DUBLIN FAIR LYRICS

Alien Cars - Harvest Moon - Paddy and Jock - Jamboree - Day by day - I’ll Tell Me Ma - The Snug - California

Will-O-Ways - Smalltown Lullaby - The Leaving Of Liverpool - Ice man - Copper Kettle - Faerum - Fisher Davie - Canada - The ocean

Strange sad Story - Now and ever after - Red is the Rose - Summer hill - Midsummer Dream

Alien Cars

(LEIF HERTZ) ARR. BY DUBLIN FAIR

As I crawled from the pub one summers eve
I caught a glimse of something
through the dazzling leaves
The strangest car I had ever seen
Far from the highways in the forest green

With a door wide open inviting me
I just had to give in to curiosity
Lights were flashing all around
As I turned the key and it left the ground

There is life on Venus and Mars
I've been driving alien cars

Well I now you must think I am raving mad
But this is not a story from my head
I've seen the life they lead on Mercury
I've seen the latest in alien technology

Underneath the Harvest Moon
(LEIF HERTZ) ARR. BY DUBLIN FAIR

My mind is flowing like a river
Dogs and dreamers will not sleep tonight
I am a rover I'm a hunter
I'll keep on searching 'til the morning light

Stumbling through the backdoor into heaven
Underneath the harvest moon
There is a treasure hidden somewhere in the twilight

Underneath the harvest moon there is a tune
I've gotta croon howl at the moon

I'm drifting far from shallow waters
All of my dreams are going overseas
There are no boundaries no borders
I'll keep on praying for this night to never cease

Hold back the dawn and stall the night
Hold back the dawn and stall the night
I'm not prepared to see the light

Paddy and Jock
(JOHN McCAFFREY)

Paddy drew dole in London
With Jock from Glasgow town
Still fighting for a future
From a squat in Brixton town
Oul Jack was feeling restless
Being tired of fucked around
A Paddy me mate I've had enough
Lets split this stinking hole

Well they wired a car in Chelsea
And chrashed outside Witham
Got a lift from a good old German guy
On his way to Amsterdam
Bought a one way ticket to nowhere
They left it all behind
With whiskey and gin from the duty free
You could hear those banshees howl

Paddy and Jock had a rare old time
A smoking dope and drinking wine
With the hair of a dog lost track of time
And forgot about their sorrows

And the changes were amazing
When they finally crawled ashore
There were the tulips growing left and right
And windmills by the score
Oul Jack he found a coffee shop
And much to his surprise
For he fell in love with a tough fräulein
Who walked it nine to five

The jobs were all a plenty
And Paddy did his time
Bashing asbest in some engine room
For a four and twenty five
Oul Jack he made it cushy
Filled his pocket full of dope
Sold camel shit to the John Bull cunts
Just to hear those bastards choke

Paddy headed for the northern lights
For a lovers rendezvous
Jock was taking A and H
To supress his scottish blues
Must have thought he was an eagle
When he climbed up on the roof
Six storeys high to the oul ground floor
It took him one point two

Jamboree
(TRAD. ARR: DUBLIN FAIR)

Now me lads be of good cheer
For the lrish coast will soon draw near
Then we’ll set a course for old Cape Clear
Jenny get your oatcakes done

And now Cape Clear it is in sight
We’ll be off Holyhead by tomorrow night
And we’ll steer a course for the old Rock Light
Jenny get your oatcakes done

Whip Jamboree whip Jamboree
Your pig tailed sailor boys hanging down behind
Whip Jamboree whip Jamboree
Jenny get your oatcakes done

And now me lads we’re off Holyhead
No more salt beef or weevily bread
One man in the chains for to heave the lead
Jenny get your oatcakes done

And next we’re rounding fort Perch Rock
All hammocks lashed and all chests locked
We’ll haul her into Waterloo Dock
Jenny get your oatcakes done

And now me lads we’re all in dock
We’ll be off to Dan Lowry’s on the spot
And there we’ll shop a big pint pot
Jenny get your oatcakes done

Day by day
(HANS PETTERSSON)

Like I wanted it to be
Something everyone should see
That happiness would start
And end the day it came to be
Thought that we were two with that feeling
Then a cold December day
She came home for to say
She’s been to see a doctor
And she’s taking it away
And we were better off with nothing

But I never felt that way
No I never felt that way
In all it’s just another christmas
Day by day

In a while she understood
Which I never thought she would
That somethings changed
Something is dead
Nothing that we
Could bring back to life again
Then December seventeen she packed
Her bags to leave
She wrote a note and locked the door
Then she dropped the key
She wrote it was all for the better

I tried to see things clear
But when ever she’s not here
I turn myself to loneliness
And to all my fears
I always was in love
With that feeling
But not a lonely christmas eve
But hopeful as can be
Ask her in a cautious way
If she would marry me
So much love and
nowhere to turn to

I’ll Tell Me Ma
(TRAD.ARR: DUBLIN FAIR)

I’ll tell me ma when I go home
The boys won’t leave the girls alone
They pulled me hair and broke my comb
Well that’s alright til I go home
She is handsome she is pretty
She is the girl from Belfast City
She is counting one two three
Please won’t you tell me who is she

Albert Mooney says he loves her
And all the boys are fighting for her
They knock at her door and ring at her bell
Saying o me true love are you well
Out she comes white as snow
Rings on her fingers bells on her toes
Oul Johnny Murrey says she’ll die
If she doesn’t get the fellow with the roving eye

Let the wind and the rain and the hail blow high
Let the snow come tumbling from the sky
She’s as nice as apple pie
She’ll get her own lad by and by
When she gets a lad of her own
She won’t tell her ma when she comes home
Let them all come as they will
For it’s Albert Mooney she love still

The Snug
(JOHN McCAFFREY)

On the north side of Dublin
Just beyond the Phoenix Park
There’s a wee oul pub
We call the Snug
And it’s run by Bonny Leif 0 Heartz
It’s made of northern timber
It’s seen its better days
But come inside you’ll be surprised
They’ll dance you in and out again

Roll me home boy
Through this rainy Dublin weather
Roll me home lads
And lay me in my bed
Misty morning sun
Caresses Anna Liffey
And a new day calls again

A Tuesday night it’s full of life
The smoke hangs thick and dreamy
When the jockeys and the bookies
From, the race course they get steamy
With laughs and lies a shouting
They relive the days events

Til Leify cries ”Last drinks boys
Drink up your stout and raus...”

It’s the centre of the world
On a Saturday afternoon
With the coppers and corpo
And they all in bloody tune
With cleargy black as porter
As they drink their creamy pints
And Leify eyes show no surprise
When the Snug becomes a confession box

The summer is barmy
When the tourist they all come
They dancing on the tables
And singing rebel songs
Oul Micke in the corner
Sure he likes the skandie girls
With a guten tag and ra ta ta
Now would you like to blow me flute

California
(LYRICS: JOHN McCAFFREY.
MUSIC: TRAD. ARR BY Dublin Fair

Sailing high tide from Durban Town
Heave away Santa Anno
Around Cape Horn to the Fresco Bay
And home to California

She's a fine cutty ship with a bloody good crew
Heave away Santa Anno
A god damn yankee for her captain too
Lead us on to California

So heave her up and away we go
Heave away Santa Anno
Heave her up and away we go
Way up to California

Diamonds and gold her cargo grand
Heave away Santa Anno
Keep them safe from pirates hands
Til we reach old California

Black flag sighted she's starboard bound
Heave away Santa Anno
Load them cannons fire first round
Pray God we reach California

Captain Blood and his pirate crew
Heave away Santa Anno
Made old Santy meet her Waterloo
Way up to California

No surrender his last command
Heave away Santa Anno
Left Santa's crew dying on the sands
Long way from California

Will-O-Ways
(THOMAS LARSSON-ALMBERG)

I waved my goodbye to the trains passing by
With my hair getting wet by the autumn rain
And I thought of the past when things were going to fast

I guess that God has his ways with the ones who have failed

The leaves and the bees and the birds in the trees

Are all gone like the one that I love so strong
So I waved my goodbye to the trains passing by
To the cars and in the vain to the aeroplanes

And I prayed yes I prayed
If that way was the way
And I prayed yes I prayed
Or the wrong one for you and for us
Where there's a will there's a way

I laughed and I cried as my life passed me by
And again all in vain in the autumn rain
'cause the fact still remains that I'm lonely again

For as the autumn leaves she just did as she pleased

But I wait and I wait
If that way was the way
And I prayed yes I prayed
Not the wrong one for you and for us
Where there's a will there's a way

When we first met I knew she was one of a kind
I just smiled and said ”How do you do?”
Could we two commense kiss away our defense
I am drunk but I think you are too
And we sang and we danced 'til the morning was young

And we clapped our hands to the bang on the drum
And we knew this night was ment to last for good

Smalltown Lullaby
(LEIF HERTZ) ARR. BY DUBLIN FAIR

I stood there upon this old bridge of stone
The sun was sinking low
I was brutaly kissed by a cold breath of mist
As she danced upon the flow

I then closed my eyes retrieving your smile
My heart was set afloat
I wrote you this song now I send it along
On a midnight train of thoughts

Quietly the river floated by
Carrying a smalltown lullaby

See the old man with oars in his hand
Go fishing for a dream
Meanwhile the ghost of an old river boat
Surfaced on the stream

The Leaving Of Liverpool
(TRAD. ARR: DUBLIN FAIR)

Farewell to you my own true love
I am sailing far away
I am bound for California
But I know that I'll return some day

So farewell my own true love
For when I return uniten we will be
It's not the leaving of Liverpool that grieves me
But my darling when think of thee

I have shiped on a yankee sailing ship
Davy Crocket is her name
And her captains name is Burgees
And they say she is a floating hell

The sun lies on the harbour
And I wish I could remain
For I know it shall be
Such a long long time
Before I see you again

Ice Man
The sun shone brightly on the valley green
She danced and played in the young spring leaves
and the lark he sang a merry song for all down in the valley
A shepherd kissed his love goodbye
and made his way to the mountain side
with his herd of goats he'd make the clime to the high and lushly meadows
chorus
O fear not my love for I hear you calling
The stars fell to meet him soon he would be home
O sleep not my love for I here you calling
The stars fell to meet him soon he would be home
It was high above the world he climb
and his thoughts did wander far and wide
to his new wed love and their baby child waiting in the valley
The trail was long but he knew it well, he walked it time and time again
In a month or two he'd be home again to his love down in the valley
He was high upon the mountain side
when the snow did fall from a clear blue sky
The wind it howled a banshee cry the shepherd he was weary
Beside a stone he did lay softly dreams they came to stay
and the lark he sang and the sun she played
For all down in the valley
Text Music: Mc Caffrey/ Lindström. Arr Dublin Fair /

COPPER KETTLE
Get you a copper kettle, get you a copper coal
cover with new made corn-mush and never more you'll toil
my daddy, he made whiskey, and my granddaddy he did too
but we ain't paid no whisky tax, since 1792
chorus
you just lay there by the juniper, while the moon is bright
watch them jugs a-filling, in the pale moon light
build you a fire with hickory, hickory, ash and oak
but don't use no green or rotten wood, they'll get you by the smoke

Faerum
Were traffic sings are long since gone
a hundred miles away from home
A tavern by the old main road
were people use to come and go
I sat down for a while to have a drink
and listen to the old ones
talk about the weather reminisce
off how it use to be,
how things were done when we were young
chorus
Faerum faerum fellareum faerum..
An old man next to me just had to tell the story of his life
he told me when he first came to this place
and off his hopes and dreams
Now a days my only need is to find some peace
I'll have another drink then I'll go home
For I've been here since the day
since I was washed up on these shores
And some outlive their hopes and dreams
I've still got bags unpacked
They day I leave I'll leave them all behind
your truly has been waiting for
a breath of life from the old main road
but all I ever do is reminisce
off how it use to be
how things were done when we were young
Text/music Larsson-Almberg: Arr Dublin Fair

Fisher Davie
Well he threw his net in the early morn
Drinking bright and early
To catch a glint of the rising sun
Where are you fisher Davie
and to the east in the dawning sky
Drinking bright and early
A ship it sailed the ocean wide
in search of fisher Davie.
Chorus
For a fishing man can never die
He just sails away
No a fishing man can never die
sail on sail away.
Now with the first throw of his net
Drinking bright and early
Three golden fishes he did catch
Good on ye fisher Davie
and from the ocean dept did swim
Drinking bright and early
a mermaid with a silver ring
For old man fisher Davie
Now with that ship well he did sail
Drinking bright and early
With mates of old from bygone days
so long fisher Davie
Dark nights upon the ocean wide
Drinking bright and early
You may see that ship a drifting by
Sail on fisher Davie
Text Music: Mc Caffrey/ Lindström. Arr Dublin Fair

Canada
Standing by my window watching
the first spring rain falling.
School children running their way home
early evening lights reflecting
Canada you've been good to me
my life's been such a journey
Falling through the years that have gone
I still burn with a yearning
Fall on through back to you
chorus
Mountains will fall seas run dry
Deep through the ages we fly
Mountains will fall seas run dry
Our love will one day unite
Memories of you my love
still live a life of their own
Though the years have come and gone
inside I still wait tomorrow
Walking down quite country lanes
never asking what was to come
Making love in the warm summer grass
O how hearts they did burn
Break on through back to you
Happy was the pipers song
on that blue Belfast morning
Down on the docks people wave their goodbyes
and we parted with a promise
In a month or two you'd follow
in Canada we'd break new ground
But few were the days you had to your name
and love was laid to ground
Fall on through back to you
Text/Music: Mc Caffrey/ Lindström. Arr Dublin Fair

The Ocean
I am a doggie rover with a price upon my head,
so I joined aboard a skipper to see the world instead.
With the stormy seas around me and a albatross on high
I sailed from the prisons holes of London.
I've worked to a sweat in the rain and sun and snow
from the cold shores of Greenland to warm shores of Mexico.
chorus
Lets take a drink for the ocean
and one for the skipper of The Great America
Whisky galore for the ocean
and to all of you lassies we bid you farewell.
Many are the years now I have spent at sea
and plenty are the times I've cursed the life I've lived
standing on a ten hour watch in the stormy barren seas
I've longed for the prison holes of London.
I've worked to a sweat in the rain and sun and snow
from the cold shores of Greenland to warm shores of Mexico
chorus
While off the coast of Frisko my destiny I did meet
when a great big bloody wave dig knock me of me feet
although I go to meet my death I'm happy that I'll die
away from the prison holes of London
I've worked to a sweat in the rain and sun and snow
from the cold shores of Greenland to warm shores of Mexico.
Text/Music: Mc Caffrey/ Lindström. Arr Dublin Fair

Strange Sad Story
'Twas early one morning by the lakes of Killarney
Young Oisan was watching the summer sun rise
When out of the mist a white steed came running
and on his back was a maiden so fine
Her clothes were adorned with gold and silver
Such beauty has never been seen in this land
I've come she said for the hand of young Oisan
the poet of Eire's magical Isle
chorus
For love is a strange sad story
Takes you on a timeless journey
but as the river gently flows
we'll one day meet the sea
So fill my cup with loves strange story
sweeten it with your body
I fear no void nor ocean deep
when I'm in your arms.
She sang him a song and the world fell to silence
bewitched by the sound of her sweet golden voice
and up on the steed young Oisin he mounted
with the speed of the wind they left Irelands green isle
For three days and nights they road over the ocean
till they sighted at last the land of the young
and the memories of Finn and the lakes of Killarney
all faded away in the morning sun
chorus
The years were like days three hundred and ten
and deeper in love with Niam he fell
but the call of the hunt did wake his deep slumber
once more to his home land he must travel again
O Oisin my love now give me this promise
at never set foot on Irelands fair shore
but while helping some men he fell from the saddle
and turned to dust by the lakes of Killmore
Text/Music: Mc Caffrey/ Larsson-Almberg. Arr Dublin Fair

Now and Ever After
'Twas a morning fair when I walked out
down by Greenwood meadows.
Fairies danced in the misty dew
and the sun she chased the shadows.
By Spencil Hill I chanced to spy,
a maid so quite adoring
so sweetly she sang Avondale
it set my hearth a roving.
chorus
Love it fell out of the blue
and I went tumbling after.
I only want to be with you
for now and ever after.
Her hair was black as a ravens wing,
her eyes were deep blue oceans
Skin was purest lily white
she set my heart a roving.
Boldly then she took my hand
my love she whispered gently,
come follow me to Avondale
where you and I shall marry
chorus
Like the morning mist she danced her way
down through Greenwood valley.
And in the sky the sun she rose
and chased the nightly shadows.
I stopped to pick a rose so red
to give to my true loved one,
but when I looked the mist was gone
and so was my lover.
Text/Music: Mc Caffrey/ Lindström. Arr Dublin Fair

Red is The Rose
Red is the rose which bloomed the summer
soft was its touch just like your hand
Clear was the stream by where I found it
Far was the mystical land
and like the end of a long hot journey
to sit and rest in the cool of shade
Gently awake with you beside me
Whispering softly my name
chorus
Dreams they fly , dreams they fall
Some fill your heart some leave you nothing at all
Dreams they fly, dreams they fall
Red is the rose and in my heart it calls.
Deep was the woods through which I followed
Dark was the cave through which I crawled
Sad was the song of my acceptance
Long was that night to dawn
and like the end of a long hot journey
to sit and rest in the cool of shade
Gently awake with you beside me
Whispering softly my name.
chorus
Red is the rose which blooms this summer
Soft is the touch love of your hand
Clear is the stream now where its planted
Here is that mystical land.
Text/Music: Mc Caffrey/ Lindström. Arr Dublin Fair

Summer Hill
I went down to Summer hill and laid upon my back
in the green green grass and clover.
I listened to the wee birds as they sang a merry song
it's a hard life to be a rover.
But with a fiver in your pocket and whisky in your sack
Your worries leave your mind getting pissed there on your back.
O the sun she shines on the rich and poor
but after five years on the dole
you cant be fucking sure.
chorus
I wish I was in Camden town
at the old queens head where the pints go down
With the cards the darts and a sing along
to paddy on the railway.
Here I am at summer hill I'm out of work no place to live
and the only thing that keeps me warm
is whisky on a dole day.
We'd all be bloody dead by now if it wasn't for the few
who serve in the good lords army
A friendly word and a bowl of soup in the cold damp London air
is the price we still pay for Maggie
From a room with friends and laughter to the outskirts of this life
ten thousand lives to poverty for your market prices was right
O the sun she shines on the rich and poor
but with the devil on your back
you cant be bloody sure.
chorus
Here I sit on summer hill the lights below me shine
it's a cold October evening.
Running through my poisoned brain I see my passed unwind
and the path that lies before me
May the road rise up to meet you whatever you may do
for I ain't got no answers so I'll leave it up to you
That the sun may shine on the rich and poor
and after five years on the dole
you still can be sure.
Text/Music: Mc Caffrey: Arr Dublin Fair

Midsummer Dream
I awoke when the moon was high
silver path in a shimmering light
a spell to cast on this night in June
now she sleeps no time to lose
Through the fields where the fairies dance
flowers and herbs for to form a trance
and from the hill of my desire
shadows grow by an open fire
chorus
Dance through the misty dew down by the glen
Wait for the morning sun chanting your name
Flowers from the mountain side float on a stream
mystical northern light mid summer dream.
Their she stood by yon silver stream
long black hair danced in the breeze
on its banks now we did lay
deep in love till the break of day
chorus
Curlew cried its lonesome tune
to the dying off the moon
I awoke by the kitchen fire
'twas all a dream love inspired
Text/Music: Mc Caffrey/ Lindström. Arr Dublin Fair