1. |
Michael's Ride
03:00
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2. |
Packy Go Home
06:39
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Now Packy Kildare was a kid without a care
His pal was Bucky McGrath
At the age of ten they talked like men
Feared by the rest of their class
Sister Josephine ran a clean machine
She was nobody’s fool
She’d send them down below to shovel in the coal
That heated all Saint Brendan’s school
They spilled off a spool just too cool for school
They called it a waste of time
So every other day was wasted away
By the river in their life of crime
Packy I confess you have beaten the best
With a story to tell all your own
Packy go home they’re searching for your bones
And your ma’s waiting up all alone
Yeah your ma’s waiting up all alone
Now the clever young man one day had a plan
To escape the fate he had comin’
Loading every grain of coal that furnace could hold
To keep that boiler hummin’
As the temperature soared to one thousand or more
And the pressure continued to rise
Our boys were miles away burning up another day
When the blast split the mid day sky
Packy I confess you have beaten the best
With a story to tell all your own
Packy go home they’re searching for your bones
And your ma’s waiting up all alone
Yeah your ma’s waiting up all alone
Packy’s old man was the first in command
The captain of the fire brigade
But the good Father Keane was the first on the scene
With the good sisters he did pray
When the flames were finally out they all looked about
Still searching for Packy and Buck
When neither could be found they were mourned through the town
As the heroes who ran out of luck
Packy I confess you have beaten the best
With a story to tell all your own
Packy go home wait til your dad gets home
Your ma’s waiting up all alone
Packy I confess you have beaten the best
With a story to tell all your own
Packy go home they’re searching for your bones
And your ma’s waiting up all alone
Yeah your ma’s waiting up all alone
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3. |
American Wake
04:34
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In the year of forty seven a new tradition came home
From necessity came a brand new name
For the hunger that stalked their bones
They got their affairs in order
And gathered their friends around
What was left of the food and the whiskey too
Was rounded up from this town
Well they listened to the lies and the stories
A last chance to look them in the eye
Like a walking corpse behind the horse
And you didn’t even get to die
An American Wake was all they had
They never went back to their native land
They left to find a place to stand
With everything they could take
But first they had to face their American Wake
Well the Brits all said it was coming
The famine was willed by God
The Tory crimes of the London Times
Sent many to die in the fog
Some gave gifts for the journey
Some only had tears and a prayer
An eleven week ride when they caught the tide
If they even lived halfway there
An American Wake was all they had
They never went back to their native land
They left to find a place to stand
With everything they could take
First they had to face their American Wake
Then a jig was danced, a one last chance
For the father to face the son
As the keener wailed they could count the sails
In the rising of the sun
There were blessings and toasts, they buried old ghosts
And they drank to the now and then
As the minutes passed by they tried to deny
They would never see Ireland a
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4. |
Moore Street Girls
05:10
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I walk along the cobbled streets of Dublin in the rain
The Man selling papers I ask him if he’s heard her name
Notorious are the stories you have to meet the girls
If you ask a sailor they’re known around the world
You can meet them on the corner
They are the Moore Street girls
This is the street their world
Their seducing smiles are nothing you’ll ever know
They will allure you they’ll put you in a trance
Before you know it you’ll be tapping the street
Doin’ an Irish dance
It’s said they have the power to sell a map to a salmon
The tourist from the desert goes home with a bucket of Sandymount sand
Fresh fruit and veggies smelly fish they have them all
Their sad and hardened faces still they smile and have a ball
They’ll make you buy your dog a dozen roses
They are the Moore Street girls
This is the street their world
Their seducing smiles are nothing you’ll ever know
They will allure you they’ll put you in a trance
Before you know it you’ll be tapping the street
Doin’ an Irish dance
Where have all the girls all gone?
We used to love them used to listen to their dirty Dublin songs
Where have all the girls all gone?
They can be grumpy still we love them
Oh what a shame
I stopped and talked to Rosie, I asked her would she sing me a song
She turned to me with angry eyes I ask her Rosie what is wrong?
The foreigners in the market, the vermin of the world
With all their ugly faces from lands you’ve never heard
Oh what a shame you’ll never know them
Oh what a shame you’ll never know them
They are the Moore Street girls
This is the street their world
Their seducing smiles are nothing you’ll ever know
They will allure you they’ll put you in a trance
Before you know it you’ll be tapping the street
Doin’ an Irish dance
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5. |
Love of the Century
06:19
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If you could only see her face one time against the green blue sea
And hear the pipes at sunset I know you would believe
They say she launched a thousand ships and a hundred billion tears
And in this leaky boat I’ve been nye on forty years
I’ve seen the light in her eyes and drowned in her mystery
And I’ve seen those who gave up the ghost
For the Love of the Century
In this holy mercy light that shines on every man
Who had a heart to give away to reach the promised land
Is there any man among us a hundred thousand strong
A nation full of broken hearts can all of us be wrong
To climb every mountain high sail every ocean deep
Spend a life roving never be holding
The Love of the Century
She walks the cliffs of County Cork the ocean down below
Dreaming’ of a love she lost a long long time ago
His legend was a captain brave that went down with his crew
On the jagged rocks of Migen Head and a son he never knew
He built castles in her name though she had no other need
But one more chance to be safe in the arms
Of the Love of the Century
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6. |
Turnpike
05:00
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7. |
Send a Prayer
05:35
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The sirens wailed at midnight in that old Viking town
We all ran out to Princess Street to see what’s goin’ down
The train pulled in from Gorey at twenty after one
And seven hours later the dirty work was done
The sailors stumbled down to the river
They were all three sheets to the wind
There’s a name for them out in Milwaukee
But in Queenstown we just call ‘em Jim
Casting off from the docks at a half past three
They made off for the open sea
Out into the black if they’re never comin’ back
With the ghost from the past they were hoping to see
The ladies stumbled down to the river
They were all three sheets to the wind
So they dreamed up a demon and gave it a name
Just to have someone to blame
With no battle to fight they sailed into the night
With only one mission in mind
As many have tried and many have died
They were only racing the tide
Their heroes had left them behind
Strung out on the decks with nowhere to hide
Heads filled with stories of fish that could fly
And rumors of dragons that would not die
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8. |
Haverty Brothers
03:44
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In a land so long ago when the giants walked the globe
There is a tale of two men and a dog
They were bigger than a tree and stronger than a rock
They’d guzzle gallons of porter and sleep just like a log
When they walked into the room the barman with his broom
Looks in the mirror and sees a dirty smile
Then the glass falls to the ground there’s havoc all around
The brother Havertys are plastered run a mile
No one knows when a storm is comin’
With just one look we hope and pray that the sun will shine
But the curse of the drink we’re mighty men or so we think
There’s one more demon in a dirty glass of wine
When the dust all settles down the boys go and earn a pound
Its peace and quite it’s safe to walk the streets
The boys are in the hole and there’re digging piles of coal
Tonight they’ll stay at home and feel the heat
No one knows when a storm is comin’
With just one look we hope and pray that the sun will shine
But the curse of the drink we’re mighty men or so we think
There’s one more demon in a dirty glass of wine
I know they will be sorry when they wake up in the morn
Last night they had so many friends and now there’re all alone
Like all good men they mean well with hearts as good as gold
But the poison in the Barley the Devil sold
Well they feared none but one my Granny was the one
She’d whack ‘em across the arse with a big fat stick
For the sake of fragile pride the boys would run and hide
The brother Havertys, wise Eamon and young Mick
Well, no one knows when a storm is comin’
With just one look we hope and pray that the sun will shine
But the curse of the drink we’re mighty men or so we think
There’s one more demon in a dirty glass of wine
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9. |
1849
05:46
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They traveled across the angry sea in 1849
With all that they could carry
They traveled sick they traveled blind
Their home the starving island just a photo in their mind
They buried the dead at sea, winter 1849
The captain was a sailing man respected in his time
He’d made the journey twice before and almost lost his life
The hardest part was choosing who would sail and who would die
Left stranded with the hunger of 1849
They left behind the clans who’d been together a thousand years
With music and the memories ringing in their ears
They brought with them tradition and the will to work and die
In the land known for freedom, soil and sky
The memories of the loved ones, who were swallowed by the sea
Handed down from father to son along with a rosary
One black bead for every soul forever lost in time
Who never heard the New Year’s bell of 1849
They left behind the clans who’d been together a thousand years
With music and the memories ringing in their ears
They brought with them tradition and the will to work and die
In the land known for freedom, soil and sky
His name was Patrick Mulligan his eyes were steely blue
He lost his wife to famine and a younger son too
I know we’ll be united in the Lord’s good time
And hear the tales of family in 1849
They left behind the clans who’d been together a thousand years
With music and the memories ringing in their ears
They brought with them tradition and the will to work and die
In the land known for freedom, soil and sky
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10. |
Brettski's Medley
07:13
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11. |
Buzz's Jig
04:46
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Over the fields and far away spread your wings and fly away
Free your body free your soul lay’er down and let ‘er roll
Don’t you dare cast a blame cloudy skies are bound to rain
Listen you can hear the sound tonight the boys are layin’ it down
Love may be hard and love may be cruel
We're almost there now don't be a fool
Long dark roads that lead nowhere
Give way to better days
Over the fields and far away spread your wings and fly away
Listen you can hear the sound tonight the girls are coming ‘round
If the world could learn to dance the world would stand a better chance
Let the healing song begin hand to hand and skin to skin
Let the spirit take the day give yourself up to the sway
Move your body to the sound lift your feet up off the ground
Lay down your arms come away from the brink
Open your heart and let it sing
If he never intended for us to fly
Why’d he give us these wings
Over the fields and far away spread your wings and fly away
Free your body free your soul lay’er down and let ‘er roll
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12. |
Fire in the Hole
04:47
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Now the last ten years I've worked in the mines
Counting the hours of the day
‘Til I could wash off the dust from my bones
And spend what's left of my pay
Oh I wish I was back in the company store
With a local girl on my arm
Where a pint and a kiss and a fiddler's reel
Could keep me safe and warm
It's fire in the hole man run for your life
A long blue vein of coal
Out of the dark and into the light
A dollar a day to sell your soul
And live through the fire in the hole
Well I'm fumblin' now for words to say
What's caught behind my tongue
‘Cus I'm shaky now 'bout all the things
I knew when I was young
Just dreamin' tonight that I'm wide awake
A thousand feet under the ground
And a thousand souls under all that weight
Of heaven pressing us down
It's fire in the hole man run for your life
A long blue vein of coal
Out of the dark and into the light
A dollar a day to sell your soul
And live through the fire in the hole
Now a nation will rise from the work we do
Making millionaires night and day
So I'll sign us up with the union man
To get us the rest of our pay
Now we'll strike every day if it comes to that
I coughed every night for a year and a half
We'll meet them at the gates with bullets and some mates
And a few men won't come back
It's fire in the hole man run for your life
A long blue vein of coal
Out of the dark and into the light
A dollar a day to sell your soul
And live through the fire in the hole
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13. |
Devil's Tongue
06:52
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Help me God, to kill the Devil’s tongue
The sins of father, sins of the son
You really had a plan when you cursed every man
With everything he had to have but one
A bullet that could kill the Devil’s tongue
They say what goes in is bad enough, but what comes out is death
Let’s hunt it down and kill it before it takes another breath
It’ll sew the seeds of darkness, sew the seeds of doubt
And block the truth from ever getting out
If you had a chance to take it back you’d lay your money down
With a fighting chance to offer up forgiveness by the pound
We’ve all been down that street before and up that creek as well
Just running from what we can’t ever tell
So help me God, to kill the Devil’s tongue
The sins of father, sins of the son
You really had a plan when you cursed every man
With everything he had to have but one
A bullet that could kill the Devil’s tongue
Some times she’s just a whisper with whiskey on her breath
Like a smoke ring through the key hole creeping in like death
Sometimes she is a fog horn, sounding in the dark
Drowning all the darkness in her heart
So help me God, to kill the Devil’s tongue
The sins of father, sins of the son
You really had a plan when you cursed every man
With everything he had to have but one
A bullet that could kill the Devil’s tongue
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The Elders Kansas City, Missouri
The Elders were founded in 1998 by six musicians with a passion for music rooted in Irish jigs & reels & American folk rock. Their original songs offer delightful story lines, with vibrant narratives that explore history, legends, tall tales and true-life experiences ... more
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