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The Town I Loved So Well
In my memory, I will always see
The town that I have loved so well
Where our school played ball by the gas yard wall
And they laughed through the smoke and the smell
Going home in the rain, running up the dark lane
Past the jail, and down behind the Fountain
Those were happy days in so many, many ways
In the town I loved so well
In the early morn´ the shirt factory horn
Called women from Creggan, the moor, and the bog
While the men on the dole played a mother’s role
Fed the children and then walked the dog
And when times got tough there was just about enough
And they saw it through without complaining
For deep inside was a burning pride
In the town I loved so well
There was music there in the Derry air
Like a language that we all could understand
I remember the day that I earned my first pay
When I played in a small pick-up band
There I spent my youth, and to tell you the truth
I was sad to leave it all behind me
For I learned about life, and I found a wife
In the town I loved so well
But when I returned, how my eyes have burned
To see how a town could be brought to it’s knees
By the armoured cars and the bombed-out bars
And the gas that hangs on to every breeze
Now the army’s installed by that old gas yard wall
And the damned barbed wire gets higher and higher
With their tanks and their guns, oh my god, what have they done
To the town I loved so well
Now the music’s gone but they carry on
For their spirits been bruised, never broken
They will not forget but their hearts are set
On tomorrow and peace once again
For what’s done is done and what’s won is won
And what’s lost is lost and gone for ever
I can only pray for a bright, brand new day
In the town I love so well
Molly Malone
In Dublin’s fair city
Where the girls are so pretty
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone
As she wheeled her wheelbarrow
Through the streets broad and narrow
Crying „cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh“
Alive, alive, oh
Alive, alive, oh
Crying „cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh“
She was a fishmonger
And sure, t’was no wonder
For so were her mother and father before
And they wheeled their barrow
Through the streets broad and narrow
Crying „cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh“
Alive, alive, oh …
She died of a fever
And sure, so one could save her
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone
Now her ghost wheels her barrow
Through the streets broad and narrow
Crying „cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh“
Alive, alive …
No Frontiers
If life is a river and your heart is a boat
And just like a water baby, baby born to float
And if life is a wild wind that blows way on high
And your heart is Amelia dying to fly
Heaven knows no frontiers and I’ve seen heaven in your eyes
And if life is a bar room in which we must wait
‚Round the man with his fingers on the ivory gates
Where we sing until dawn of our fears and our fates
And we stack all the dead men in self addressed crates
In your eyes faint as the singing of a lark
That somehow this black night
Feels warmer for the spark
Warmer for the spark
To hold us ‚til the day
When fear will lose its grip
And heaven has its ways
Heaven knows no frontiers
And I’ve seen heaven in your eyes
If your life is a rough bed of brambles and nails
And your spirit’s a slave to man’s whips and man’s jails
Where you thirst and you hunger for justice and right
And your heart is a pure flame of man’s constant night
In your eyes faint as the singing of a lark
That somehow this black night
Feels warmer for the spark
Warmer for the spark
To hold us ‚til the day when fear will lose its grip
And heaven has its ways
And heaven has its ways
When all will harmonise
And you know what’s in our hearts
The dream will realise
Heaven knows no frontiers
And I’ve seen heaven in your eyes
Heaven knows no frontiers
And I’ve seen heaven in your eyes
Bright Blue Rose
I skimmed across black water
Without once submerging
Onto the banks of an urban morning
That hungers the first light
Much, much more than mountains ever do
And she, like a ghost beside me
Goes down with the ease of a dolphin
And emerges unlearned, unshamed, unharmed
For she is the perfect creature, natural in every feature
And I am the geek with the alchemists‘ stone
For all of you who must discover
For all who seek to understand
For having left the path of others
You’ll find a very special hand
And it is a holy thing
And it is a precious time
And it is the only way
Forget-me-nots among the snow
It’s always been, and so it goes
To ponder his death and his life eternally
For all of you who must discover
For all who seek to understand
For having left the path of others
You’ll find a very special hand
And it is a holy thing
And it is a precious time
And it is the only way
Forget-me-nots among the snow
It’s always been, and so it goes
To ponder his death and his life eternally
One bright blue rose outlives all those
Two thousand years, and still it goes
To ponder his death and his life eternally
Caledonia
I don’t know if you can see
The changes that have come over me
In these last few days I’ve been afraid
That I might drift away
I’ve been telling old stories, singing songs
That make me think about where I’ve come from
That’s the reason why I seem
So far away today
[Chorus:]
Let me tell you that I love you
That I think about you all the time
Caledonia, you’re calling me, now I’m going home
But if I should become a stranger
Know that it would make me more than sad
Caledonia’s been everything I’ve ever had
Now I have moved and I’ve kept on moving
Proved the points that I needed proving
Lost the friends that I needed losing
Found others on the way
I have kissed the fellas and left them crying
Stolen dreams, yes, there’s no denying
I have traveled hard, sometimes with conscience flying
Somewhere with the wind
[Chorus]
Now I’m sitting here before the fire
The empty room, the forest choir
The flames have cooled, don’t get any higher
They’ve withered, now they’ve gone
But I’m steady thinking, my way is clear
And I know what I will do tomorrow
When hands have shaken, the kisses float
Then I will disappear
[Chorus]
Caledonia’s been everything I’ve ever had
Caledonia’s been everything I’ve ever had
Caledonia’s been everything I’ve ever had
Fields Of Athenry
By a lonely prison wall I heard a young girl callin‘
Michael they have taken you away
For you stole Trevelyn’s corn
So the young might see the morn
Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay.
Low lie the fields of Athenry,
Where once we watched the small free bird 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 I heard a young man calling
Nothing matters, Mary, when you’re free
Against the famine and the Crown
I rebelled they cut me down
Now you must raise our child with dignity.
Low lie the fields of Athenry …
By a lonely harbour wall she watched the last star falling
As that prison ship sailed out against the sky
For she’ll live in hope and pray
For her love in Botany Bay
It’s so lonely round the fields of Athenry.
Low lie the fields of Athenry …
The Parting Glass
Of all the money that e’er I had, I spent it in good company
And all the harm that e’er I’ve done, alas, it was to none but me
And all I’ve done for want of wit to memory now I can’t recall
So fill to me the parting glass, good night and joy be with you all
Of all the comrades that e’er I’ve had, they are sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e’er I’ve had, they would wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls unto my lot that I should rise and you should not
I’ll gently rise and I’ll softly call good night and joy be with you all
If I had money enough to spend and leisure time to sit awhile
There is a fair maid in this town, that sorely has my heart beguiled
Her rosy cheeks and ruby lips I own, she has my heart enthralled
So fill to me the parting glass, good night and joy be with you all
My dearest dear, the time draws near when here no longer can I stay
There’s not a comrade I leave behind, but is grieving for my going away
But since it has so ordered been what is once past can’t be recalled
Now fill to me the parting glass, good night and joy be with you all
If I had money for to spend, If I had time to waste away
There is a fair maid in this town, I fain would while her heart away
With her rosy cheeks and dimpled chin, my heart she has beguiled awa‘
So fill to me the parting glass, good night and joy be with you a‘
If I had money for to spend, I would spend it in her company
And all the harm that I have done, I hope it’s pardoned I will be
And all I’ve done for want of it to memory I can’t recall
So fill to me the parting glass, good night and joy be with you all
A man may drink and not be drunk, a man may fight and not be slain
A man may court a pretty girl and perhaps be welcomed back again
But since it has so ordered been by a time to rise and a time to fall
Come fill to me the parting glass, good night and joy be with you all
(The) Water Is Wide
The water’s wide, I cannot get over
And neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that’ll carry two
And both shall row, my love and I
Where love is planted oh there it grows
It grows and blossoms like a rose
It has a sweet and pleasant smell
No flower on earth can it excel
The ship there is and she sails the sea
She’s loaded deep as deep can be
But not so deep as the love I’m in
I know not if I sink or swim
Oh, love is gentle, love is kind
The sweetest flower when first it’s new
But love grows old and waxes cold
And fades away like morning dew
She Moved Through The Fair
My love said to me
My Mother won’t mind
And me Father won’t slight you
For your lack of kind
Then she stepped away from me
And this she did say
It will not be long love
‚Til our wedding day.
She stepped away from me
And she moved through the Fair
And fondly I watched her
Move here and move there
And she went her way homeward
With one star awake
As the swans in the evening
Move over the lake
The people were saying
No two e’er were wed
But one has a sorrow
That never was said
And she smiled as she passed me
With her goods and her gear
And that was the last
That I saw of my dear.
I dreamed it last night
That my true love came in
So softly she entered
Her feet made no din
She came close beside me
And this she did say
It will not be long love
Till our wedding day.
Great Balls of Fire
You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain
Too much love drives a man insane
You broke my will, oh what a thrill
Goodness gracious great balls of fire
I learned to love all of Hollywood money
You came along and you moved me honey
I changed my mind, looking fine
Goodness gracious great balls of fire
You kissed me baby, woo, it feels good
Hold me baby, learn to let me love you like a lover should
You’re fine, so kind
I’m a nervous world that your mine mine mine mine
I cut my nails and I twiddle my thumbs
I’m really nervous but it sure is fun
Come on baby, you drive me crazy
Goodness gracious great balls of fire
Well kiss me baby, woo-oooooo, it feels good
Hold me baby
I want to love you like a lover should
You’re fine, so kind
I got this world that you’re mine mine mine mine
I cut my nails and I twiddle my thumbs
I’m real nervous ‚cause it sure is fun
Come on baby, you drive me crazy
Goodness gracious great balls of fire