There wasn’t one real Eileen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At least not in the straightforward way many listeners assume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For years, Dexys frontman Kevin Rowland told people that Eileen had been his childhood girlfriend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He later admitted the character was actually a composite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She represented the girls he had been attracted to while growing up in a conservative Irish Catholic environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The song is about youthful desire colliding with guilt and social expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is considerably more interesting than a simple romantic tribute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not as one clearly identifiable person behind the entire song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rowland has explained that he combined memories and emotions from adolescence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The character allows him to describe a particular experience:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
being attracted to someone while feeling that the attraction itself is somehow forbidden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The name gives those memories one fictional identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eileen becomes the person representing an entire period of Rowland’s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rowland grew up in Britain in an Irish Catholic family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He has spoken about the restrictions and guilt surrounding sexuality during his upbringing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Romantic desire wasn’t something openly discussed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That created an uncomfortable contradiction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was developing entirely normal teenage feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the cultural and religious environment made those feelings seem inappropriate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCome On Eileen\u201d turns that tension into a remarkably joyful recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Desire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wanting to escape the limitations around you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The song isn’t simply asking Eileen to begin a romantic relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also imagines two people refusing to become like the exhausted adults surrounding them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is a crucial part of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The young characters see people who appear defeated by ordinary life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They don’t want the same future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a few minutes, they believe they can escape it together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because Dexys use musical energy to transform frustration into release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Violins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rhythmic changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Communal vocals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Folk influences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The recording sounds almost like a spontaneous celebration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But underneath that celebration sits a desire to escape restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That’s the clever part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The music gives the characters the freedom they are asking for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The introduction references an older Irish-American musical tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then the main arrangement arrives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dexys were combining styles that didn’t obviously belong together in mainstream early-1980s pop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Irish folk influences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fiddle-led arrangements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rowland’s distinctive vocal delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The record initially feels as though several different songs have collided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then everything locks together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An American popular singer who achieved major success during the 1950s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The opening of \u201cCome On Eileen\u201d references him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That matters because Rowland is placing the song inside a longer musical and cultural history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The older generation had its emotional pop stars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now a younger generation wants its own moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reference helps establish the distance between the world Rowland grew up in and the world he wants to create.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not exactly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Irish folk influence is central.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dexys were a British band drawing from multiple traditions, including soul and Celtic instrumentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That mixture was highly distinctive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most mainstream synth-pop of the early 1980s sounded increasingly electronic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dexys went in another direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Violins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Acoustic rhythm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Communal singing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And an enormous chorus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Too-Rye-Ay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Released in 1982.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The album represented a significant stylistic change for Dexys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their earlier material had been strongly associated with soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Too-Rye-Ay placed more emphasis on fiddle-led arrangements and Irish musical influences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCome On Eileen\u201d became the international breakthrough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It reached No. 1 in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also topped the Billboard Hot 100 in America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That remains particularly significant because Dexys did not achieve another comparable US hit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group became a classic example of a band that had a much broader career at home but was remembered internationally for one gigantic song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dexys have returned to public attention with new music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kevin Rowland has recently been discussing the band’s legacy and its forthcoming album Love, which explores different forms of love and reflects on his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That makes this a useful moment to revisit the record most casual listeners associate with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rather than another generic anniversary article, the Eileen question provides a clear reason for younger listeners to discover the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Soul-pop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Celtic-influenced pop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New wave, in its broader historical context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But none of those descriptions fully explains the recording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The distinctive quality comes from the combination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dexys made traditional-sounding instrumentation behave like an enormous contemporary pop single.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dexys \u2013 Geno<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Waterboys \u2013 The Whole of the Moon<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pogues \u2013 A Pair of Brown Eyes<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Levellers \u2013 One Way<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Housemartins \u2013 Happy Hour<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Madness \u2013 Our House<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Proclaimers \u2013 I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Specials \u2013 A Message to You Rudy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because it sounds like a straightforward romantic invitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The melody is so energetic that listeners often focus on the chorus rather than the social context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rowland’s later explanation makes the writing much more personal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eileen represents the desire to escape a restrictive environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not merely one woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A composite character inspired by Kevin Rowland’s adolescence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The song captures his experience of attraction, guilt and the desire for freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It became a worldwide hit because the emotional release is universal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You don’t need to have grown up Irish Catholic to understand wanting something you’re told you shouldn’t want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dexys simply made that feeling sound like the greatest party in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There wasn’t one real Eileen. At least not in the straightforward way many listeners assume. For years, Dexys frontman Kevin Rowland told people that Eileen had been his childhood girlfriend. He later admitted the character was actually a composite. She represented the girls he had been attracted to while growing up in a conservative Irish Catholic environment. The song is about youthful desire colliding with guilt and social expectations. That is considerably more interesting than a simple romantic tribute. Was Eileen Kevin Rowland’s girlfriend? Not as one clearly identifiable person behind the entire song. Rowland has explained that he combined…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2296,3020,2659],"coauthors":[2],"class_list":["post-4920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-about","tag-come-on-eileen","tag-who"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n