thrilled that SHA was playing, I began to slowly raise my hands and gradually my cheer gets louder. Thankfully, being me, in large crowds, I attempt to be quieter than the loudest person in the room. As my cheer began getting louder, I quickly realized no one else in the room was getting louder, nor did anyone else have their arms raised. My arms were only half raised, so I quickly dropped them back down and immediately stopped cheering before I got too loud and people started staring. Rather red in the face, I opted for the option of just singing quietly. For the record, everyone in the room was singing, they just were not trained to cheer.

When other songs came on I knew, I sang no louder than the loudest person in the room. But there were quite a few songs were sung that I was not expecting, including Hotel California, Summer of ’69, and Don’t Stop Believing. Overall, it was a wonderful break from studying, and I plan to return to Finnegan’s Wake to enjoy some live music from time to time. Oh, Sweet Home Edinburgh, where the skies are occasionally blue.