BACK HOME IN DERRY Top
Bobby Sands

In 1803 we sailed out to sea
Out from the sweet town of Derry
For Australia bound if we didn't all drown
And the marks of our fetters we carried

In the rusty iron chains we cryed for our wains
As our good wives we left in sorrow.
As the mainsails unfurled our curses we hurled
On the English and thoughts of tomorrow.

CHORUS

And it’s Oh Oh I wish I was back home in Derry.
Oh Oh I wish I was back home in Derry.

I cursed them to hell as our bow fought the swell.
Our ship danced like a moth in the firelights
White horses rode high as the devil passed by
Taking souls to Hades by twilight

Five weeks out to sea we were now forty-three
Our comrades we buried each morning.
In our own slime we were lost in a time.
Endless night without a dawning

Van Dieman's land is a hell for a man
To live out his whole life in slavery.
When the climate is raw and the gun makes the law.
Neither wind nor rain cares for bravery

Twenty years have gone by and I've ended me bond
Me comrades' ghosts are behind me
A rebel I came and I'II die the same
On the cold winds of night you will find me

BLACK IS THE COLOR Top

Traditional

Black is the color of my true love's hair
Her lips are like a rose so fair
And the prettiest face and the neatest hands.
I love the grass whereon she stands
She with the wondrous hair.

Black is the color of my true love's hair
Her face is something truly rare.
Oh I do love my love and so well she knows
I love the ground whereon she goes.
She with the wondrous hair.

Black is the color of my true love's hair
Alone, my life would be so bare.
I would sigh, I would weep,
I would never fall asleep
My love is 'way beyond compare
She with the wondrous hair.
Black, black, black
is the color of my true love's hair.

BLACK VELVET BAND Top

Traditional

In a neat little town they call Belfast

Apprenticed to trade I was bound

And many an hour's sweet happiness

I spent in that neat little town.

Till bad misfortune came o'er me

That caused me to stray from the land

Far away from my friends and relations

To follow the black velvet band.

CHORUS

Her eyes they shone like the diamonds

You'd think she was queen of the land

And her hair hung over her shoulder

Tied up with a black velvet band.

Well, I was out strolling one evening

Not meaning to go very far

When I met with a pretty young damsel

Who was selling her trade in the bar.

When a watch she took from a customer

And slipped it right into my hand

Then the Watch came and put me in prison

Bad luck to the black velvet band.

Next morning before judge and jury

For a trial I had to appear

And the judge, he said, "You young fellows...

The case against you is quite clear

And seven long years is your sentence

You're going to Van Dieman's land

Far away from your friends and relations

To follow the black velvet band.

" So come all you jolly young fellows

I'd have you take warning by me

Whenever you're out on the liquor, me lads,

Beware of the pretty colleen.

She'll fill you with whiskey and porter

Until you're not able to stand

And the very next thing that you'll know, me lads,

You're landed in Van Dieman's land.

BONNY SHIP THE DIAMOND Top

Traditional

The Diamond is a ship, my lads, for the Davis Strait she's bound
And the quay it is all garnished with bonny lasses 'round
Captain Thompson gives the order to sail the ocean wide
Where the sun it never sets, my lads, no darkness dims the sky

CHORUS
So it's cheer up my lads, let your hearts never fail
The bonny ship, the Diamond, goes a-fishing for the whale

Along the quay at Peterhead, the lasses gather round,
With their shawls all pulled around them and the salt tears runnin' down
Don't you cry, my bonny lass, though you’ll be left behind,
For the rose will grow on Greenland's ice before I’ll change my mind.

Here's a health to the Resolution, likewise the Eliza Dain
Here's a health to the Battler of Montrose and the Liza ship of fame
We wear the trouser of the white and the jackets of the blue
When we return to Peterhead, we'll have sweethearts anew

It'll be bright both day and night when the Greenland lads return
With a ship that's full of oil, my lads, and monies for to burn
We'll make the cradles for to rock and the blankets for to tear
And every lass in Peterhead will sing "Hushabye, my dear"

BRENNAN ON THE MOOR Top

'Tis of a brave young highwayman this story I will tell

His name was Willie Brennan and in Ireland he did dwell

It was on the Kilwood Mountain he commenced his wild career

And many a wealthy nobleman before him shook with fear

CHORUS

It was Brennan on the moor, Brennan on the moor

Bold, brave and undaunted was young Brennan on the moor

One day upon the highway as young Willie he went down

He met the mayor of Cashiell a mile outside of town

The mayor he knew his features and he said, Young man, said he

Your name is Willie Brennan, you must come along with me

Now Brennan's wife had gone to town provisions for to buy

And when she saw her Willie she commenced to weep and cry

Said, Hand to me that tenpenny, as soon as Willie spoke

She handed him a blunderbuss from underneath her cloak

Now with this loaded blunderbuss - the truth I will unfold -

He made the mayor to tremble and he robbed him of his gold

One hundred pounds was offered for his apprehension there

So he, with horse and saddle to the mountains did repair

Now Brennan being an outlaw upon the mountains high

With cavalry and infantry to take him they did try

He laughed at them with scorn until at last 'twas said

By a false-hearted woman he was cruelly betrayed

They hanged Brennan at the crossroads, in chains he hung and dried

But still they say that, in the night, some do see him ride

They see him with his blunderbuss, all in the midnight chill

Along, along the King's highway rides Willie Brennan still!

CAPTAIN KIDD Top

CHORUS

My name is Captain Kidd as I sailed as I sailed

My name is Captain Kidd as I sailed

My name is Captain Kidd and God‘s laws I did forbid

And most wickedly I did as I sailed

My father taught me well to shun the gates of Hell

But against him I rebelled as I sailed

He shoved a bible in my hand but I left it in the sand

As I pulled away from land as I sailed

I murdered William Moore and I left him in his gore

Twenty leagues away from shore as I sailed

And being crueler still, his gunner I did kill

Oh his precious blood did spill as I sailed

I was sick and nigh to death and I vowed with every breath

To walk in Wisdom‘s path as I sailed

But my repentance lasted not and my vows I soon forgot

Oh damnation is my lot as I sailed

To the execution dock, lay my head upon the block

The laws no more I‘ll mock as I sailed

So take warning here and heed to avoid bad company

Or you‘ll end up just like me as I sailed

COME OUT YE BLACK AND TANS Top

I was born on a Dublin street where the lyre drums do beat
And the loving English feet they tramped all over us,
And every single night when me father'd come home tight
He'd invite the neighbors outside with this chorus:

CHORUS

Oh, come out you black and tans
Come out and fight me like a man
Show your wife all your medals won at Flanders
And how the IRA
Made you run like hell away,
From the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra.

Come let me hear you tell
How you stoned the great Pernell
Though you thought him well you really persecuted
And all the snears and jeers
When you bravely let us hear
How our heroes all sixteen were executed

Come tell us how you slew
Those brave Arabs two by two
Like the Zulus they had spears and bows and arrows,
How you bravely slew each one
With your sixteen pounder gun
And you frightened them poor natives to their marrow.

Allen Larkin you hung high
When he bravely called you swine!
Robert Emmett you tried and then bartered
High upon that scaffold high,
How you murdered him with joy!
And the Croppy Boys from Wexford you did slaughter!

The day is coming fast
And the time is here at last
When each yeoman will be cast aside before us
And if there be a need
Sure my kids will sing, "Godspeed!"
With a verse or two of Steven Beehan's chorus

COURTING IN THE KITCHEN Top

Come single bell and beau, unto me pay attention
Don't ever fall in love, tis the devil's own invention
For once I fell in love with a maiden so bewitching
Miss Henrietta Bell down in Captain Kelly's kitchen

CHORUS

With me toora loora lay and me toora loora laddie

And me toora loora lay and me toora loora laddie

Oh, well Sunday bein' the day we were to have the flare-up
I dressed meself quite gay and I frizzed and oiled me hair up
The Captain had no wife and he had gone a-fishing
And we kicked up high life below stairs in the kitchen

With her arm around me waist, she slyly hinted marriage
To the door in dreadful haste came Captain Kelly's carriage
Her looks told me fair well and they were not bewitchen
She’d wish I’d get the hell or somewhere from the kitchen

She flew up of my knees full 5 feet up or higher

And over head and heals threw me slap into the fire

My new repealer’s coat the I bought from Mr. Mitchell

For a 30 shilling note went to blazes in the kitchen

When the Captain came downstairs, though he saw me situation
Despite all me prayers I was marched off to the station
For me they’d set no bail, but to get home I was itchin'
And I had to tell the tale, how I came into the kitchen

Now, I said she did invite me, but she gave a flat denial
For assault she did indict me, and I was sent for trial
She swore I robbed the house and in spite of all her schreechin'
And I got six months hard for me courtin' in the kitchen

DANNY BOY Top

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the roses falling
'Tis you must go, 'tis you must go and I must bide

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be there in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so

But if you come, and all the flowers are dying
If I am dead, as dead I may well be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me

And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
And all my grave shall warm and sweeter be
If you will bend and tell me that you love me
Then I will sleep in peace until you come to me

DIGGY LIGGY Top

Diggy Liggy Li Diggy Liggy Lo

Fell in love at the fay-do-do

Her pop was cold and ran the show

For Diggy Liggy Li and Diggy Liggy Lo

CHORUS

Diggy Liggy Li love Diggy Liggy Lo

Everyone knew he was her beau

No one else could ever show

So much love for Diggy Liggy Lo

Now that’s the place you find romance

Where they do the Cajun dance

Steal a kiss at every chance

Show their love with every glance

He finally went and seen her pa

And now he’s got a pa-in-law

Move on with the bayou flow

Now they’ve got a little Diggy Liggy Lo

DIRTY OLD TOWN Top

I met my love by the gasworks wall

I dreamed a dream by the old canal

I kissed my girl by the factory wall

Dirty old town, dirty old town

Clouds are drifting all across the moon

Cats are prowling all along the beat

Springs a girl from the streets at night

Dirty old town, dirty old town

Heard a siren coming from the dock

Saw a train set the night on fire

Smelled the spring in the smoky air

Dirty old town, dirty old town

I'm going to take a good sharp ax

Shining steel tempered in the fire

Gonna chop you down like an old dead tree

Dirty old town, dirty old town

DRUNKEN SAILOR Top

Traditional

CHORUS

Way hay and up she rises

Earl-eye in the morning

Lyrics change, but here are a few:

Put him in a long-boat till he's sober

Put him in the scuppers with a hose-pipe on him.

Put him in charge of an Exxon tanker

Shave his legs and call him Mary

Give him the hair of the dog that bit him

Take 'im and shake 'im and try an' wake 'im.

Give 'im a dose of salt and water.

Shave his belly with a rusty razor.

Put him in the guard room till he gets sober.

What shall we do with the nagging housewife

Put her in bed with the drunken sailor!

FERRYMAN Top

All the little boats are gone from the banks of Anna Liffey

And the ferrymen are stranded on the quay

Oh the Dublin docks are dying and a way of life is gone

And Molly it was part of you and me

CHORUS

Where the strawberry beds sweep down to the Liffey

You kiss away the worries from my brow

Oh I loved you well today, and I’ll love you more tomorrow

If you ever loved me Molly love me now

Twas the only job I knew, it was hard but never lonely

The Liffey Ferry made a man of me

But it’s gone without a whisper, forgotten even now

And it’s over Molly, over can’t you see

So now I’ll tend the yard and spend me days a talking

I’ll hear them whisper Charlie’s on the dole

Oh but Molly we’re still living and darling we’re still young

And that river never owned my heart and soul

FIELDS OF ATHENRY Top

Pete St. John

By a lonely prison wall, he heard a young girl calling

"Michael, they have taken you away,

For you stole Trevelyan's corn,

So our child might see the morn.

Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay."

CHORUS

Low lie the fields of Athenry

Where once we watched the small free birds fly

Our love was on the wing

We had dreams and songs to sing

It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry.

By a lonely prison wall, she heard a young man calling

"Nothing matters, Mary, when you're free

Against the famine and the crown, I rebelled, they knocked me down.

Now you must raise our child with dignity."

By a lonely harbor wall, she watched the last star falling

As the prison ship sailed out against the sky

Sure she’ll wait and hope and pray for her love in Botany Bay

It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry.

FINNEGAN'S WAKE Top

Tim Finnegan lived in Wattlin' Street
A gentleman, Irish, mighty odd
He had a tongue both rich and sweet
And to rise in the world he carried a hod
Now Tim had a sort of the tipplin' way
With a love of the whiskey he was born
And to help him on with his work each day
He'd a "drop of the cray-thur" every morn

CHORUS

Whack fol the darn O, dance to your partner
Whelt the floor, your trotters shake
Wasn't it the truth I told you
Lots of fun at Finnegan's wake!

One mornin' Tim was rather full
His head was heavy and it made him shake
He fell from the ladder and broke his skull
And they carried him home his corpse to wake
They wrapped him up in a nice clean sheet
And laid him out upon the bed
A gallon of whiskey at his feet
And a barrel of porter at his head

His friends assembled at the wake
And Mrs. Finnegan called for lunch
First they brought in tay and cake
Then pipes, tobacco and whiskey punch
Then Biddy O'Brien began to cry
"Such a nice clean corpse, did you ever see?
"O Tim, mavourneen, why did you die?"
Arragh, hold your gob said Paddy McGhee!

Then Maggie O'Connor took up the moan
"O Biddy," says she, "You're wrong, I'm sure"
Biddy she gave her a belt in the gob
And left her sprawlin' on the floor
And then a mighty war did rage
'Twas woman to woman and man to man
Shillelagh law was all the rage
And a row and a ruction soon began

Then Mickey Maloney ducked his head
When a noggin of whiskey flew at him
It missed, and falling on the bed
The liquor scattered over Tim!
Bedad he revises! See how he raises!
Timothy rising from the bed,
Says,"Whirl your whiskey around like blazes
Thundering Jesus do ya think I'm dead?"

FISHERMAN’S BLUES Top

The Waterboys

I wish I was a fisherman tumblin' on the seas
Far away from dry land and it's bitter memories
Castin' out my sweet line with abandonment and love
No ceiling bearin' down on me save the starry sky above
With light in my head
with you in my arms...

I wish I was a brakeman on a hurtlin fevered train
Crashin head long into the heartland like a cannon in the rain
With the beatin of the sleepers and the burnin of the coal
Town after town flashin by and a night that's full of soul
With light in my head
With you in my arms...

Tomorrow I will be loosened from the bonds that hold me fast
And the chains all around me will fall away at last
And on that fine and fateful day I will take thee in my hand
I will ride on a train, I will be the fisherman
With light in my head
You in my arms...

FOLLOW ME UP TO CARLOW Top

Lift MacCahir ogue your face
Brooding o'er the old disgrace
That black FitzWilliam stormed your place
Drove you to the Fern!
Grey said victory was sure
Soon the Firebrand he'd secure
Until he met at Glenmalure
Feagh MacHugh O'Byrne

CHORUS
Curse and swear Lord Kildare
Feagh will do what Feagh will dare
Now FitzWilliam, have a care
Fallen is your star, low
Up with halbert out with sword
On we'll go for by the Lord
Feagh MacHugh has given the word
Follow me up to Carlow!

See the swords of Glen Imayle
Flashing o'er the English Pale
See all the children of the Gael
Beneath O'Byrne's banners
Rooster of the fighting stock
Would you let a Saxon cock
Crow out upon an Irish rock
Fly up and teach him manners

Now from Tassagart to Clonmore
There flows a stream of Saxon gore
Och, great is Rory Oge O'More
At sending the loons to Hades
White is sick and Grey has fled
Now for black FitzWilliam's head
We'll send it over, dripping red
To Queen Liza and her ladies

FOX Top

Adapted from Steeleye Span

You can hound me now you've found me, but I'm far more cunning than you.
I'm a shy fox, I'm a sly fox and I'll teach you a lesson or two.
I'll run you through the hawthorn hedge and tear your dogs to shreds.
I'll lead you from the open fields into the flower beds.
I'll lead you from the open fields into the nearest town
and take you to my hunting ground.

CHORUS

Run, run, run

I won't give in, I’ll never give in
Run, run, run,

I won't give in, I'll never give in

You can hound me now you've found me, but I'm far more cunning than you.
I'm a brown fox, I'm a town fox and I'll teach you a lesson or two.
I'll introduce the electric fence to every horse and hound
and watch the horses suffering upon the stony ground.
I'll lead you from the open fields into the nearest town.
and take you to my hunting ground.

HARTLEPOOL MONKEY Top

Well, it happened up in Hartlepool about the time of France,
The Emperor Napoleon was leading us the dance,
When up along the coast came a French man-o-war
And the captain’s old pet monkey got washed up on the shore.

CHORUS: Singing old folks, young folks, every man and each
Come and see the Frenchie who's landed on the beach.
He's got long arms, a great long tail and he's covered all in hair.
We think that he's a spy….. so we'll hang him in the square!

Now the Lord Mayor of Hartlepool was walking down the shore
When he saw this funny thing he'd never seen before.
For sitting in the sand was a little hairy man,
Clutching a banana in his little hairy hand.

Well the Mayor fetched the Town Clerk who hurried to the shore.
There they found this little man where he had been before.
A crowd had gathered 'round him 'cause he was the strangest sight
Since the Sporting Club got fire on the previous Friday Night!

Now, Constable Parsons, he hurried to the scene.
He viewed the situation and he licked his pencil clean.
He said, "Causing a disturbance is a serious offence
And every thing you say, it will go down in evidence!”

When this little man spoke, a funny thing occured,
For Constable parsons couldn't understand a word.
The reason for his puzzlement the crowd could plainly see:
This little man's a foreigner from far across the sea!

So they hung... hung... this little Frenchie from the gallows in the town
With a rope... rope... around his little neck, and his tail all hanging down
As a warning to Napoleon to make himself a rule
And not to send his little hairy spies to dear old Hartlepool!

I USETA LOVER Top

I have fallen for another, she can make her own way home

And even if she asked me now I’d let her go alone

I used to see her up to chapel when she went to Sunday Mass

When she’d go up to receive I’d kneel down there and watch her pass

(Oh the glory of her ass!)

CHORUS

I useta lover, useta lover once

- a long long time ago

I useta lover, useta lover once

- a long long time ago

It’s gone, all my lovin is gone

Oh ho it’s gone, all my loving is gone

D’you remember her collecting for the church on Christmas Eve?

She was on a forty eight hour fast, just water and black tea

I walked straight up and made an ostentatious contribution

And I winked at her to tell her I’d seduce her on the future

(When she’s feeling looser!) And the scuffy girl’s sing….

So now you know the truth of it, she’s no longer my obsession

Though the thoughts and dreams I had of her

would take six months in confession

See I met this young one Friday night and she’s into free expression

And her mission is to rid the world of sexual repression

(Then we had a session!)

I have fallen for another, she can make her own way home

JOCKEY FULL OF BOURBON Top

Tom Waits

Edna million in a drop dead suit
Dutch pink on a downtown train
Two-dollar pistol but the gun wont shoot
I’m in the corner on the pouring rain
Sixteen men on a dead mans chest
And I’ve been drinking from a broken cup
Two pairs of pants and a mohair vest
I’m full of bourbon, I cant stand up

CHORUS

Hey little bird, fly away home
Your house is on fire, children are alone
Hey little bird, fly away home
Your house is on fire, your children are alone

Schiffer broke a bottle on Morgan’s head
And I’m stepping on the devils tail
Across the stripes of a full moons head
And through the bars of a Cuban jail
Bloody fingers on a purple knife
Flamingo drinking from a cocktail glass
I’m on the lawn with someone else’s wife
Admire the view from up on top of the mast

Yellow sheets on a Hong Kong bed
Stazybo horn and a slingerland ride
To the carnival is what she said
A hundred dollars makes it dark inside
Edna million in a drop dead suit
Dutch pink on a downtown train
Two-dollar pistol but the gun wont shoot
I’m in the corner on the pouring rain

JOHHNY I HARDLY KNEW YA Top

Lyrics by Molly Maguire

While going the road to sweet Athy, Haroo, haroo
While going the road to sweet Athy, Haroo, haroo
While going the road to sweet Athy
A stick in my hand a tear in my eye, a doleful damsel I heard cry
Johnny I hardly knew yeh.

CHORUS

With drums and guns and guns and drums, Haroo, Haroo
With drums and guns and guns and drums, Haroo, Haroo
With drums and guns and guns and drums the enemy nearly slew you,
My darling dear you look so queer, Johnny I hardly knew yeh

Where are the legs with which you run haroo, haroo
Where are the legs with which you run haroo, haroo
Where are the legs with which you run
When you went to shoulder a gun, oh I fear your dancing days are done
Johnny I hardly knew ya!

You haven't an arm and you haven't a leg haroo, haroo
You haven't an arm and you haven't a leg haroo, haroo
You haven't an arm and you haven't a leg you're an eyeless,

noseless, chickenless egg
You'll have to be put in a bowl to beg
Johnny I hardly knew ya!

I'm happy for to see you home haroo, haroo
I'm happy for to see you home haroo, haroo
I'm happy for to see you home
All from the island of Sullon, so low in the flesh so high in the bone
Johnny I hardly knew ya!

JOHNNY JUMP UP Top

I'll tell you a story that happened to me

One day, as I went down to Cork by the Lee:

The sun, it was bright, and the day, it was warm.

Says I, "A quiet pint wouldn't do me no harm".

I went to the barman; I says, "Give me a stout!" -

Says the barman, "I'm sorry: the beer is sold out;

Try whiskey or vodka ten years in the wood" -

Says I, "I'll try cider - I heard that it's good".

CHORUS

O never! O never! O never again!

If I live to a hundred or a hundred and ten!

For I fell to the ground, and I couldn't get up,

After drinking a pint of that Johnny Jump Up!

After lowering the third, I headed straight for the yard,

Where I bumped into Brophy, the big civic guard.

"Come here to me, boy - don't you know I'm the law?";

Well I up with my first, and I shattered his jaw!

He fell to the ground with his knees doubled up,

But it wasn't I hit him; 'twas the Johnny Jump up!

The next thing I saw, down in Cork by the Lee,

Was a cripple on crutches, and says he to me.

"I'm afraid for my life - I'll be struck by a car!

Would you help me across to the Railwaymen's Bar?"

And, after three pints of that cider so sweet,

He threw down his crutches, and he danced on his feet.

I went down the Lee Road a friend for to see.

They had him in a madhouse in Cork by the Lee.

And, when I got there - the truth I do tell -

They had the poor bugger locked up in a cell!

Says the guard testing him, "Say these words, if you can:

'Round the ragged rocks the ragged rascal ran' " -

"Tell them I'm not crazy! Tell them I'm not mad!

'Twas only six pints of that cider I had!"

A man died in the Union by the name of McNabb.

They washed him and laid him outside on a slab,

And, after the coroner his measurements did take,