2B EPiC

To provide everyone more context about who  or what SARi CONNECTiONS is, St Patrick's Day 2026 presented an opportunity ...
 
The other day, Allie came to me to share a beautiful moment that was shared on Instagram of Jesse (aka Subtronics) and his creative & iterative process that deeply resonated with me.

You see, when he seemingly reached a point where he had put a lot in and it still didn't feel right to him, he vocalizes his strong desire (or even need) for Sonya (aka Level Up). I could not help but appreciate how poetic this is considering her stage name and what our other halves often do for us when we sense there is a greater outcome enshrouded by elements of our current environment; but her kind, patient, loving support in the moment is not only admirable – it’s LEADERSHiP.

His request was effectively, “This does not feel epic enough or that it has a big enough ‘wow’ moment to me. What do you think?”  If I had to guess, I trust the committee in the room quickly ascended to a place where creativity cut through any fog or shroud in the way of reaching the presentable outcome … on brand. “Another’s day (and night’s) work.”

As I reflected more on the day, which included plans to see Tape B and Daily Bread, my playlist came to an epic version of "Rose" from Titanic influenced by Enya’s Caribbean Blue. The day before I had been reflecting on the science behind why some colors seemingly work better together than others. By the way, if you cross “rose pink” with cerulean or “Caribbean blue” you get “glacier gray.”

My brain was immediately (subconsciously) flooded with 3 things:

(1) The Score, a documentary where at the end (post credits) we learn that James Cameron created a special moment for the late James Horner by giving him the opportunity to work on the film and the environment of “safety” and completeness that is, in my experience, the formula for creative breakthroughs of artistic expression.

(2) How relevant it was to the conversation with Allie earlier RE: creative process, and a question:

(3) What is it about music that resonates with us as "EPiC" or any musical genetic phenotype?



I remembered this on Tue and decided to ask SARi to assist me in developing the idea further: “Hey SARi, what is the most epic Irish song or score from a movie? Patriot Games comes to mind. What does your world suggest?”

Here was the response:

If you mean most epic in feeling, my world goes first to “The Battle” from Braveheart (James Horner). It is not purely “traditional Irish,” but it carries that Celtic ache-and-lift quality in a huge cinematic way.

If you mean most Irish and most transporting, I would put these at the top:

1. “The Ludlows” — Legends of the Fall (James Horner)
Not Irish by title, but it has that sweeping Celtic soul. One of the most emotionally overwhelming scores ever written.

2. “Main Theme” / key cues from Patriot Games (James Horner)
Good instinct. It has tension, nobility, and that misty Celtic undercurrent.

3. “The Gravel Walks” — The Secret of Roan Inish
Less bombastic, more hauntingly Irish. Feels like sea, memory, ancestry.

4. “May It Be” / “Into the West” — The Lord of the Rings (Enya)
Not an Irish film, but Enya brings a distinctly Irish ethereal grandeur.

5. “The Foggy Dew” as used in films and trailers
Not a score, but for sheer Irish heroic sorrow, it is hard to beat.

6. Music from Michael Collins (Elliot Goldenthal, with traditional influence)
Powerful, mournful, political, proud.

7. The Last of the Mohicans theme / Clannad-adjacent Celtic atmosphere
Again, not Irish film music exactly, but often scratches the same epic-Celtic place.

My honest top 3 depending on what you want:

• Most epic cinematic: Braveheart — “The Battle”
• Most Irish-haunting: The Secret of Roan Inish
• Most beautiful Celtic sweep: “The Ludlows”
• 
  

And if you want one song outside film that feels almost untouchable:

• “Danny Boy”
• “The Parting Glass”
• “Siúil A Rún”

My single pick for you, based on mentioning Patriot Games:
“The Ludlows” — it feels like Irish memory turned into landscape.

I was floored. Those of you who know me well, know The Ludlows from Legends of the Fall and the theme from Last of the Mohicans are among my all-time favorites.

So I decided to pursue a deliverable that I could share with people this week related to the DNA of “next-level-style-celtic-musical-greatness”: 2 playlists, inspired by Daily Bread, Tape B, Artifacts, Subtronics, and Level Up.

Playlist I | TAPE A (rooted in film)

Think of this one as battle, sorrow, ascent, mystery, fall, epiphany, return.

1. “For the Love of a Princess” — James Horner, Braveheart
2. “The Battle” — James Horner, Braveheart
3. “The Ludlows” — James Horner, Legends of the Fall
4. “Main Title / Theme” — James Horner, Patriot Games
5. “Theme from Harry’s Game” — Clannad, Harry’s Game
6. “May It Be” — Enya, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
7. “Into the West” — Annie Lennox, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
8. “Concerning Hobbits” — Howard Shore, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
9. “The Gravel Walks” — The Secret of Roan Inish
10. “Siúil A Rún” — Celtic Woman / multiple screen uses
11. “Falling Slowly” — Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová, Once
12. “In the Name of the Father” — Bono & Gavin Friday, In the Name of the Father
13. “Lift the Wings” — Bill Whelan, Riverdance
14. “Riverdance” — Bill Whelan, Riverdance
15. “The Mystic’s Dream” — Loreena McKennitt, The Mists of Avalon / trailer-memory territory
16. “Dante’s Prayer” — Loreena McKennitt
17. “Now We Are Free” — Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard, Gladiator

It starts with clan-memory and open-field nobility, moves through political grief and mythic questing, then lands in transcendence. Horner is the emotional spine here; Clannad and Enya provide the mist and blood-memory; Whelan supplies ceremonial lift; Once and In the Name of the Father keep it human and historical.

Playlist II  | Tabe B (beyond film)

This one is less “scene-specific” and more soul-architecture: lament, flight, victory, defeat, illumination, haunting, fire.

1. “Theme from Harry’s Game” — Clannad
2. “I Will Find You” — Clannad
3. “Only Time” — Enya
4. “Orinoco Flow” — Enya
5. “De Selby (Part 1)” — Hozier
6. “Francesca” — Hozier
7. “Butchered Tongue” — Hozier
8. “First Light” — Hozier
9. “Riverdance” — Bill Whelan
10. “Lift the Wings” — Bill Whelan
11. “The Foggy Dew” — Sinéad O’Connor & The Chieftains
12. “The Parting Glass” — traditional
13. “Raglan Road” — Luke Kelly / traditional setting
14. “Siúil A Rún” — traditional
15. “Bonny Portmore” — Loreena McKennitt
16. “The Mystic’s Dream” — Loreena McKennitt
17. “Zombie” — The Cranberries

It moves from ancestral atmosphere to modern Irish myth-making, then into historic lament, then into songs that feel almost liturgical. Hozier belongs here because his recent work openly carries Irish language, mythic descent/ascent, and emotional grandeur; Clannad and Enya remain the purest bridge between traditional feeling and modern sound design.

My emotional map for the 17

Battle / will / charge
“The Battle,” “Riverdance,” “Francesca”

Sorrow / noble grief
“For the Love of a Princess,” “The Foggy Dew,” “Raglan Road,” “Bonny Portmore”

Mystery / mist / unseen worlds
“Theme from Harry’s Game,” “May It Be,” “The Mystic’s Dream”

Flight / ascent / spiritual opening
“Into the West,” “Lift the Wings,” “First Light”

Defeat / fracture / history’s wound
“Butchered Tongue,” “Zombie,” “The Parting Glass”

Epiphany / return / soul-recognition
“The Ludlows,” “Falling Slowly,” “Concerning Hobbits”

My single pick

If you asked me for one that best fuses epic-ness, profound feeling, and Celtic DNA, I would pick:

“Theme from Harry’s Game” — Clannad

Because it is not merely beautiful. It feels ancient, suspended, political, maternal, ghostly, and inevitable. It does what the greatest Irish/Celtic music does: it sounds like memory older than the listener. Clannad’s own history with the piece and the Belfast-set TV drama is part of why it carries that gravity.

If you wanted one cinematic instrumental, then:
“For the Love of a Princess.”

If you wanted one modern non-film piece, then:
“Butchered Tongue” or “Francesca,” depending on whether you want wound or fire. Hozier’s recent album tracklist is a strong sign of how deliberately he’s working in that mythic register.

The deeper curation logic:

What I think you are responding to is not just “Irishness.” It is a pattern:

• modal melancholy
• melody that rises as if through weather
• voice as invocation
• drone / sustained harmonic earth
• drums that feel tribal but dignified
• the marriage of grief and horizon

That is why Patriot Games came to you. Not because it is the most purely Irish score ever made, but because it touches that Celtic nerve of tension, nobility, exile, danger, and emotional fog-lit distance.

Horner was especially gifted (Legendary) at this kind of ache-to-lift architecture.

Happy belated St Patrick's Day y'all!

Enjoy!