Down East Day
G. Simmons (SOCAN)

Down on the eastern coast, ruled by the ocean
Fair weather, foul weather, everybody knows
That just to stay afloat, come winter spring or summer
All hands say "c'mon that's just the way it goes"

CHORUS:
Pass around that battered 6-string
Plank 'er down, let the fiddle play
Tired, but not complainin'
At the end of a down east day

Someone on an old banjo will get it all together
A box with a single row, you got it in your bones
Tried to change the old tunes
But you find it don't get better
Cause everybody knows some things are carved in stone

CHORUS

Freezin' in the cold, holes in your sweater
On a big city sidewalk, pennies to your name
Or diggin' lots of gold, ah ya couldn't do much better
You still got that home blood, that eternal flame

CHORUS


Sure It's All the Same
G. Simmons (SOCAN)

I went out on Friday night t'drown the weekday blues
Woke up with a pumpkin head and someone else's shoes
The ringin' of the doorbell was more than I could stand
There stood an old school buddy with a bottle in his hand

CHORUS:
He said "do you take a drink? Would you like a little nip?
Down on the corner there's a sweet lass there we'll join her for a pint or two"
He was twistin' on me arm; I had to give in to the pain
Sure I'll have a drink, sure I'll have a pint, sure it's all the same

Sunday morning passed me, I woke up in the fits
Moseyed down to Ches's for a feed of fish & chips
Someone said "you're lookin' poorly", and I was feelin' poorly too
He said "pick up that sorry face cause I got just the thing for you"

CHORUS

Got to work on Monday, got to work on time
Standin' up and freezin' on the cold cold cuttin' line
Boss said "what's the matter, are ya dyin' with the flu"?
Whadda ya say we get away for the day, just me and you

CHORUS


Dance, Dance, Dance
S. Miller/J. Cooper/B. Cooper

She loves to dance and sing some too
I don't know but I've been told
If you keep on dancin' you'll never grow old
Come on darlin' put a pretty dress on
We're gonna go out tonight

CHORUS:
Dance, dance, dance
Dance, dance, dance
Dance, dance, dance all night long

Well I'm a hard workin' man, I'm a son of a gun
I've been workin' all week in the noon day sun
The wood's in the kitchen and the cows in the barn
I'm all cleaned up and my chores are all done
Take my hand and come along
Let's go out and have some fun
Come on darlin' put a pretty dress on
We're gonna go out tonight

CHORUS

Come on darlin' don't ya look that way
Don't ya know when you smile I've got to say
Your my honey pumpkin lover, your my heart's delight
Don't you want to go out tonight
Your such a pretty lady, your such a sweet girl
When you dance it brighten's up my world
Come on darlin' put a pretty dress on
We're gonna go out tonight

CHORUS


Mauzy Monday
G. Simmons (SOCAN)

On a less than perfect day, with the fog upon the bay
Is a vision that makes my morning bright
As she moves across the water to her home inside the Harbour
I forget about lonely city nights
Though afternoons are sunny in this city full of money
Workin' six days to get a break on Sunday
I was born to walk the rocks on Mauzy Monday

CHORUS:
Mauzy Monday...when the sky is grey
Mauzy Monday...home around the bay
Mauzy Monday...when the sky is grey
I'd give a month of Sundays to hide the sun away

On a less than perfect day, with the fog upon the bay
By the blue salty water
Lay it down give up the chase, by the shore I rest my case
As she moves along the shoals inside the harbour
More beautiful & rare, it may be found somewhere
But I doubt I'd even think about it even just for one day
Oooh... Mauzy Monday

CHORUS


O'Brien
G. Simmons (SOCAN)

The stuff that makes up legends is born of yesterday
T'will be born again tomorrow, that's the legendary way
They say there's always one in every crowd, one in every town
So I'll tell you all the story of when O'Brien came around

He didn't account for nothing much, tho' his back was able
Couldn't control his appetite or leave it at the table
He was heedless, hardened, one of a kind, but somehow kept from jail
Always faced the devil, always lived to tell the tale

Well they called him Casanova cause he had the right complexion
Advances at the dances met with minimal rejection
He got so good at the juggling, he could've joined a carney
"Heavens" said McCarthy "He's been given the gift of Blarney"

CHORUS:
Well there was this one and that one
And another one left to find her own way home
O'Brien was the love'em and leave'em kind
This one knew about that one, the other one not about she
O'Brien, he was a tomcat, a ladies man was he

Now the gift of gab is a wonderful thing, as everyone is aware
I wouldn't be lyin', no one was denyin' O'Brien had his share
But the weaver of a tangled web don't get to be relaxlin'
'Cause a careless slip of the silver tongue can cause a chain reaction

In legendary fashion one night, O'Brien had a jag in
It all came tumblin' down that night when O'Brien took to braggin'
"Hey me boys, she's just a toy, sure I've never even kissed her"
"Heavens", said McCarthy, "now you're talkin' about me sister"

"I'm a lover not a fighter" said O'Brien with a grin
Just before he heard the crack of McCarthy's knuckles on his chin
This one sighed and that one cried, and they tell it to this day
And that's the story of how McCarthy sent O'Brien on his way

CHORUS


There
G. Simmons (SOCAN)

I was sitting all alone, nothin' on my mind
Everything was just fine
Waves rollin' in - keepin' perfect time
Do do do ah doodle e ah e a o

A boy of six or seven came walkin' up to me
"A fine day sir" - I agreed
Said he had a question for me about the sea
Do do do ah doodle e ah e a o

CHORUS:
There - then disappear
It's hard to define my son, but here comes another one
There - that one is gone
That's just the way it goes, there's reasons I suppose

Said he'd asked another, a bigger older kid
Who kicked a can in the water, skipped out the lid
Said he didn't know, didn't care if he ever did
Do do do ah doodle e ah e a o

CHORUS

Sometimes it's blue - sometimes green
Is it time that makes the rocks get all so smooth and clean
And that wave about to hit the shore
Is that another wave, or just the one before

CHORUS


Buy Us A Drink
Alistair Hulett/Pondwater

Here's to the soldiers that march to the war
The ugly tin hats and the long woollen drawers
The colonel says "Right lads... over the top"
Then he stands back to watch while the poor buggers drop

CHORUS:
Buy us a drink and we'll sing you a song
Of the chances you missed and the love that went wrong
If you can't buy a whiskey, stand us a pint
We'll knock it straight down and we'll sing through the night

There's girls in the parlour, there's girls in the bars
They paint on a smile so ya don't see the scars
They get lots of offers and not much respect
For raising three kids on a government cheque

CHORUS

Drink it down boys, down
As long as there's light in the day
For you won't get a sup when your number is up
And they lay you to rot in the clay

In comes the landlord so fat and content
Comes 'round in his Volvo to pick up the rent
Off with his wad to recline by the pool
He leaves ya to rot in this dirty old hole

CHORUS

It's the taste of the Whiskey, to tell ya the truth
That shortened me days and wasted me youth
Be kind to your health sir, do it no wrong
Put a pint of the black on the end of me arm

CHORUS


As I Roved Out
Traditional

As I roved out in the May mornin'
In a May mornin' right early
I met me love upon the road
And Lord but she was easy

Her boots were black and her stockings white
And her buckles shone like silver
She had a dark & rovin' eye
And her earrings tipped her shoulder

CHORUS:
And she sang A-litta-doo-de-litta-doo-da-litta-doo-da-dee
She-hiddle-dum-adee-she-hiddle-dum-a-dee and she-landae

What age are you me nice sweet girl
What age are you me darlin'
Quite modestly she answered me
"I'll be seventeen come Sunday"
Will ya come to me house in the middle of the night
When the moon is shining clearly
And I'll arise to let you in
Even though you are a stranger

CHORUS

Will ya marry me now me soldier lad
Will you marry me now me or never
Will ya marry me soldier lad
Can't ya see I'm done forever
"No, I can't marry you" said the soldier lad
"No I can't marry you me Darlin'
For I've got a wife at home
And how can I disown her

CHORUS

A pint at night is my delight
And a gallon in the mornin'
The old women they are me heartbreak
And the young one's are me darlin's

CHORUS

As I roved out in the May mornin'
In the May mornin' right early
I met me love upon the road
And Lord but she was easy

CHORUS


Buried in the Sand
G. Simmons (SOCAN)

There's an old old story that everybody knows
'Bout a man who built his house upon the rock
An old old story from a long time ago
Before the hands of time become a clock
A straight forward meaning, a simple solid plan
But some lack of understanding
Kept my head buried in the sand
Then I got no problem
I can wash my hands of the consequences man

There's an old time saying I know you heard before
The truth it hurts but ignorance is bliss
Without so much as weighing the consequences out
We back away from pain towards a kiss
Sunlight can blind you, sunlight makes you see
And when it's hard to face the music
You keep your head buried in the sand
Then I got no problem
I can wash my hands of the consequences man

There's nothing to concern me
No need to understand
Did what it was you told me
To keep my head buried in the sand
Then I got no problem
I can wash my hands of the consequences man


Ramblin' Rover
Andy M. Stewart/Strathmore Music

CHORUS:
There are sober men in plenty
And drunkards barely twenty
There are men of over ninety
That have never yet kissed a girl
But give me a Ramblin' Rover
Fae Orkney down to Dover
And we'll roam the country over
And together we'll face the world

There's manys who feign enjoyment
From merciless employment
Their ambition was deployment
From the minute they left the school
They save and scrape and ponder
While the rest go out and squander
See the world and rove and wander
And they're happier as a rule

CHORUS

I've been through all the nations
Ta'en delight in all creation
And enjoyed wee sensations
Where the company did prove kind
And where parting was no pleasure
I drank another measure
To the friends that we all treasure
For they're always in our minds

CHORUS

For the lassies young and spiritely
Them all I courted nightly
One stay isn't likely for I ramble up and down
For life it will be hearty
I'll dance at every party
Me Drumblin' Dan McCarthy
And we'll go on the town

CHORUS

If you're bent with arthritis
Your bowels have got colitis
You've galloping bollockitis
Til you're thinkin' it's time you died
If you've been a man of action
You're lying there in traction
You may gain some satisfaction
When you're thinkin' at least you tried

CHORUS


The Rocky Road to Dublin
Traditional

In the merry month of June from me home I started
Left the girls of Tuam so sad and broken hearted
Saluted father dear, kissed me darling mother
Drank a pint of beer, me grief and tears to smother
Then off to reap the corn, leave where I was born
Cut a stout black thorn to banish ghosts and goblins
Bought a pair of brogues, rattling o'er the bogs
And fright'ning all the dogs on the rocky road to Dublin
One, two, three four, five
Hunt the Hare and turn her down the rocky road
And all the way to Dublin, whack follol de rah

In Mullingar that night I rested limbs so weary
Started by daylight, me spirits bright and cheery
Took a drop of pure to keep me heart from sinking
That's a Paddy's cure whenever one's on for drinking
See the lassies smile, laughing all the while
At me curious style, t'would set your heart a bubblin'
Asked if I was hired, wages I required
I was almost tired of the rocky road to Dublin
One, two, three four, five
Hunt the Hare and turn her down the rocky road
And all the way to Dublin, whack follol de rah

In Dublin next arrived, I thought it be a pity
To be so soon deprived of view of that fine city
So then I took a stroll, all among the quality
Me bundle it was stole, all in a neat locality
Something crossed me mind, when I looked behind
No bundle could I find upon me stick a wobblin'
Enquiring for the rogue, they said me Connaught brogue
Wasn't much in vogue on the rocky road to Dublin
One, two, three four, five
Hunt the Hare and turn her down the rocky road
And all the way to Dublin, Whack follol de rah

From there I got away, me spirits never failing
Landed on the quay, just as the ship was sailing
The Captain at me roared, said that no room had he
When I jumped aboard, a cabin bound for Paddy
Down among the pigs, played some hearty rigs
Danced some hearty jigs, the water round me bubblin'
When off Holyhead wished meself was dead
Or better far instead on the rocky road to Dublin
One, two, three four, five
Hunt the Hare and turn her down the rocky road
And all the way to Dublin, whack follol de rah

Well the boys of Liverpool, when we safely landed
Called meself a fool, I could no longer stand it
Blood began to boil, temper I was losin'
Poor old Erin's Isle they began abusin'
"Hurrah me soul" says I, Shillelagh I let fly
Some Galway boys were by and saw I was a hobblin'
With a loud "hurray" joined in the affray
We quickly cleared the way for the rocky road to Dublin
One, two, three four, five
Hunt the Hare and turn her down the rocky road
And all the way to Dublin, whack follol de rah