In the 1960s, a new generation of dramatists made emigration a central theme in their work. John B Keane's musical play, Many Young Men of Twenty, debuted in 1961 with its rousing chorus in the title song – "many young men of twenty said goodbye"– becoming an Irish hit for the Dubliners. The group articulated the often brutal urban experience of Irishmen abroad in songs such as McAlpine's Fusiliers and Poor Paddy on the Railway, both about Irish labourers in England.