BOOZE & RIOTS

Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 60, my dear and loving son John Your good friend the schoolmaster Pat McNamara's so good As to write these words down Your brothers have all gone to find work in England The house is so empty and sad The crop of potatoes is sorely infected A third to a half of them bad And your sister Brigid and Patrick O'Donnell Are going to be married in June Your mother says not to work on the railroad And be sure to come on home soon Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 70, dear and loving son John Hello to your Mrs and to your four children May they grow healthy and strong Michael has got in a wee bit of trouble I guess that he never will learn Because of the dampness there's no turf to speak of And now we have nothing to burn And Brigid is happy you named a child for her Although she's got six of her own You say you found work, but you don't say What kind or when you will be coming home Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 80, dear Michael and John, my sons I'm sorry t...

I'm an ordinary man, nothing special nothing grand I've had to work for everything I own I never asked for a lot, I was happy with what I got Enough to keep my family and my home Now they say that times are hard and they've handed me my cards They say there's not the work to go around And when the whistle blows, the gates will finally close Tonight they're going to shut this factory down Then they'll tear it d-o-w-n I never missed a day nor went on strike for better pay For twenty years I served them best I could Now with a handshake and a cheque it seems so easy to forget Loyalty through the bad times and through good The owner says he's sad to see that things have got so bad But the captains of industry won't let him lose He still drives a car and smokes his cigar And still he takes his family on a cruise, he'll never lose Well it seems to me such a cruel irony He's richer now then he ever was before Now my cheque is spent and I can't affor...

Say hey Johnny boy The battle call United we stand, divided we fall Together we are What we can't be alone We came to this country You made it our home This man so humble This man so brave A legend to many He fought to his grave Saved family and friends From the hardship and horror In a land of depression He gave hope for tomorrow Say Johnny me boy This one's for you With the strength of many And the courage of few To what do we owe this man Who's fight was for the masses He gave his life Say hey Johnny boy The battle call United we stand, divided we fall Together we are What we can't be alone We came to this country You made it our home A friend to the locals who dabbled in crime He'd give you a job And he'd give you his time He wasn't a crook But he couldn't be conned Jon knew the difference between right and wrong Say Johnny me boy You live here no longer Others forgotten Your memory's stronger Let's drink to the causes in your life,. Your fam...

On the fourth of July, eighteen-hundred and six We set sail from the sweet Cobh of Cork We were sailing away with a cargo of bricks For the grand City Hall in New York ' Twas a wonderful craft, she was rigged fore and aft And oh, how the wild wind drove her She'd got several blasts, she had twenty-seven masts And they called her The Irish Rover We had one million bags of the best Sligo rags We had two million barrels of stones We had three million sides of old blind horses hides We had four million barrels of bones We had five million hogs, we had six million dogs Seven million barrels of porter We had eight million bails of old nanny goat's tails In the hold of 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 man from Westmeath called Malone There was Slugger O'Toole who was drunk as a rule And fighting Bill Treacy from Dover And your man, Mick McCann from the...

Jimmy won't you please come home Where the grass is green and the buffaloes roam Come see Jimmy, your uncle Jim and your auntie Jim and your cousin Jim Come home Jimmy 'cause you need a bath And your grandpa Jimmy is still gone daft Now there's buffalo Jim and buffalo Jim And Jim buffalo now didn't you know Jim Jim Jimmy its your last cigarette But there's buffalo piss, it's all kind of wet Jambo Jimmy you'd better hold your nose All roads lead to roam with the buffaloes And the Buffaloes used to say be proud of your name The Buffaloes used to say be what you are The Buffaloes used to say roam where you roam The Buffaloes used to say do what you do Well you've gotta have a wash but you can't clean your name You're not called Jimmy you'll be Jimmy just the same The keys are in the bag in the chest by the door One of Jimmy's friends has taken the floor Jimmy won't you please come home Where the grass is green and the buffaloes roam Dea...

Je voudrais sans la nommer vous parler d'elle Comme d'une bien aimée, d'une infidèle Une fille bien vivante qui se réveille À des lendemains qui chantent sous le soleil C'est elle que l'on matraque Que l'on poursuit, que l'on traque C'est elle qui se soulève Qui souffre et se met en grève C'est elle qu'on emprisonne Qu'on trahit , qu'on abandonne Qui nous donne envie de vivre Qui donne envie de la suivre Jusqu'au bout, jusqu'au bout Je voudrais sans la nommer lui rendre hommage : Jolie fleur du mois de mai ou fruit sauvage Une plante bien plantée sur ses deux jambes Et qui traîne en liberté où bon lui semble C'est elle que l'on matraque Que l'on poursuit, que l'on traque C'est elle qui se soulève Qui souffre et se met en grève Je voudrais sans la nommer vous parler d'elle : Bien-aimée ou mal-aimée, elle est fidèle ; Et si vous voulez que je vous la présente On l'appelle Révolution permanente   C'est...

 Oh, me name is Joe McDonnell, from Belfast town I came A city I will never see again For in the town of Belfast, I spent many happy days I love that town in oh, so many ways For it's there I spent my childhood, and found for me a wife I then set out to make for her a life But all my young ambitions met with bitterness and hate I soon found myself inside a prison gate And you dare to call me a terrorist, while you look down your gun When I think of all the deeds that you had done You had plundered many nations, divided many lands You had terrorised their peoples, you ruled with an iron hand And you brought this reign of terror to my land Then one cold October's morning, trapped in a lions' den I found myself imprisoned once again I was committed to the H-Blocks for fourteen years or more On the blanket, the conditions, they were poor Then a hunger strike we did commence, for the dignity of man But it seemed to me that no-one gave a damn But now I am a saddened man, I've...