I'm Shipping Up to Boston
| "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Dropkick Murphys | |
| from the album The Warrior's Code | |
| Released | 2005 |
| Genre | Celtic punk |
| Length | 2:33 |
| Label | Hellcat Records |
| Writer(s) |
Woody Guthrie (lyrics) Dropkick Murphys (A. Barr, K. Casey,M. Kelly, J. Lynch & M. Orrell (music) |
| Producer(s) | David Bianco |
"I'm Shipping Up to Boston" is a song with lyrics written by the folk singer Woody Guthrie, music written by A. Barr, K. Casey, M. Kelly, J. Lynch and M. Orrell and performed by the Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys. It appeared on their certified gold selling 2005 album, The Warrior's Code. An earlier recording of it can be found on the Hellcat Records compilation Give 'Em the Boot: Vol. 4. The song gained world-wide attention along with boosting the band's popularity for its use in the 2006 Academy Award-winning Best Picture, The Departed and the soundtrack for the film.
The lyrics from the song were taken from a fragment of paper that the band found whilst looking through Woody Guthrie's archives, the Dropkick Murphys put music to the lyrics as they also did with the song "Gonna Be A Blackout Tonight" from the 2003 album "Blackout".
The single is the band's most successful to date and was certified double platinum. It reached #1 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart and sold over 1,044,000 digital copies without ever entering the Hot 100 chart.
The video features the Dropkick Murphys performing the song on the waterfront in East Boston. The band is also seen "hanging out" with hooligans while being chased by Boston police officers. The song's simple lyrics describe a sailor who had lost a leg climbing the topsail, and is shipping up to Boston to "find my wooden leg."
A small Facebook meme grew up after Wisconsin State Representative and Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly Jeff Fitzgerald reportedly used the song during the 2012 Wisconsin Republican Convention in Green Bay. This usage prompted the band to release the following statement on Facebook:
We just got word that Wisconsin State Rep and Speaker of the State Assembly Jeff Fitzgerald used "Shipping Up to Boston" as his walk-on song yesterday at the Wisconsin GOP Convention in Green Bay.
...
Wikipedia