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Irish Songs
 

 

Down by the Glenside

Also known as "Bold Fenian Men", this song was written by Peadar Kearney (1883-1942). Kearney also wrote the Irish national anthem and was Brendan Behan's uncle.

A classic version of this song was recorded by The Wolfe Tones on their 1980s "Spirit of the Nation" album. Recently this song appeared on Cherish the Ladies' excellent album "The Boys Won't Leave the Girls Alone".

'Twas down by the glenside, I met an old woman
She was picking young nettles and she scarce saw me coming
I listened a while to the song she was humming
Glory O, Glory O, to the bold Fenian men

'Tis fifty long years since I saw the moon beaming
On strong manly forms and their eyes with hope gleaming
I see them again, sure, in all my daydreaming
Glory O, Glory O, to the bold Fenian men.

Some died on the glenside, some died near a stranger
And wise men have told us that their cause was a failure
They fought for old Ireland and they never feared danger
Glory O, Glory O, to the bold Fenian men

I passed on my way, God be praised that I met her
Be life long or short, sure I'll never forget her
We may have brave men, but we'll never have better
Glory O, Glory O, to the bold Fenian men


Boston Rose


So goodbye my Boston beauty farewell my Boston Rose
I'll wait for you, I'll think of you, no threat to you I'll pose
so goodbye my Boston Beauty, farewell my Boston Rose
I wish that you were here but I know, that's the way life goes

Now the autumn leaves are falling and the tourists have all gone
and the children they have all gone back to school
and my life is as it was before, I work eight hours a day
but the company's still making all the rules
There's a girl in Massachusettes, south of Boston town they say
her lovely face is with me all the day
Well I met her down in old Tralee, golden hair upon her head
I won her heart but she stole mine away

So goodbye my Boston beauty farewell my Boston Rose
I'll wait fro you, I'll think of you, no threat to you I'll pose
so goodbye my Boston Beauty, farewell my Boston Rose
I wish that you were here but I know, that's the way life goes

There's a song we sang all summer in the bars in Dublin town
I can hear it on the fac'try radio
and the feelings I remember, when I hear that simple tune
makes me wonder if it ever happened so
well we laughed and loved together 'till the summer days were gone
and she had to fly across that ocean wide
so goodbye my Boston beauty and until we meet again
I'll keep the fire burning deep inside

So goodbye my Boston beauty farewell my Boston Rose
I'll wait fro you, I'll think of you, no threat to you I'll pose
so goodbye my Boston Beauty, farewell my Boston Rose
I wish that you were here but I know, that's the way life goes

and some nights when I'm drinkin' and my friends have gathered 'round
and just for fun someone calls out your name
well I smile there with the rest of them but I can't hear a sound
I love you but to them it's all the same
and nights when I'm alone my love you come into my mind
and visions flash across that Emerald Isle
well I'll watch the moon there up above I'll leave this earth behind
and I'll call to you as I go sailing by

So goodbye my Boston beauty farewell my Boston Rose
I'll wait fro you, I'll think of you, no threat to you I'll pose
so goodbye my Boston Beauty, farewell my Boston Rose
I wish that you were here but I know, that's the way life goes


Dirty Old Town










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

Clouds a drifting across the moon
Cats a prowling on their beat
Spring's a girl in the street at night
Dirty old town dirty old town

Heard a si- ren from the docks
Saw a train set the night on fire
Smelled the spring in the smokey wind
Dirty old town dirty old town

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


Wise and Holy Woman









I met a wise and holy woman near the town where I was walkin'
We both sat together down below the Yellow Furze
She closed her eyes and started singing
A song about the light that shines and the wonders of the world
She sang of the forests on the high high mountain
The pure clear water and the fresh air we breathe
Of the bounty we gain from natures abundance
And how the mighty oak tree grows from a little seed

Chorus:
She had an everlasting notion
The wise and holy woman had a neverending dream
As she called out to the stars glistening on the ocean
Shine a light , shine a light on me
She sang a song from the streets of San Paolo
For the homeless street children who never learned to smile
She sang of the shrine they built to Chico Mendez
Where the plantation workers laid his body in the soil
She sang of the greed we display before our altars
The oil soaked cormorant drowning in the tide
She sang of the halting site way out beyond Clondalkin
Where Ann Maughan froze to death between the dump and the railway line

Chorus

She sang of the eagle flying high above the mountain
The otter that swam through rivers and streams
Of the lilies that bloomed and the countless wild flowers
...and the rainbow that rose in the valley of tears.


Molly Malone

In Dublin's fair city where the girls are so pretty
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone
She wheeled her wheel-barrow
Through streets broad and narrow
Cryin' cockles and mussels alive, alive-o
Chorus:
Alive, alive-o, Alive, alive-o
Cryin' cockles and mussels, alive, alive-o
She was a fish monger, sure 'twas no wonder
So were her father and mother before
They wheeled their barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow
Cryin' cockles and mussels alive, alive-o
Chorus:
But I was a rover and sailed the seas over
I bid my farewell to sweet Molly Malone
And as I was sailin', the wild winds were wailin'
Cryin' cockles and mussels alive, alive-o
Chorus:
She died of the fever, and no one could save her
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone
Now her ghost wheels her barrow
Through streets broad and narrow
Cryin' cockles and mussels alive, alive-o
Chorus: