This is not an official compilation. It is in my opinion, a reflective cross section of some of the man's best work. It should be of interest to anyone wanting an introduction to Christy Moore, or to the genre of Irish Traditional music.

His songs are entertaining, poetic, provocative and often controversial - the key ingredients for great music!

I was shocked by the lack of fame this man has achieved outside Ireland, and I hope you will join me in seeding this compilation in the hope of spreading the word of this man's genius.

Please comment on this compilation if you liked it, or you can think of any glaring omissions.

Tracklist;

1.	The Craic Was Ninety In The Isle of Man (Live in Dublin, 1979)
A nice up tempo song about a crowd of Dublin lads who go out drinking and end up on a boat to the Isle of Man. Shenanigans ensue.
 
2.	Delirium Tremens (Live at the Point, 1994)
A hilarious song Moore has written about his own personal struggle with alcohol abuse.

3.	Joxer Goes to Stuttgart (Live at the Point, 1994)
Song about the historic 1988 Irish victory over England in the European Soccer Championships.

4.	McIlhatton (Ride On, 1984)
A song about a poitín maker in the Glens of Antrim. Written by hunger striker and MP, Bobby Sands, in the maze prison and smuggled out on cigarette papers.

5.	The Reel in the Flickering Light (Ordinary Man, 1985) 
A fanciful song about anthropomorphised insects and animals. Christy has described this song as one that is ?not for the cynics?.

6.	Smoke & Strong Whiskey (Smoke & Strong Whiskey, 1991)
A powerful social commentary criticising both church and state.

7.	Viva La Quinta Brigada (Ride On, 1984)
About the Irish socialist volunteers who fought against Franco and the fascists during the Spanish Civil War.

8.	Aisling (Smoke & Strong Whiskey, 1991)
An up tempo song about separated lovers, lyrics by Shane MacGowan but the melody by Christy. He has said on his website ?I have never been happy with the result. A flawed tune and a great lyric?. Yer talking nonsense, Moore, you did a great job!

9.	Sacco and Vanzetti (The Time Has Come, 1983)
Tells the tale of two Italian-born American anarchists, who were arrested, tried, and executed via electrocution in Massachusetts for the charge of murder and theft. There is much controversy regarding their guilt.

10.	Spancil Hill (w/Shane McGowan) (RTÉ's Late Late Show, 1994)
This song is about Irish Emigration and was originally written in the Mid 19th Century, around the time of the Great Famine. This is a powerful version, with Shane McGowan, front man of the Pogues, and later the Popes.

11.	Back Home In Derry (Ride On, 1984) 
A song about a ship of prisoners bound for the British penal colony of Van Dieman's land (modern day Tasmania). The song was censored and subsequently banned at the time by RTÉ and the BBC because of its political overtones and the fact that it was written by prominent republican, Bobby Sands. In his book "One Voice: My life in Song" Christy writes that he first came across the song when "staying in a house in Derry after a H-block concert and a young lad recently released sang this song...despite it being banned it has entered the national repertoire and has been recorded by a thousand ballad bands and will long outlive its detractors and severest critics."

12.	A Stitch in Time (This Is The Day, 2001)
About a woman who cleverly seeks her revenge on her abusive, drunken husband.

13.	Burning Times (Burning Times, 2005)
About the church?s inquisitions, burning alleged ?witches? at the stake.

14.	Lakes Of Pontchartrain (The Time Has Come, 1983)
A poetic tale of unrequited love between and Irishman, and a New Orleans Creole girl.

15.	The City Of Chicago (Ride On, 1984)
Written by his brother and equally accomplished artist, Luka Bloom. Deals with those forced to emigrate.

16.	Go Move Shift (Live at the Point, 1994)
A protest song about the rights of the travelling people.

17.	Missing You (Live at the Point, 1994)
Set in the 1980s, a time when Ireland suffered massive unemployment rates, and young people were forced to emigrate to make a living. But they?ll ?never go home now because of the shame / Of a misfit's reflection in a shop window pane?.

18.	Only Our Rivers Run Free (The Time Has Come, 1983)
A beautiful rebel song about the continued British influence in Ireland.

19.	North and south of the river (Graffiti Tongue, 1996)
Originally written as a collaboration with U2, this is a powerful acoustic version of an anti-violence song about the divide in Ireland. Reminds me a lot of Paul Brady?s ?The Island?.

20.	Ride On (Ride On, 1984)
By now legendary love song written by Jimmy MacCarthy.

21.	Nancy Spain (Live at the Point, 1994)
Another evocative love song about separated lovers.

22.	Yellow Triangle (Graffiti Tongue, 1996)
Dealing with the Holocaust and the fact that "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing," (Edmund Burke). Superimposed yellow triangles, forming the Star of David, was the insignia Jews were forced to wear in the Nazi concentration camps.

23.	Black is the Colour (Live at the Point, 1994)
A version of the Scottish traditional love song.

24.	Little Musgrave (Planxty Live, 2004)
An old English ballad of an adulterous affair, words adapted by Christy and performed with his old band, Planxty.