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IRISH & CELTIC Tunes
A - D
ALIVE, ALIVE, OH
~ aka: MOLLY MALONE
In Dublin's fair city,
Where the girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,
As she wheeled her wheel-barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels,
alive, alive, oh!"
Chorus
"Alive, alive, oh, Alive, alive, oh,"
Crying "Cockles and mussels,
alive, alive, oh"
She was a fishmonger
But sure 'twas no wonder
For so were her father
and mother before
And they each wheel'd their barrow
Through streets broad and narrow
Crying "Cockles and mussels
alive, alive oh!"
Chorus
She died of a fever,
And no one could save her,
And that was the end
of sweet Molly Malone.
But her ghost wheels her barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels,
alive, alive, oh!"
Chorus
​
***
AULD LANG SYNE
By Robert Burns
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and to days of auld lang syne?
CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
and gie' a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak' a right gude-willie waught,
for auld lang syne.
CHORUS
(Add’l verses)
We two have run about the braes
and pulled the gowans fine.
But we've wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.
​
CHORUS
We two have paddled in the burn
from morning sun till dine.
But seas between us braid hae roared
since auld lang syne.
CHORUS
***
DANNY BOY
(aka: Londonderry Air)
Oh, Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountainside,
The summer’s gone, and all the roses falling,
It’s you, it’s you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer’s in the meadow,
Or when the valley’s hushed and white with snow,
It’s I’ll be here in sunshine or in shadow,
Oh, Danny Boy, oh Danny Boy, I love you so!
---------
But when ye come, and all the flowers are dying,
If I am dead, as dead I well may be,
Ye’ll come and find the place where I am lying,
And kneel and say an Ave there for me;
And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me,
And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be,
For you will bend and tell me that you love me,
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me!
REPEAT 1st Half of Song
fin: Oh Danny Boy, Oh Danny Boy
I Love You So
​
***
DIRTY OLD TOWN
I met my love by the gas works wall
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town… Dirty old town
Clouds are drifting across the moon
Cats are prowling on their beat
springs a girl from the streets at night
Dirty old town… Dirty old town
I heard a siren from the docks
Saw a train set the night on fire
I smelled the spring on the smoky wind
Dirty old town… Dirty old town
​
I'm gonna make me a big sharp axe
Shining steel tempered in the fire
I'll chop you down like an old dead tree
Dirty old town… Dirty old town
I met my love by the gas works wall
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town… Dirty old town
Dirty old town --- Dirty old town
***
A NATION ONCE AGAIN
When Boyhood's fire was in my blood
I read of ancient freemen.
When Greece and Rome who Bravely stood
three hundred men and three men.
And then I prayed I might yet see -
our fetters rent in twain.
And Ireland long a province be -
A Nation Once Again
CHORUS
A Nation Once Again,
A Nation Once Again
and Ireland long a province be
a nation once again
And from that time through wildest woe
that hope has shone a far light.
Nor could love's brightest glow
outshine that solemn starlight.
It seemed to watch above my head
in forum field and fane,
it's angels voice sang 'round my bed -
A Nation Once Again
CHORUS
It whispered too that freedom's ark
and service high and holy.
Would be profane by feeling dark
for passions vane or lowly.
But freedom comes from God's right hand
and needs a Godly train.
And righteous men must make our land -
A Nation Once Again
CHORUS
So as I grew from boy to man -
I bent me to that bidding.
My spirit of each selfish plan -
and cruel passion ridding
for thus, I hoped one day to aid -
oh can such hope be vain?
When my dear country shall be made -
A Nation Once Again
CHORUS
***
BALLAD OF ST. ANNE’S REEL
Aka: St. Anne’s Reel ~ David Mallett
He was stranded in some tiny town
on fair Prince Edward Island
Waiting for a ship to come and find him
A one horse place, a friendly face,
some coffee and a tiny trace
Of fiddlin' in the distance far behind him
A dime across the counter then,
a shy hello, a brand new friend
A walk along the street
in the wintry weather
A yellow light, an open door,
a 'Welcome friend, there's room for more'
And then they're standing there
inside together
He said…
'I've heard that tune before somewhere
but I can't remember when
Was it on some other friendly shore,
did I hear it on the wind
Was it written on the sky above,
I think I heard it from someone I love
But I never heard it sound
so sweet since then
How his feet begin to tap,
a little boy says 'I'll take your hat'
He's caught up in the magic of his smile.
Then leaps the heart inside him
when and off across the floor he sends
his clumsy body, graceful as a child
He said...
'There's magic in the fiddler's arms
and there's magic in this town
There's magic in the dancers' feet
and the way they put them down
Smiling people everywhere,
boots and ribbons and locks of hair
Laughter and old blue suits
and Easter gowns'
The sailor's gone, the room is bare,
the old piano's sitting there
Someone's hat's left on the rack
Some empty chairs, the wooden floor
that feels the touch of shoes no more
Waiting for the dancers to come back
And the fiddle's in the closet
of some daughter of the town
Strings are broke
and the bow is gone
and the case is buttoned down
But often on December nights,
when the air is cold and the wind is right
There's a melody
comes passing through this town
***