Latest news with #Jimmy'sSellingWatches
Sunday World
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Daniel O'Donnell: We're hoping Jimmy and the Donegal players are on song today
Donegal are looking to hit the right notes when they take on Kerry at Croke Park. We're all on tenterhooks up here in Donegal today, but I have no doubt that Jim McGuinness and his team will be taking home Sam Maguire this afternoon. Jim has been outstanding as a Donegal manager – and his success in the past has even been immortalised in the now well-known song, Jimmy's Winning Matches. It was written by Donegal songwriter and singer Rory Gallagher, formerly of a group called The Revs and who now performs under the name Rory & The Island. Jim McGuinness and Donegal songwriter/singer Rory Gallagher Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 27th Rory is now based in Lanzarote where he runs his two bars, The Irish Viking and Rory's Live Lounge in Puerto del Carmen. He says the song was originally written about the people who sell counterfeit goods – watches, Gucci bags and more - to tourists on the streets and beaches in the Canary Islands. 'It was originally written about a guy from Senegal and was called Jimmy's Selling Watches,' Rory says. He says the song didn't gain much traction when it first came out. 'It only had 400 views and it wasn't going well,' Rory reveals. Rory's mother, Mary B, who had been in the bands Luv Bug and Pluto with her husband, Paul, suggested that he should rejig the song and make it about Jim McGuinness. Mary B said: 'That chorus is so catchy, you should change it around for the Donegal manager and call it Jimmy's Winning Matches.' Rory says: 'It just clicked after that. I sat down and wrote it and it came out much easier in the space of 10 minutes. 'I put it up online and it just seemed to get bigger and bigger. It's been amazing seeing it come back in the last 18 months. 'I have two sons now, Aidan and Shay, who are six and nine, and it's their first time to experience it So for them to see all the kids singing it in Donegal, and even Africa now, they're amazed.' This week there was a lovely video online of children from an orphanage in Tanzania singing and performing Jimmy's Winning Matches. Two young Donegal women, Eabha Reid from Donegal Town and Anna Gallagher from Termon, taught the children what has now become a famous anthem for the county. Eabha and Anna are teachers and working as volunteers in the orphanage. You can watch the wonderful video online now. Rory, who has a new summer single out called Playa Grande, is in Dublin this weekend for the match. He performed on RTE's Up For The Match last night and will be in the Harcourt Hotel this evening from 7pm celebrating Donegal's victory. Yes, Sam has his bags packed for Donegal.
Sunday World
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sunday World
Writer of Jimmy's Winning Matches reveals inspiration behind hit song
The singer Rory Gallagher wrote the song about African sellers The singer and songwriter behind Donegal's football anthem Jimmy's Winning Matches is predicting a four-point victory over Kerry in today's All-Ireland final at Croke Park. Lanzarote-based Rory Gallagher, formerly of The Revs, also reveals that he originally wrote the song about street and beach sellers from Senegal who flog counterfeit goods to tourists in the Canaries. 'It was originally called Jimmy's Selling Watches, but my mother, Mary B, who was in the band Luv Bug with my father, suggested I should change it to Jimmy's Winning Matches when Donegal started doing well under Jim McGuinness,' Rory tells the Sunday World. Donegal manager Jim McGuinness. Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 27th He also reveals how Donegal manager McGuinness has mixed feelings about the song. 'Jim came up to me at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin after the All-Ireland final big celebration (in 2012)…he walked over and he had a big smile on him,' Rory says. 'I thought he was going to give me a hug, but he put his arm around me and whispered into my ear, 'See that song you wrote, it has my head melted!' 'Everybody was shouting it at him in the streets. It was this catchphrase that he didn't want. The good thing about it is that it really freaks out our opponents because they just think 'this guy is destined to win matches.' It's his own fault for having such a high-win ratio. 'It could be worse, it could be Jimmy's losing matches. As long as we win everybody's happy.'
