"Irish Son" is a pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 song written by Guy Chambers

Guy Chambers

Guy Chambers is an English songwriter and record producer, perhaps best known for his long partnership with Robbie Williams.- Biography :...

 and Brian McFadden

Brian McFadden

Brian Nicholas McFadden , is an Irish singer-songwriter who rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of the Irish boyband Westlife...

, and produced by Chambers and Paul Stacey

Paul Stacey

Paul Stacey is a British guitarist and producer, best known for his work with Oasis and The Black Crowes.Paul Stacey's early work included the 1990s band, The Lemon Trees and Denzil....

, for McFadden's first solo album, Irish Son

Irish Son

Irish Son is the debut solo album by Brian McFadden and was released on November 29, 2004. He worked on the album with Paul Barry, Guy Chambers and producer Mark Taylor.-Track listing:- External links :* - The Irish Son album fanlisting...

. It was released as the album's second single in the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 on November 22, 2004. The song was released following a large media build-up due to the success of his first single. However, the launch of the song was marred by controversy, when many radio stations and music channels banned the song and its accompanying music video due to the song's lyrical content, and the bad reflection focused on CBS schools in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. Elton John slammed the song's lyrical content when he reviewed the track in Time Out, claiming the song was "just horrible". With the bad press surrounding the song, it failed to become his second number-one in the UK, peaking at number six.

Track listing

UK CD1

1. "Irish Son" - 4:20 (Brian McFadden, Guy Chambers)
2. "Be True To Your Woman" - 3:46 (Brian McFadden, Guy Chambers)

UK CD2

1. "Irish Son" - 4:20 (Brian McFadden, Guy Chambers)
2. "Optimystik" - 4:13 (Brian McFadden, Paul Barry, Mark Taylor)
3. "Three Babies And A Man" - 3:42 (Brian McFadden, Graham Stack, Tim Woodcock)
4. "Irish Son" (Video)

Charts

Chart (2004)	Peak position
Ireland Singles Chart Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...	2
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	6
Chart (2005)	Peak position
New Zealand Singles Chart Recording Industry Association of New Zealand The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...	33

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...	November 22, 2004	Sony Music UK	CD CD single A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...	6754972
New Zealand New Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...	April 18, 2005	Sony BMG		6754872