The Morning Light

Well I meant to call you just before I left to go away
But I guess you knew that's what I'd say by now
Sure I'm never sure of when it's the proper time of day
Since we never get together anyhow

Refrain:
It was really nice to watch the candle through a glass of wine
Dreaming dreams together when the quiet night was yours and mine
Just a pair of fools wrapped up in soft light dancing from the fire
Till the morning light whispers in the sky

I keep thinking that you saw me in the park the other day
When I have the time I go to where we met
When I'm on the road I see you in a crowd by the way
It's gonna take some time before I can forget

(Refrain)

There's a party for some friends we both know when I'm back in town
Do you think that you can get there for a while?
We were never meant to happen, still that doesn't mean to say
We can't share a glass and look back with a smile

(Refrain)

(Refrain)

I keep thinking that you saw me in the park the other day
When I have the time I go to where we met
When I'm on the road I see you in a crowd by the way
It's gonna take some time before I can forget

(Refrain)

Dirty Old Town

I met my love by the gasyard wall
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town, dirty old town

Clouds are drifting across the moon
Cats are prowling on their beat
O swings a girl through the streets at night
Dirty old town, dirty old town

I heard a siren from the docks
Saw a train set the night on fire
I smelt the spring through the smoky mist
Dirty old town, dirty old town

I'm going to make me a good sharp axe
Shining steel tempered in the fire
Gonna chop you down like an old dead tree
Dirty old town, dirty old town

I met my love by the gasyard wall
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town, dirty old town

Pretty Boy Floyd

Come gather round me people, a story I will tell
'Bout Pretty Boy Floyd the outlaw, Oklahoma knew him well
Twas in the town of Shawnee on a saturday afternoon
His wife beside him in the truck as into town they rode

A deputy approached him in a mannere rather rude
Using vulgar words and language, his wife she overheard
Pretty Boy grabbed a long chain, the deputy grabbed his gun
And in the fight that followed he laid the deputy down

He took to the woods and mountains, Canadian rivers shore
He found a welcome at each and every door
He took to the woods and mountains, lived a life of shame
Every frame in Oklahoma was added to his name

Now many a starving farmer, the story it is told,
How Pretty Boy paid the mortgage and he saved their little homes
Many a story told how he came to beg a meal
And underneath the napkin left a twenty dollar bill

Around the world I rambled, meet all kinds of men
Some rob you with their six-gun, some with a fountain pen
Around the world I rambled, around the world I roamed,
I've yet to see an outlaw drive a family from their home

Around the world I rambled, meet all kinds of men
Some rob you with their six-gun, some with a fountain pen
Around the world I rambled, around the world I roamed,
I've yet to see an outlaw drive a family from their home

Shawl of Galway Grey

...when in silence brokenhearted I went from you away
The dawn was breaking oer Glenroe that stole my heart away
And a last fond look I got of you in your shawl of Galway grey

O I've seen the silks and laces, and well they look and show
Beneath the pretty faces of gentle girls I know
But there's a secret I'll confide, I'll leave them all today
To meet you on a green hillside in your shawl of Galway grey

O the sky is darkening as of yore, the sky is grey and blue
And the dawn outside your father's door keeps watch and waits for you
But all I wish for is Glenroe, my homeland far away
And life and health beside you in your shawl of Galway grey

M It Stands for Mary

My name is Pat O'Connell, from England here I came
I just came oer among you to learn my proper name
The girls I left behind me, they were so tall and free
But of all the girls throughout this world, give an Irish girl to me

Refrain:
So M it stands for Mary, and J it stands for Joan
P it stands for Paddy's land, the land where I was born
S is for the shamrock green, as plain as you can see
But of all the girls throughout this world, give an Irish girl to me

I took a trip to Germany, twas just the other day,
To see some of those German girls I heard the people say
They had not the smiling face, only then could I agree
I told them keep their German girls, give an Irish girl to me

(Refrain)

So to conclude and finish, you've heard my little song
I'll sing for you some other day, when round this way I call
I'm going back to that wee spot, you all know where I mean
I'm going to where that colleen fair in that little isle of green

(Refrain)

The Rare Ould Times

Raised on songs and stories, heroes of renown,
The passing tales and glories, that once was Dublin town
Hallowed halls and houses, haunting children's rhymes,
That once was part of Dublin in the Rare Ould Times

Refrain:
Ring a ring a rosie, as the light declines,
I remember Dublin City in the Rare Ould Times

My name it is Sean Dempsey, as Dublin as can be
Born hard and late in Pimlico, in a house that's ceased to be
By trade I was a cooper, lost out to redundancy
Like my house that fell to progress, my trade's a memory

(Refrain)

Courted Peggy Diggan, as friggy as can be
O a rogue and child of Mary for the rebel Liberties
She's taken by a student chap, with skin as black as coal
O he took her up to Birmingham, she took away my soul

(Refrain)

Years have made me bitter, the gargle dims me brain
And Dublin keeps on changing, nothing stays the same
(?) and the Met have gone, the Royal long since pulled down
And the grey unyielding concrete makes a city of my town

(Refrain)

Fare thee well, Liffey, I can no longer stay
And watch those new glass cages swing up along the quay
My mind's too full of memories, too old to hear new chimes
I'm a part of what was Dublin in the Rare Ould Times

(Refrain)

With Me Navvy Boots On

I am a young navvy and I work on the line
And the last place I stopped was Newcastle-on-Tyne
I'll tell me misfortune that happened in fun
And it happened one night with me navvy boots on

One night after supper we shaved off me beard
For to meet me fair Ellen I was well prepared
For to meet me fair Ellen I then hurried down
I met her that night with me navvy boots on

I knocked on her window, me knock it was low
I knocked on her window, me knock she did know
And she jumped out of bed crying, Is that you John?
--Ah, bejaybers it's me with me navvy boots on

She opened the door and invited me in
Saying, pull up to the fire, love, and warm your skin
Well the bedroom was open and the blankets rolled down
So I jumped into bed with me navvy boots on

Well all that night long sure we sported and played
Never thinking of time as it soon passed away
Then she jumped out of bed crying, What have I done?
Ah, the baby will be born with its navvy boots on

I chastised me loved one for talking so wild
Ah, me lovely young girl, you'll neer have a child
Ah, for all that I done now twas only in fun
Ah, but I ran like hell with me navvy boots on

Well very soon after I was summonsed to court
For to pay for me sins just like any man ought
I pay ten bob a week now for all of my fun
Ah, but I had that night with me navvy boots on

The Ould Triangle

O a hungry feelin came oer me stealin
And the mice were squealin in my prison cell
And the ould triangle went jingle jangle
All along the banks of the royal canal

Now in the mornin as (?) was fallin
--Get up ye bowsie and clean out your cell
And the ould triangle went jingle jangle
All along the banks of the royal canal

Now the land lay sleepin and big Gussie was creepin
As I lay there dreamin of my girl Sal
And the ould triangle went jingle jangle
All along the banks of the royal canal

Now up in that female prison there are seventy-five women
And among those women I'd long to dwell
And the ould triangle went jingle jangle
All along the banks of the royal canal

Now in the name of Jaysus will you rise my wages
From fifteen shillings to two pounds ten
And the ould triangle went jingle jangle
All along the banks of the royal canal

The Mermaid

It was friday morn when we set sail
We were not far from the land
Our captain he spied a fishy mermaid
With a comb and a glass in her hand

Refrain:
And the ocean waves do roll
The stormy winds do blow
And we poor sailors are skipping up on deck
While the landlubbers lie down below, below, below
While the landlubbers lie down below

And up spoke the cabinboy of our gallant ship
A nice young lad was he
He said, I have a girl in Salem by the sea
And tonight she'll be crying for me

(Refrain)

And up spoke the cook of our gallant ship
And a crazy old butcher was he
He said, I care more for me pots and me pans
Than I do for the bottom of the sea

(Refrain)

Now three times round spun our gallant ship
And three times round spun she
Now three times round spun our gallant ship
And she sank to the bottom of the sea

(Refrain)

O yes and we poor sailors are skipping up on deck
While the landlubbers lie down below, below, below
While the landlubbers lie down below

Marge

Let me tell ye 'bout me girlfriend Marge
Six foot four she's somewhat large
She's got an arse like a river (?) barge
She's got a face like a mountain crag

I take Margie out to tea
O the people wonder openly
What a handsome looking guy like me
Is doing with a fatty old bag

Then I whisper in her ear
This is what I hear:

Refrain:
Ah don't do this, don't do that, O baby
Ah ya know what it does to me, it drives me crazy
And if you keep on doing this to me then maybe
I'll lose control and really blow your mind

Marge may be a fatty old scrubber
O sixteen stone full of lard and blubber
Boys o boys, she's some lover
That I can testify

She gets goin, there aint no stoppin
O the chips are chippin and the drawers are droppin
Boys o boys, all hell's a-poppin
Fur and the feathers fly

Then I stroke her thigh
And she will sigh

(Refrain)

Now if your girlfriend says good-night
If she acts as cool as ice
Fellas, take some of my advice
Get someone like Marge

She'll get down to your old Seattle
She'll tumble down on your rear tassle
Give you all the loving that you can handle
At no extra charge

And it won't be long
Till you hear her moan

(Refrain)

(Refrain)

Four Strong Winds

Think I'll go out to (?)
(?) there in the fall
Got some friends that I can go workin for
But I wish you'd change your mind
If I ask you one more time
But we've been through that a hundred times or more

Refrain:
Four strong winds that blow lowly
Seven seas that run high
All the things that don't change, come what may
For the good times are all gone
I'm bound for moving on
I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way

If I get there before the snow flies
And things are looking good
You can meet me if I send you down the fare
But by then it will be winter
And a lot for you to do
And the cold cold wind blows way down there

(Refrain)

Four strong winds

Finnegan's Wake

Well Tim Finnegan lived in Walkin Street
A gentleman Irish mighty odd
Well he had a brogue both rich and sweet
And to rise in the world he carried a hod
Ah but Tim had a bit of a tippling way
With a love of liquor he was born
And to send him off to his work each day
He'd a drop of the creature every morn

Refrain:
Whack fol the doddle, dance to your partners
Round the floor your trotters shake
Isn't it the truth I told you?--
Lots of fun at Finnegan's wake

Well one morning Tim was rather full
His head felt heavy, which made him shake
He fell off the ladder and he broke his skull
And they carried him home his corpse to wake
Well they wrapped him up in a nice clean sheet
And they laid him out upon the bed
With a bottle of whiskey at his feet
And a barrel of porter at his head

(Refrain)

Well his friends assembled at the wake
And Mrs Finnegan called for lunch
Well first they brought in tay and cakes
Then pipes, tobacco and brandy punch
Then the widow Malone began to cry
--Such a lovely corpse did ye ever see?
Arrah, Tim avourneen why did ye die?
--Ah, hold your gob says Paddy McGee

(Refrain)

Well Mrs Murphy took up the job
--Ah, Biddy, says she, you're wrong I'm sure
Ah Biddy hit her a belt in the gob
And she left her sprawling on the floor
Well civil war did then engage
Woman to woman and man to man
Shillelagh law was all the rage
And a row and a ruction soon began

(Refrain)

Well Tim Malone he ducked his head
As a bottle of whiskey flew at him
It missed him, landing on the bed
The whiskey scattered over Tim
Ah bedam now boys now see how he rises
Tim Finnegan rising in the bed
Saying, Throwing your whiskey around like blazes
Flutthering Jesus, d'ye think I'm dead?

(Refrain)

(Refrain)

The Guard

O a comical genius was thinking one day
How he'd jack up his job and receive handy pay
He did not like begging and work was too hard
So he got a bright notion to join up the guard
Diddly-i-dum diidly-i-dum diddly-i-dum dum day

Well he went up to Dublin, to the depot went in
Got a new suit of blue as bright as new pins
They drilt him, they drilt him, they drilt him so hard
The old sergeant proclaimed him a full fledged guard
Diddly-i-dum diidly-i-dum diddly-i-dum dum day

He was stationed somewhere near the town of Athy
On the roads of the district he kept a close eye
The girls they admired him as all brassers do
Fell in love with the guard and his new suit of blue
Diddly-i-dum diidly-i-dum diddly-i-dum dum day

Well the girls they would wink and they'd nod as he passed
O but this itchy guard had his eye on one lass
And this little colleen, she being a die-hard,
She made it quite clear that she wanted no guard
Diddly-i-dum diidly-i-dum diddly-i-dum dum day

Well one time while on duty on a cold winter's night
Sure he caught her out cycling without any light
Where's your light, miss? says he; for an answer says she,
It's next to me liver, where you'll never be
Diddly-i-dum diidly-i-dum diddly-i-dum dum day

Daddy Didn't Like Me

...And now she's taking leave of me today
And her ould fella didn't like me anyway

Refrain:
Daddy never knew just what she saw in me
Daddy didn't like me hair (or me arse or me chin or me head)
After we'd have thought he might have seen something in me
Daddy didn't really care -- no!

To tell the truth, I didn't have the nerve
O I know I only got what I deserve
And now she's taking leave of me today
And her ould lad he didn't like me anyway

(Refrain)

To tell the truth, I didn't have the nerve
O I know I only got what I deserve
And now she's taking leave of me today
And her ould fella he didn't like me anyway

?

They gave him his orders (?) to kill
(...)

Liverpool Town

Refrain:
O I wish I was back in Liverpool
Liverpool town where I was born
Where there aint no trees, no scented breeze,
No fields of waving corn
Where there's lots of girls with peroxide curls
And the black and tan flows free
Where there's six in a bed by the old pier head
And it's Liverpool town for me

Now tis seven long years since I've wandered away
To sail the wide sea oer
I took me a trip on an old steamship
That was bound for Baltimore
I was seven days sick, I just could not stick
That bobbing up and down
And I told him, Jack, you'd better turn back
For dear old Liverpool town

(Refrain)

Now there's every race and color of face
There's every kind of name
But the pigeons on the pier head
Sure they treat you all the same
If you walk on over Parliament Street
You'll see faces black and brown
And they've also seen them orange and green
In dear old Liverpool town

(Refrain)

Whiskey in the Jar

As I was going over the far Kilgannon mountains
I met with Captain Farrell and his money he was countin
I first produced me pistol, I then produced me rapier
Said, Stand and deliver, for I am your bold deceiver

Refrain:
Wisha ring tum a doo tum a da, whack for the daddy o
Whack for the daddy o, there's whiskey in the jar

Well I counted out his money and it made a pretty penny
I shoved it up me arsehole and I brought it home to Jenny
She sighed and she swore she never would deceive me
And the devil take the women for they never can be easy

(Refrain)

I went up to me chamber all for to take a slumber
I took the gold and jewelricks and sure for it was no wonder
Jenny drew me charges and filled them up with water
And sent for Captain Farrell to be ready for the slaughter

(Refrain)

Twas early in the morning, before I rose to travel
Up come a band of footmen and likewise Captain Farrell
I first produced me pistol, I then produced me rapier
Said, Stand and deliver, for I am your bold deceiver

(Refrain)

Now some men take delight in the carriages a-rolling
Others take delight in the hurley and the bowling
Me I take delight in the juice of the barley
And courting pretty farmmaids in the morning bright and early

(Refrain)

Now if anyone can aid me go roaming in Kilkenny
I know it is me brother and me only sportin Jenny
I know he'll go with me, we'll go to Kilkenny
I know it is me brother and only sportin Jenny

(Refrain)

(Refrain)

Farewell to Nova Scotia

The sun was setting in the west
And the birds were singing in every tree
All nature seemed inclined for to rest
But alas there was no rest for me

Refrain:
Farewell to Nova Scotia your seabound coast
Let your mountains dark and dreary be
And when I'm far away, on the briny ocean tossed
Would you ever heave a sigh or a wish for me?

I'm grieved to leave my native land
And I'm grieved to leave my comrades all
And my poor aged parents I love so much
And the bonnie bonnie lassie that I adore

(Refrain)

The drums do beat, the wars do alarm
When the captain's calling we must obey
So farewell farewell my Nova Scotia home
For it's early in the morning and I must away

(Refrain)

I have two brothers now there I'll trust
And their arms are folded across their breast
But the poor simple sailor just like me
Must be tossed and left on the deep blue sea

(Refrain)

(Refrain)

Raglan Road

Raglan Road, on an autumn day
I met her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare
That I might one day rue
I saw the danger and I passed
Along the enchanted way
And I said, Let grief be a fallen leaf
At the dawning of the day

On Grafton Street in November
We slipped lightly along the ledge
On a deep ravine where can be seen
The worth of passion pledge
The queen of hearts still making tarts
And I not making hay
O I loved too much and besought by such
Is happiness thrown away

Gave her gifts of the mines
I gave her the secret sign
That's known to the artists who have known
The true god of sound and stone
And wood and tint without stint
Gave her poems to say
With her own name there and her own dark hair
And her glance over fields of May

On a quiet street where old ghosts meet
I see her walking now
Away from me so hurriedly
My reason must allow
That's as I would, not as I should
A creature made of clay
When the angel wooed the clay he'd lose
His wings at the dawn of day

Noreen Bawn

There's a spot in old Tirconnell
With a wee house in the glen
Where dwelt an Irish colleen
Who'd woo the hearts of men

She was winsome, fair and hearty
Shined graceful as a fawn
It was love that widow's daughter
Happy laughing Noreen Bawn

One day there came a letter
With a passage paid to go
To lands where the Missouri
And the Mississippi flow

So she bade farewell to Erin
And next morning at the dawn
Said a brokenhearted mother
Bid farewell to Noreen Bawn

Many years that mother waited
Till a morning at the door
Sat a gorgeous looking lady
All grand the clothes she wore

Said, Mother don't you worry
Said, I've only got a cold
But the purple spots upon her cheek
The tragic story told

There's a graveyard in Tirconnell
Where the blossoms sadly sway
Her brokenhearted mother
Living oer a lonely grave

Saying, Noreen you were calling
Many years since you have gone
Was the curse of emigration
Laid you low my Noreen Bawn

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