Deffrwch Cymru: Welsh language music is for life – not just one day of the year

Stephen Price

Once a year, every year, Wales ‘celebrates’ Welsh Language Music day. I say celebrate, but it’s mostly just a few online posts and a Welsh Gov photo op.

Earnest press releases brimming with positivity, platforming, and praise are filled with good intention, and of course the aim is to sow seeds not just make it about the one day, but outside of a very niche bubble and a brief takeover of our social media feeds, let’s face it – it’s not breaking through to the uninitiated.

Take this one: “Dydd Miwsig Cymru returns this year on February 13th to celebrate the incredible diversity and creativity of the Welsh language music scene. From the soaring melodies of indie-folk and the raw energy of punk to the cutting-edge beats of electronic and urban genres, the event proves that language is no barrier to great music.

“As audiences increasingly listen beyond English-language songs, ‘Cymraeg pop’ is having a moment. Discovery-led listening, where how music feels matters more than understanding every word, is now a defining force in global pop culture.

“Whether you are a lifelong fluent speaker, a learner, or someone who has never heard a word of Welsh before, Dydd Miwsig Cymru invites everyone to discover their new favourite artist and experience the vibrant soundtrack of modern Wales.”

Again, all very earnest, and I’m the first to shout from the rooftops about the joy and diversity and downright brilliance of the Welsh music scene(s) but let’s be honest – for most of English speaking Wales, and indeed the wider world, it’s business as usual.

The other 364 (365 in a leap year before I’m told off by commenters – they’ll find something, they always do) – not a selsig.

And if there is a mention? Britpop era chart toppers if we’re lucky, Adwaith or Gwenno if we’re really being spoiled.

Yes, the Manics and Furries are incredible, yes I still play Catatonia CDs like they were only released yesterday, but a lot has happened since – and a hell of a lot in the Welsh language – and a lot continues to happen every day of every year, but we’re too busy listening to / being forced to listen to Radio 2, Heart, Capital, Smooth and the like. Or many of us have simply tuned out of the rot that just doesn’t resonate any more.

Speaking to a friend from Greece who came to Cardiff to study medicine back in my early twenties, he made a cutting remark about most Welsh people he’d encountered not being any different to the English people he’d previously worked and studied with.

Besides the use of ‘cwtch’ by some of the patients at the hospital, he (apparently) couldn’t feel much of a difference around him when in Cardiff.

Naturally, I gave a crash course in Welsh history, culture, language and the like, but in his day to day life that only went on to provide context, not lived experience.

Giving back

I’m not one for social engineering, but would it hurt for even a smattering of mandatory Welsh language use on all stations based in Wales? Just a few, come on? Am I asking too much? Probably.

If that’s not possible then, what about the ‘tastemakers’ who have taste fed to them by English and American chart toppers past and present actually looking a little closer to home for their music?

Surely, the hidden passion behind anyone working in the arts is to give a leg-up, or to be a Trojan Horse? But no, it’s the same soulless chart music being played in Basildon, Skegness and Y Barri. No wonder my Greek friend didn’t feel much Welshness around him.

Dafydd Owain, in conversation with Nation Cymru shared his musings on the importance of culture for keeping Welsh language and identity alive. He said: “I was chatting with a Welsh-language tutor recently who said most of their class were there because of the national team’s success. Ian Gwyn Hughes is a genius and would make an incredible First Minister in my books.

“Part of me thinks that this spirit—the spirit of positivity in ‘Welshness’, has spilled over into the minds of Wales’ musicians and songwriters.

“It’s as if artists and bands aren’t afraid of singing in the language anymore—as if they don’t see it as restricting their popularity, aren’t afraid of ‘getting it grammatically correct’ and even see it as a bit of a USP.

“Whatever their motivation to sing in Welsh or just simply claim a Welsh identity, it’s a joy to watch.

“I can’t put my finger on it but I do think the Welsh ‘identity’ is getting broader and maybe at its heart is a sort of ‘anti-whatever-is-now’. And maybe ‘Welshness’ is a great way of rebelling against the ‘now’. Whatever all this is, it looks as if it’s ticking boxes for people.”

He also touched on something that Welsh music, and musicians, and anywhere playing music in Wales needs to pay attention to, adding: “But I think it’s also worth addressing a certain elephant in the room in all of this which ties back to the question in hand—why do we even base Welsh ‘success’ on English merit? Isn’t it odd? Sometimes when I think about the ‘Cool Cymru’ thing it feels like a bit of a patronising English-media led thing-a-majig.

“I believe, if there ever was a ‘Cool Cymru 2.0’, it should definitely park the idea of Welsh success being an English decision. In a weird way, Cool Cymru 2.0 is here, and it’s in Wales—and that’s cooler.”

Growing future learners

Welsh music and film, certainly in my case anyway, was a factor in my desire to learn Welsh and to then take it to A Level and my undergraduate degree.

So without giving our own people that access, what future are we denying many others who could and should be at least aware of the beauty of the dragon’s two tongues.

Plaid Cymru’s Beca Brown, whose parents moved to Wales from England, shared her experience of how Welsh music has been the catalyst for many people she’s encountered becoming new Welsh speakers. She shared: “We soon began attending Sesiwn Fawr Dolgellau as a family, and hearing live folk music at a relatively young age instilled in me a love of the genre, as well as a fascination with the past lives of the Welsh werin bobl that so often feature in our traditional songs.

“As I hit my mid-teens, the Sîn Roc Gymraeg quickly grabbed my attention, leading to long coach trips to gigs in Corwen with a stash of purple Mad Dog. Bands like Datblygu, Traddodiad Ofnus, and Gorky’s were the soundtrack to my formative years, and the loss of David R. Edwards in 2021 reminded me once again what a gift Datblygu has been to the world.

“Welsh music has played a huge part in many people’s journeys to Welshness, and when I later found myself working with Welsh learners, I lost count of how many new speakers had first encountered the language through a band or a song.”

What are we waiting for?

If you’ve got a Welsh shop, bar, restaurant and want Welsh folk and visitors from the rest of the UK and the world to ‘feel’ Welshness, Welsh culture and Welsh language around them, simply switch the radio on, or stream Welsh language music.

Imagine just stepping into a cafe in Wales and hearing Welsh as the norm.

Or a charity shop, a supermarket, a pub, or vets.. you name it.

We’re missing out on an entire world of extraordinary music that is just waiting to be plundered. And we’re letting our young up and coming musicians down by hiding their talents from new audiences.

A world of music that is so extraordinarily good, varied, and reflective of the Welsh experience in ways no other culture can offer.

So let’s not wait for Welsh Language Music Day to not only support our Welsh creatives, but to actually stand up for ourselves – our language and our culture – and show the world how diverse, thriving and brilliant our culture really is.

A change is well overdue. It’s time Cymru sang with its own voices again – all of them, and not just some.

Deffrwch Cymru cysglyd gwlad y gân.

Deffrwch!

Listen to the regularly updated Nation Cymru Playlist here

Listen to BBC Radio Cymru and Radio Cymru 2

Get new recommendations from PYST on Facebook and Instagram – a constant source of excellent new music from Wales.

Search ‘Welsh music playlist’ on Google, streaming services and YouTube