Album: Addiction

1. Addiction
Never liked the beer that much
Never liked the feel of its touch
But it seems I can’t let go
And although it doesn’t show
Never really liked to drink at all

Never liked the gold that much
Never liked the feel of its touch
But it seems I can’t let go
And although it doesn’t show
Never really liked to be rich

But then again who knows
Nothing ain’t the way it shows
Itself
To you

Never liked the girl that much
Never liked the feel of her touch
But it seems I can’t let go
And although it doesn’t show
Never really liked the girl at all

But then again who knows
Nothing ain’t the way it shows
Itself
To you

2. The Reason I Left Mullingar
I walk through this city a stranger
In the land I can never call home
I curse the sad notion across me
In my search of my fortune I roam
I’m weary of working and drinking
My weeks wages left in the bar
And God it’s a shame
For to use a friend’s name
Just to beg for the price of a jar

I remember that bright April morning
When I left home to travel a-far
But to work ’till you’re dead
For a room and a bed
It’s not the reason I left Mullingar

This London’s a city of heartbreak
On a Friday there’s friends by the score
But when the pay’s finished on Monday
A friend’s not a friend anymore
For the working day seems never ending
From the shovel and pick there’s no break
And when you’re not working, you’re spending
The fortune you left home to make

So those who come here to find fortune
And come home to tell us the tale
Each morning the broadway is crowded
With many the thousands who fail
So young men of Ireland take warning
In London you never will find
That gold at the end of the rainbow
For you might just have left it behind

3. Crooked John
Oh come Irishmen
Both young and stern
With a bent youth in your soul
There are better ways
To spend your days
Than working down a hole

I was tall and true
All of six foot two
They drove me across the bar
My name I know
It’s not my own
They call me Crooked John

I curse the day
I went away
For to work on the high rough job
Both sweat and tears
Hard folk and fears
Bound up a shattering jam

I’ve seen them all
Before their time
Their faces lined and grey
I never thought
So soon would mine
Be lined in the self same way

Oh come Irishmen
Both young and stern
With a bent youth in your soul
There are better ways
To spend your days
Than working down a hole

4. Folk De La Suisse
Si tu sens que ton histoire
Est trop non-importee
Si il y a dans ta memoire
Ton image de passe
Si tes yeux ont de la peine
A ne pas se refermer

Prends la peine de me regarder
Je suis comme toi
Un peu fou et un peu fatigue
Nous sommes freres, je crois

Si te semble difficile
D’aller au bout du chemin
D’aller au bout de tes phrases
De bayer jusqu’au matin
Si tu n’as pour te defendre
Que du sable dans les mains

Et ce que tu voudrais dire
Tu ne peux que le rever
Et ce que tu voudrais vivre
Tu ne peux que le cacher
Mais toujours tu esperes
Que quelqu’un va t’ecouter

5. The Dutchman
The Dutchman’s not the kind of man
To keep his thumb jammed in the dam
That holds his dreams in
But that’s a secret only Margaret knows
When Amsterdam is golden
In the morning Margaret brings him breakfast
She believes him
He thinks the tulips bloom beneath the snow
He’s mad as he can be
But Margaret only sees that sometimes
Sometimes she sees the unborn children in his eyes

Let us go to the banks of the ocean
Where the walls rise above the Zuiderzee
Long ago I used to be a young man
And dear Margaret remembers that for me

The Dutchman still wears wooden shoes
His cap and coat are patched with the love
That Margaret sewed there
Sometimes he thinks he’s still in Rotterdam
He watches tug boats down canals
And calls out to them
When he thinks he knows the captain
Then Margaret comes to take him home again
Through unforgiving streets that trick him
Though she holds his arm
Sometimes he thinks he’s alone and calls her name

The windmills whirl the winter in
She winds his muffler tighter
They sit in the kitchen
Some tea with whiskey keeps away the dew
He sees her for a moment
She makes his bed up
Humming some old love song
She learned it when the tune was very new
He hums a line or two
They hum together in the night
The Dutchman falls asleep and
Margaret blows the candle out

6. The Vision
A dream for Maddy
Let’s sail away to Ireland
Take leave of this town
Move far far away
I’ll build you a boat a wooden ship to sail in
Come first light of dawn slip gently away

We’ll carry our hopes
And fears for the journey
Wrapped up in a blanket
Stored safely away
And then we will pray let love be our shelter
Dream on Maddy slip gently away

Let time hide the tide
Let it not be our master
The clock on the mantle
Strikes five after two
We’ll sit and dream of places to wonder
Dream on Maddy slip gently away

Ah dream on Maddy
Let’s sail upon the morning
Your grandmother’s hands beckon and call
And all that you do
You’ll be your father’s daughter
Dream on Maddy slip gently away

Come evening we’ll land
And travel to your hometown
I’ll build us a house
Set down by the sea
A vision so clear like deepest blue water
Dream on Maddy slip gently away

Oh let time hide the tide
Let it not be our master
We’ll leave when we can
For your father has plans
To work through the fields 
Of youth in his autumn
Dream on Maddy slip gently away

7. A Health To The Company
Kind friends and companions
Come join me in rhyme
Come lift up your voices
In chorus with mine
Come lift up your glasses
All grief to refrain
For we may and might never
All meet here again

Here’s a health to the company
And one to my lass
Let’s drink and be merry
All out of one glass
Let’s drink and be merry
All grief to refrain
For we may and might never
All meet here again

Here’s a health to the wee lass
That I love so well
For style and for beauty
There’s none can excel
She smiles at my countenance
As she sits on me knee
There’s no one in Erin
As happy as me

Our ship lies in harbour
She’s ready to dock
I wish her safe a landing
Without any shock
And if ever I meet you
By land or by sea
I will always remember
Your kindness to me

8. The Smuggler
The boat rides out of Ailsa Graig
In the waning of the light
There’s thirty men in Landalfit
Tae make our burden bright
There’s thirty horses at Hazelhome
With their halters on their heads
All set this night and from you hide
With wind and with water speed

The smugglers drink of the Frenchman’s wine
The darkest night is the smuggler’s time
Away we ran from the exciseman
It’s the smuggler’s life for me

Oh lass ye hae a cosy bed
And cattle ye hae ten
Can ye no live a lawful life
And live wi’ lawful men
But must I live with hamely goods
While there’s foreign gear sae fine
Must I drink at the waterside
And France sae full of wine

Oh well I like tae see ye Kate
With a bairny on thy knee
But my heart is now wi’ the galant crew
That plough thro’ the angry sea
It’s the bitter gales it’s the tightest sails
It’s the sheltered bay our goal
It’s the wayward life it’s the smuggler’s strife
It’s the joy of the smuggler’s soul

And when at last the sun comes up
And the cargo safely stored
Like sinless saints to church we go
God’s mercy to afford
And it’s champagne fine for communion wine
And the parson drinks it too
With a sly wink prays Forgive these men
For they know not what they do

10. Ride On
True you ride
The finest horse
I’ve ever seen
Standing 16’.1” or 2”
With eyes wild and green
And you ride
The horse so well
Hands light to the touch
I could never go with you
No matter how I wanted to

Ride on see you
I could never go with you
No matter how I wanted to

When you ride into the night
Without a trace behind
Run your claw along my gut
One last time
I turn to face an empty space
Where once you used to lie
And look for a smile to light the night
Through a teardrop in my eye

11. The Lark In The Morning
The lark in the morning
She rises off her nest
She goes home in the evening
With the dew all on her breast
And like the jolly ploughboys
She whistles and she sings
She goes home in the evening
With the dew all on her wings

Oh Roger the ploughboy
He is a dashing blade
He goes whistling and singing
Over yonder green blade
He met with pretty Susan
She’s handsome I declare
She is far more enticing
Than the birds all in the air

One morning coming home
From the rakes of the town
The meadows they are green
And the grass it is cut down
If I should chance to tumble
All in the new mown hay
For it’s kiss me now or never love
This bonny lass did say

When twenty long weeks
They were over and were past
Her mummy chanced to notice
How she thickened round the waist
It was the handsome ploughboy
The maiden she did say
For he caused me for to tumble
All in the new mown hay

Come all of you young ploughboys
Wherever you may be
That like to have a bonny lass
A sitting on each knee
With a jug of good strong porter
You’ll whistle and you’ll sing
For a ploughboy is as happy
As a prince or a king

12. The Star Of The County Down
Near Banbridge Town in the county Down
One morning last July
Down a Boreen green
Came a sweet colleen
And she smiled as she passed me by
She looked so sweet
From her two bare feet
To the sheen of her nut-brown hair
Such a coaxing elf sure I shook myself
For to see I was really there

From Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay
And from Galway to Dublin Town
No maid I’ve seen like the brown colleen
That I met in the county Down

As she onward sped sure I scratched my head
And I looked with a feeling rare
And I says says I to a passer-by
Who is the maid with the nut-brown hair
He smiled at me
And he says says he
That’s the gem of Ireland’s crown
Young Rosie McCann
From the banks of the Bann
She’s the star of the county Down

At the harvest fair she’ll be surely there
So I’ll dress in my Sunday clothes
With my shoes shone bright
And my head cocked right
For a smile from my nut-brown rose
No pipe I’ll smoke no horse I’ll yoke
Till my plough is a rust-coloured brown
Till a smiling bride
By my own fireside
Sits the star of the county Down

13. Forgiveness
Walking wounded children
Lined the roads about the town
Aging little faces full of need
Who never should have suffered from this hunger
There’s a better world to go to I believed
Before our journey to Canada
My love and I were married in the town
One day of freedom from the anguish
We sang and danced with friends from all around
A stor mo chroi I’ll always love you

On an overcrowded ship we crossed the ocean
Many found their graveyard in that sea
Those who set their dreams on a life in Canada
Surrendered to the fate that was to be
Finally my true love’s heart was broken
In a fever shed in Canada she died
Though I will assist my fellow countrymen
There is nothing only emptiness inside
A stor mo chroi I’ll always love you

All my fear of dying dissipated
Now I’m simply waiting for the end
Before I’m laid to rest in Canada
I’ll bring some comfort to my Irish friends
Talk to them of better days behind us
Before a brute for power put us down
I’ll sing until the reaper comes to take me
To the love that lies waiting in the ground
A stor mo chroi I’ll always love you

I open up my eyes
To the sunlight shining new
In the dream that takes me back
A single word rings through
My memories awaken
To the horrors come to pass
One word in the morning light
Brings freedom home at last
Forgiveness ....

For the ancient wounds still hurting
For the wrongs I’ve never known
For all the children left to die
Near fields where corn was grown
Like the ones who braved the ocean
In the fever sheds to burn
Let all the hatred
Leave these shores now
Never to return
Forgiveness ....

Album: Dirty Dishes

1. All For Me Grog
Well it’s all for me grog, me jolly, jolly
It’s all for me beer and tobacco
Well, I spent all me tin
On the lassies drinking gin
Far across the Western Ocean I must wonder

Where are me boots, me noggin’, noggin’ boots
Al gone for beer and tobacco
Well, the heels they are worn out and the toes are kicked about
And the soles are looking out for better weather

Where is me shirt, me noggin’, noggin’ shirt
It’s all gone for beer and tobacco
Well, the collar is all worn and the sleeves they are all torn
And the tail is looking out for better weather

Where is me coat, me noggin’, noggin’ coat
It’s all gone for beer and tobacco
Well, the sides they are worn out and the back is flying about
And the lining’s looking out for better weather

I’m sick in the head and I haven’t been to bed
Since first I came ashore from me slumber
Well, I spent all me dough on the lassies, don’t you know
Far across the Western Ocean I must wonder

2. Back Home In Derry
In eighteen-o-three we set sail to the sea
Out from the sweet town of Derry
We were Australia bound if we didn’t all drown
The marks of our fetters we carried
In our rusty iron chains the signs of our ways
Our good women we left in sorrow
As the mainsails unfurled, our curses we hurled
On the English and thoughts of tomorrow

Oh, oh, oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Oh, oh, oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry

Going through hell as our bough fought the swell
Our ship danced like a moth in the firelight
White horses rode high as the devil passed by
Picking souls to the Hades by twilight
Fifteen weeks out to sea, we were now forty three
Comrades we buried each morning
And in our own slime we were lost in a time
Endless night without dawning

Van Diemen’s land is a hell for a man
To live out his whole life in slavery
Where the climate is raw and the gun makes the law
Neither wind nor rain care for bravery
Twenty years have gone by and I ended my bond
My comrades’ ghosts walk behind me
A rebel I came and I’m still the same
On the cold wind of night you will find me

3. My Son John
Oh, my son John was tall and slim
He had a leg for every limb
But now he's got no legs at all
They were both shot away by a cannonball

With me doo rum da
Fa de diddle da
Wack for me riddle with me doo rum da

Oh, were you deaf or were you blind
When you left your two fine legs behind
Or were you sailing on the sea
With your two fine legs right down to your knee

No, I was not deaf and I was not blind
When I left my two fine legs behind
Nor was I sailing on the sea
With me two fine legs cut down to me knee

5. Go To Sea No More
When first I landed in Liverpool, I went upon a spree
My money, alas, I spent it fast, getting drunk as drunk can be
And when me money was all gone, 'twas then I wanted more
But a man must be blind for to make up his mind
And go to sea once more

Once more, boys once more
Go to sea once more
But a man must be blind for to make up his mind
And go to sea once more

I spent the night with Angeline, too drunk to roll in bed
My watch was new and my money, too, in the morning with them she fled
And as I watched the streets about, the whores they all did roar
There goes Jack Strap, the poor sailor lad
He must go to sea once more

And as I walked the streets about, I met with Barabas Brown
I asked him for to take me home, but he looked at me with a frown
He said: Last time you was paid off, with me you got no score
But I'll give you a chance and I'll take your advance
And I'll send you to sea once more

He shipped me on board of a whaling ship, way down for the Arctic seas
Where the cold winds blow through frost and snow and Jamaica rum would freeze
If it was too bare, I could hardly care
For I'd spent all my money on shore
'Twas then that I wished that I was dead
And could go to sea no more

So come all ye bold seafaring men and listen to my song
When you come off of them long trips, I hope you'll not go wrong
Take my advice, drink no strong drinks, don't go sleepin' with them whore
But get married instead and spend all night in bed
And go to sea no more!

6. A l'Ombre Du Coeur De Ma Mie
A l’ombre du coeur de ma mie
Un oiseau c’était endormi
Un jour qu’elle faisait semblent
D’être la belle au bois dormant

Et moi me mettant à genoux
Bonne fée’s sauvegardez nous
Sur ce coeur j’ai voulu poser
Une manière de baiser

Alors cet oiseau de malheur
Se mit à crier: Au voleur
Au voleur et à l’assassin
Comme si j’en voulais a son sein

Aux appels de cet etournaux
Grand brande-bas dans Landernaux
Tout le monde et son père accourt
Aussitôt lui porter secours

Tout de rumeurs de grondement
Ont fait peur aux enchantements
Et la belle le laisse abusée
Ferma son coeur à mon baiser

Et c’est depuis ce tempts ma soeur
Que je suis devenu chasseur
Que mon arme ballête à la main
Je cours les bois et les chemins

7. She'll Never Tell You Why
On a cold November morning
The ship was lying on quay
She was bound for the Irish Sea
On this grey and icy day
The captain cried: We’re going
The men stood all on deck
They waved to their wives and children
Thinking: When will I be back?

The sea is mighty, the sea is queen
No one will deny
The sea is ruthless, she’s always been
But she’ll never tell you why

The nets went into the water
To harvest her endless grounds
The men were waiting in silence
They didn’t make a sound
Then they felt this ice-cold whisper
It went right through to the bone
Don’t take her harvest now me lads
Cause you’re out here on your own

The queen was growing angry
She didn’t want to give
She is the only ruler here
Decides who is to live
Her cold hand reached in anger
Determined to take them all
Their families are all alone
They will always hear the call

8. The Mountain
He thought the mountain, he lived on, was the top of it all
Nothing or no one was ever so tall
Never, he thought, was it ever to fall
Or crumble to dust on the road

It started out with a group, a village, a town
They thought that they really needed a crown
The crown that was chosen, the crown that was born
Already their freedom was worn

It started out with a right, a conviction, a law
They thought that they really needed the claw
The law was not chosen, the law they obeyed
Already they founded a state

It started out with a word, a quarrel, a war
When they spent more then the others spent more
But to pay for the wheels, for the wings, for the decks
The war brought on people the tax

But then the mountain came down on the road
And now it looked ever so small
No longer on top of it all
But crumbled to dust on the road

9. The Molly MaGuires
Make way for the Molly Maguires
They’re drinkers, they’re liars but they’re men
Make way for the Molly Maguires
You’ll never see the likes of them again

Down the mines no sunlight shines
Those pits they’re black as hell
In mud and slime they do their time
It’s Paddy’s prison cell
And they curse the day they travelled far
And drown their tears with a jar

Backs will break and muscles ache
Down there there’s no time to dream
Of fields, of farms, a woman’s arm
Just dig that bloody scene
Though they drain their bodies underground
Who’ll dare to push them around?

10. Billy Baby Devil
Billy and his wife were standing by the cradle
On a cold december morning in Cheyenne
She said: To feed our little child I am not able
Billy said: Don't worry, I'll do anything I can
He buckled up his holster after taking off his apron
He put away the baby-bottle and he grabbed his deadly colt
In town he stole supplies to get them through the winter
And those who tried to stop him he left cold

They called him Billy baby Devil
He was the fastest gunman in the West
Nothing ever spoke but Billy's six-shot
He pulled the trigger and the bullets did the rest
They called him Billy Baby Devil
He was the fastest gunman in the West
Nothing ever spoke but Billy's six-shot
And Billy's voice that said: I am the best

The happy family was gathered round the fireplace
After dinner Billy praised the Lord
For all the food, the warmth, the comfort He provided
Living the life he never could afford
What a shame that the Sheriff's posse had gathered round the happy house
Their barrels glistened in the low november sun
Billy loaded up hid wagon, shot his way all through the barricades
He cracked his whip and their new life had begun

After their escape they built themselves a cabin
In the mountains where no one knew their name
With fifteen children and another bun in the oven
But not a slice of bread and that really was a shame
So Billy dusted off his holster and he rounded up his sons
He said to them: It's time you learned the trade
You know, a real man wants to give his children food and warmth and shelter
Like his father did before him, that's his fate

11. Le Chant Des Livrées
Ouvrez, ouvrez la porte, Nanette ma jolie
J’ai un beau mouchoir à vous présenter
Ouvrez-moi la porte et laissez-moi rentrer

Mon père est en chagrin
Ma mère en grand tristesse
Et moi, je suis fille de trop grand merci
Pour ouvrir ma parte à cette heure ici

Ouvrez, ouvrez la porte, Nanette ma jolie
J’ai une belle crois à vous présenter
Ouvrez-moi la porte et laissez-moi rentrer

Ouvrez, ouvrez la porte, Nanette ma jolie
J’ai un beau foulard à vous présenter
Ouvrez-moi la porte et laissez-moi rentrer

Ouvrez, ouvrez la porte, Nanette ma jolie
J’ai un beau mari à vous présenter
Ouvrez-moi la porte et laissez-moi rentrer

Mon père est en chagrin
Ma mère en grand tristesse
Et moi, je suis fille de bien grand merci
Mais j’ouvrirai ma parte pour ce beau mari

12. The Irish Rover
In the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and six
We set sail from the fair Cobh of Cork
We were sailing away with a cargo of bricks
For the grand city hall in New York
We had an elegant craft, it was rigged fore and aft
And how the trade winds drove her
She had twenty-three masts and se stood several blasts
And we called her the Irish Rover

There was Barney McGee from the banks of the Lee
There was Hogan from County Tyrone
There was Johnny McGurk who was scared stiff of work
And a chap from West Meath called Malone
There was Slugger O'Toole who was drunk as a rule
And fighting Bill Trasy from Dover
And your man Mick McCann from the banks of the Bann
Was the skipper of the Irish Rover

We had one million bags of the best Sligo rags
We had two million barrels of bone
We had three million bales of old nanny goats' tails
We had four million barrels of stone
We had five million hogs and six million dogs
And seven million barrels of porter
We had eight million sides of old blind horses' hides
In the hold of the Irish Rover

For a sailor it’s always a bother in life
It’s so lonesome by night and by day
For he longs for the shore and a charming young whore
Who will take all his troubles away
All the boys and the rout
All the whiskey and stout
The fighting, it’s never over
Of the love of a maid he is never afraid
The old son of the Irish Rover

We had sailed seven years when the measles broke out
And the ship lost her way in a fog
And the whole of the crew was reduced down to two
'Twas myself and the captain's old dog
Then the ship struck a rock, Oh Lord what a terrible shock
And nearly tumbled over
Turned nine times around, then the poor old dog was drowned
I'm the last of the Irish Rover

13. The Ferryman
The little boats are gone from the breast of Anna Liffey
And the ferrymen are stranded on the quay
Sure Dublin docks is dying and a way of life is gone
And Molly, it was part of you and me

It was the only job I knew, it was hard but never lonely
The Liffey Ferry made a man of me
Now it's gone whitout a whisper and forgotten even now
Sure it's over, Molly over, can't you see

Well now I'll tend the yard and I'll spend my days in talking
And I hear them whisper: Charlie's on the dole
But Molly, we're still living and darling we're still young
And that river never owned me heart and soul

14. The Mighty Quinn
Everybody’s building up them good ships and boats
Everybody's makin' monuments
And others are jotting down notes
Everybody’s in despair, every man and boy
But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here
Everybody’s gonna jump for joy

I like to go just like the rest and I like my sugar sweet
But jumping queues and making haste
Just ain’t my cup of meat
Everybody’s beneath the trees feeding pigeons from their lap
But when Quinn the Eskimo gets here
Everybody's gonna roam to him

Cat’s meeow, cat’s meeouw, well I can recite them all
If you ever want me honey
You know who to call
Everybody’s beneath the trees feeding pigeons from their lap
But when Quinn the eskimo gets here
All the pigeons gonna roam to him

15. Ring, Ring, I've Got To Sing
Well, don't cry my baby
Don't you cry all the while
Don't cry my baby
Just give me a smile

Seen my daddy die in the war
Seen my mama a-die crying for him

Ring, ring
Well, I've got to sing
Ring, ring
Well, I've got to sing
De dam dadda de day …….

They call me a hounddog
They call me a liar
It's all 'cause of my colour
They want me to hide

They're talking about freedom
Of religion and race
But if you are a negro
They slap you in the face

So what are you fighting for
They send 'm off to sea
Well, I couldn't stand more words
I'm gonna stop free

Well, I'm still happy
So don't cry my babe
Together we'll just try for
Being free people some day

16. One More Cup Of Coffee
Your breath is sweet
Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky
Your hair is smooth and oh so soft
On the pillow where you lie
But I don't sense affection
No gratitude nor love
Your loyalty it's not to me
It's to the stars above

Your father he's an outlaw
And a gambeler by trade
He'll teach you how to pick and choose
And how to throw the blade
He oversees his kingdom
So no stranger does intrude
His voice it trembles
As he calls out for another plate of food

Your sister sees the future
Like your mama and yourself
You've never learned to read or write
There's no books upon your shelf
And your pleasure knows no limits
Your voice is like a meadowlark
But your heart is like an ocean
Mysterious and dark