“She Moved Through The Fair” is a classic Irish folk song, and by that I mean it’s about a man losing something that he cares about. Whether it be a woman, his life, or his drink an Irish man tends to end up sad.
Although there could be different interpretations a popular one is that “She Moved Through The Fair” is about a woman who leaves her fiancé even though she promised him that “It will not be long, love, till our wedding day.” She actually leaves during the second verse and never returns to her fiancé, except in the last verse but only as a dream.
It’s very interesting that this song was chosen for that specific scene in Michael Collins. They may have wanted to convey through the song that Michael was like the young woman who, even though he has promised his love they will be married, will not fulfill his promise. It especially helps that his assassination is juxtaposed alongside Kitty buying a wedding dress. Also the fact that Sinead O’Connor switched the pronouns around so that it was a women singing about a man who would leave her further justifies the theory.
(Stills of Liam Neeson and Ian Hart, and Julia Roberts in Michael Collins)
Collins’ assassination scene also gives us a look into how they wanted the audience to perceive him. They give him a truly tragic ending with a sad song playing in the background and they show scenes with someone who is supposed to be his future wife. The director obviously wanted him to be perceived as a tragic hero who was taken before his time. By adding this song to the scene he heightens that idea because it reminds the audience that Kitty is losing someone she loves and it draws on the collective feeling we all have because everyone has lost someone that we love.
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Citations:
“She Moved through the Fair, Traditional Irish Song.” Irish Music Daily. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2016.