Phil Lynott

Directed by fellow Dubliner Emer Reynolds, Songs For While I'm Away pays tribute to its subject with care and artistry.

Sadly, bad luck and bad behavior would make it their only hit in the States, though they remained a popular live attraction. The hippy vibes of their early work were traded in for hard-edged hard rock and their dueling single string work would be copied by legions of metal bands to come. Thin Lizzy first hit the charts with 1972’s “Whiskey In A Jar,” a remake of a traditional Irish song their manager convinced them to cover. Though Lynott landed in a large loving household, he faced prejudice being, “the only black kid in Ireland,” in the words of Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham. As a lyricist, Lynott drew from Ireland’s rich literary tradition, from the myths of antiquity to the poets and playwrights of the modern era, often delivered in a conversational manner, as if you were sitting next to him down the pub. It should also be noted that, in fact, none of their faces are carved into the side of a mountain in Ireland.