Kae Tempest<\/a>, the band\u2019s M\u00f3gla\u00ed Bap \u2013 real name Naoise \u00d3 Caireall\u00e1in \u2013 took to social media to share that he wrote the lyrics following the death of his mother in 2020, and his struggle to come to terms with the \u201creality of what has happened\u201d.<\/p>\nHe began the post by saying he \u201cnever meant to write a song\u201d about her passing, and adding that he and his brother recently watched a documentary about his father in the \u201890s \u2013 at the time when he was president of the democratic forum for the Irish-speaking community, Conradh na Gaeilge \u2013 which was \u201cthe first time I saw my Ma in a video\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was happy,\u201d Bap wrote, adding that seeing her like that \u201chad a profound effect on me\u201d and left him feeling \u201cso emotional\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sharing details of her death, the rapper recalled writing a song about her before, 2020\u2019s \u2018MAM\u2019, which he wrote at the time when \u201cshe was sick at the time with depression\u201d.<\/p>\n
\n<\/blockquote>\n\u201cThe idea I had in my head with \u2018MAM\u2019 was, if I wrote it, she\u2019d hear it, and maybe she\u2019d feel her worth, because when you suffer from depression, you can\u2019t see your own value,\u201d he continued. \u201cAt that time, we went for a walk and I told her I had written a song for her, but that it wasn\u2019t completely finished yet, so I\u2019d wait until the next week to play it for her. But by then it was too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSuicide is hard. And when someone is sick with depression and dies by suicide, it\u2019s hard to remember the good moments. You get caught up in the dark times,\u201d he continued, adding that \u2018Irish Goodbye\u2019 is about \u201cthe mundane things me and my Ma did together\u201d as he \u201cnever realised it was the day to day stuff I would miss when she was gone\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all the small things that you miss. Watching that footage of her and writing this song, unlocked a part of my brain that gave me the opportunity to override the constant sad memories. It allowed me visualise happier times, instead of being so angry at the world,\u201d the post read, also sharing that the music was written by producer owner Dan Carey, and sees Tempest deliver \u201csomething so vulnerable and emotional\u201d.<\/p>\n
Bap went on to share how he found it \u201chard to confront the reality of what has happened\u201d, and battling with conflicting feelings of anger, shame and guilt as he navigated this \u201cspecific kind of grief\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou feel like you\u2019re carrying this weird other burden\u2026 It\u2019s a very hard conversation to have. Who the fuck wants to talk about it, really? Death is depressing enough,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we need to talk about it, because we have to alleviate that extra burden of shame and guilt on top of the burden of grief. You can\u2019t change what happened. You\u2019re not necessarily able to save people from themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n