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1. |
The Gotchy
04:12
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The Gotchy
He’d come in the evening as the workmen were leaving
To mind all the drills and the shovels
With his black billy-can and a dog he called Bran
And a face that was lined from life’s troubles
He was the night watchman and we’d yell “here’s the Gotchy”
When he’d call to our house for some water
We’d follow him out with our screams and our shouts
And we’d wake the whole world with our laughter.
Chorus
And we were always good friends with the Gotchy
Sitting under the street light
You could always depend on the Gotchy
‘Cos the Gotchy was guarding the night.
Then he’d light the red lamps that sat on the planks
That ran along the line of old barrels
And he’d sit in his shack and we’d watch him smile back
At the noise of our games and our quarrels
And then later on when the games were all done
He’d tell us old stories and fables
And how his wife had passed on while the kids were still young
And his struggle to keep food on the table
Chorus
Bridge
It was 10 long years since his wife passed away
Though he’d learned how to manage without her
But she was his life and there was seldom a day
When he didn’t miss something about her
The kids were in England, there was no work in Dublin
Though they came now and then just to see him
And their kids said his name with an accent quite strange
And the loneliness stung when they’d leave him
As the evening drew on we’d drift home one by one
Leaving him on his own by the fire
With only old Bran to lend him a hand
While the wind whistled soft through the wires
All through the night he’d sit under the light
With an eye out for anyone prowling
Not much would disturb his solitary world
Just the sound of a lone stray dog howling
Chorus
© Kieran Wade
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2. |
The Thief
04:57
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Thief
1)
Living through the years, I never thought of time,
The laughter and the tears, I left them all behind.
Set out every day, following the sun
As though this trek through time had only just begun
But when I looked around to see the course I’d steered
I only saw that time had stolen all the years.
2)
The child that used to play forever in the sun
Living for today, tomorrow never comes
Trying to touch the flame, keen to take a chance
To play at bigger games, eager to advance
To where some destiny lies waiting down the line
And all the while the child is led away by time.
3)
The lovers who believe that only they have skill
To find that secret place where time and tide stand still
Sometimes love will turn and hold you in a vice
Sometimes love will burn or turn your soul to ice
Sometimes love is cruel, sometimes love is kind
And sometimes love just slowly fades away with time.
4)
And if I got the chance to pass this way again
I’d take a second glance at things I missed back when
I used to run around trying to get things done,
Not taking enough time to lie out in the sun
‘Cos everything you lose and everything you find
In the very end, it all belongs to time
Yes, in the very end it all belongs to time.
© Kieran Wade
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3. |
The Bonnán Buí
06:19
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The Bonnán Buí (The Yellow Bittern)
The Bonnán Buí that never broke out
In a drinking bout might as well have drunk
His bones are thrown on a naked stone
Where he lived alone like a hermit monk
Oh then Bonnán Buí I pity your lot
For they say that a sot like myself is cursed
I was sober awhile but I’ll drink and be wise
For fear I might die in the end of the thirst
It’s not for the common birds I mourn
The blackbird, the corncrake or the crane
But for the bittern who is shy and apart
And drinks in the marsh from the lone bog drain
If I had known you were near your death
While my breath held out I’d have run to you
And with a splash from the Lake of the Son of the Bird
Your soul would have stirred and have waked anew
My darling told me to drink no more
Or my life would be over in a little short while
But I told her it was drink that gave me health and strength
And would lengthen my road by many’s a mile
For you see how the bird with the long smooth neck
Did get his death from the thirst at last
So come son of my soul and drink your cup
For you’ll get no sup when your life is past
Original poem in Gaelic “An Bonnán Buí” written by Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna (1680-1756)
Translated by Tomás Mac Donagh
Music arranged by Kieran Wade
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4. |
Take Me Home, Angelina
04:13
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Take me home, Angelina
There are lights on the fishing boats out on the bay
The rain’s blowing sideways along down the quay
I’m standing huddled inside the door
One drink too many, don’t need any more
Take me home, take me home
Away from the bright lights where my dreams have been thrown
Take me home, take me home
I’m tired and I’m weary of being alone,
There were times when I’d thought I’d reach number one
But I’m paying the price of flying close to the sun
This light hurts my vision and I’m too tired to fight
Take me home, Angelina, and hold me tonight
Take me home, Angelina, and love me tonight.
2)
The water gets in through the hole in my shoe
There’s a hole in my pocket where the money falls through
The lights are too bright and I can’t hardly see
And there’s a hole in my heart where you used to be
Take me home, take me home
To a place where there’s shelter and no need to roam
Take me home, take me home
I’m tired and I’m weary of being alone
There were times when I’d thought I’d reach number one
But I’m paying the price of flying close to the sun
This light hurts my vision and I’m too tired to fight
Take me home, Angelina, and hold me tonight
Take me home, Angelina, and love me tonight.
3)
Gamblers are dreamers who don’t count the cost
Of the dreams that go down when the money’s been lost
Gambling’s a fever that takes hold of your brain
Life ain’t worth living if you’re not in the game
Take me home, take me home
Away from the bright lights where my money’s been thrown
Take me home, take me home
I’m tired and I’m weary of being alone
There were times when I’d thought I’d reach number one
But I’m paying the price of flying close to the sun
This light hurts my vision and I’m too tired to fight
Take me home, Angelina, and hold me tonight
Take me home, Angelina, and love me tonight.
© Kieran Wade
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5. |
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Trail of Tears from Vietnam
Ten years after the war, shock waves rattled my front door
Bringing scenes from yesterday of a war-torn land so far away
Green Berets, Khe Sanh and Hue, Tet offensive, L.B.J.
Dominoes and mine trip-wires and empires fading in the withering fire of
The trail of tears from Vietnam, the trail of tears from Vietnam
Autumn sunflowers, evening gold, they were the colours of her soul,
Eastern mystery of her face and the ancient history of her race
Met her in a northern town, at night she’d still wake from the sound
Of the battle fires and the people’s screams that echoed through her troubled dreams of
The trail of tears from Vietnam, the trail of tears from Vietnam
Two brothers she never saw went off to fight in that ugly war
One died after going insane, working for the C.I.A.
The other one never came back, lost in some forgotten attack
And a cousin killed by the Viet Cong, drive-by victim downtown Saigon
Trail of tears from Vietnam, sad-eyed girl from Vietnam
And you used to laugh when I’d say your name
Or pronounce the town from where you came
And you used to ask if I knew the reason why
No matter how you’d try
Why you could no longer cry
Ten years old she left one day with an older sister to lead the way
Out on the South China Sea, once a child now a refugee
Ten days in an open boat, washed up on the Malaysian coast
Six months in a U.N. camp, waiting for the exit stamp from
The trail of tears from Vietnam, sad-eyed girl from Vietnam
Sometimes I’d see the trace
Of time upon your face
And wondered if you’d ever find the inner strength of mind
To cut the cords that bind
And to leave the past behind
Saw a movie late last year, watched the action and felt the fear
Of the bombs and the bullets and the fire and the blood
And the soldiers dying in the jungle mud
Movies end and wars wind down, but late at night in a northern town
A woman’s dreams still bear the scars, one more victim of another war.
Trail of tears from Vietnam, trail of tears from Vietnam
Sad-eyed girl from Vietnam
© Kieran Wade
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6. |
On the Outside
04:03
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On the Outside
You’ve been on this road a long time
Travelling mostly on your own
Looking for that ray of sunshine
To show you that you’re nearly home
There’s been good and there’s been bad times
Sometimes trouble on the way
Missed directions on the road signs
Slowed the journey down some days
Chorus
And you know you’ve travelled on the outside
Along the steepest track of all
‘Cos your thoughts are clearest on the outside
When you know your backs against the wall
And no one answers to your call
And you know there’s no place left to fall
You were not the only traveller
You made good friends along the way
Others searching for some answers
Or a different tune to play
The light shines brighter on the outside
The view is different over there
More to discover, more adventure
A sense of mystery in the air
Chorus
And you know you’ve travelled on the outside
Along the steepest track of all
‘Cos your thoughts are clearest on the outside
When you know your backs against the wall
And no one answers to your call
And you know there’s no place left to fall
© Kieran Wade
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7. |
Run River Run
03:37
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Run River Run
This life has been a journey, a date with destiny
Like a long and winding river, flowing towards the sea
Through different lands and cities and valleys of the night
Moving ever onwards from the darkness to the light
River run, run, river run
Run, run river run.
I sprang out from the mountains in all my youth and prime
Rushing wildly downstream making up lost time
Bouncing down through gorges and rapids foaming white
There was no rock or waterfall could halt my headlong flight
River run, run, river run
Run, run river run.
Some tried to slow my progress, use up my energy
With dams and mills and factories, they tried to harness me
But nothing could quite tame me and I soon broke free again
Moving ever on to see what’s waiting round the bend
River run, run, river run
Run, run river run.
And now my surge is slowing, my race is nearly run
I can see my destination beneath the setting sun
The wide dark sea is glistening, the breakers flecked with foam
The sea birds faintly crying to welcome me back home
River run, run, river run
Run, run river run.
© Kieran Wade
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8. |
Those Days
03:58
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Those Days
(Seasons)
Spring rain on fallow ground, new life stirs at the sound
Fresh breeze, new leaves, green shoots from underground
Love starts in different ways,
I keep the memories of those days
Summer winds and warmer days, long evenings, easy ways
Hot sands, soft hands, blue seas where sunlight plays
Still nights and moonlight waves
I keep the memories of those days
We travelled roads light and dark, rolling hills and rocky plains
We never lost the spark that lit the fire when life was young
And there was no price to pay
I will remember time this way
When autumn evenings came, red leaves and misty rain
Our harvest newly grown, we reaped what we had sown
To join us all our days,
I keep the memories of those days
Now our winter days begin, dark evenings closing in
Bright fires, Christmas choirs
Warm shelter from the storms
Connecting us in many ways
I keep the memories of these days
We travelled roads light and dark, rolling hills and rocky plains
We never lost the spark that lit the fire when life was young
And there was no price to pay
I will remember time this way
© Kieran Wade
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9. |
To See You Once Again
04:53
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To See You Once Again
1)
Lying awake last night, listening to the wind among the trees, I called your name
But the night gave no reply, just the gentle tapping of the leaves against my window pane.
And I wondered where you are, do you ever think about me and in dreams, do you call my name
Or do you stay away from places where your memory seldom goes, no need for yesterday.
Chorus
Days that I remember were all filled up with sunshine, warm sunny days
We were not to know that those dreams would end sometime, love cuts both ways
But still I wouldn’t mind, though life has left us travelling different roads, to see you once again.
‘Cos I remember nights together and days that just went on forever,
Walks in sunshine hand in hand and chasing waves along the strand and
Lazy days and party nights, easy ways and lovers fights
Hours and hours that we spent sharing the secrets of our souls.
2)
Do you remember when, what we thought and all the things we said, was love so blind
Memories like wine, take on a richer flavour as they grow, mellowed by time
And did the life you lead live up to all the promises you made, sweet soul nineteen
Or did you run aground, blown on some rocky shore by fate that fires a cannon through our dreams
Chorus
Days that I remember were all filled up with sunshine, warm sunny days
We were not to know that those dreams would end sometime, love cuts both ways
But still I wouldn’t mind, though life has left us travelling different roads, to see you once again.
‘Cos I remember nights together and days that just went on forever,
Walks in sunshine hand in hand and chasing waves along the strand and
Lazy days and party nights, easy ways and lovers fights
Hours and hours that we spent sharing the secrets of our souls.
© Kieran Wade
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10. |
Patrick Gallagher
06:53
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Patrick Gallagher
In the days when Napoleon and the English went to war
He blocked the timber from the Baltic they used to build their ships before
So they turned their eyes on Canada, that unexploited land
And the forests of New Brunswick which had stood since time began
And they cleared the virgin forests of oak and lofty pine
And shipped the timber home to build their warships of the line
But they needed ballast for those ships to sail back there again
So they emptied out the workhouses of women and the men
In the past when they needed ballast they used sacks of sand or stone
But people were more useful, they could walk off on their own
And to keep the poor was costly and they caused disease and crime
And using them as ballast solved 2 problems at one time
Chorus
And the sound that they heard was the crying of the world
For the ones who were never coming home
Won’t see again, won’t see again, they will never see their land again
They were gathered by the shipload and sent off overseas
Crammed in like cattle suffering hunger and disease
And the ones who didn’t make it they were tossed into the waves
And the cold and restless ocean rolls above their unmarked graves
And they say that Patrick Gallagher was only 10 years old
When they took him from the orphanage and put him in the hold
And that young boy from Donegal was shipped across the sea
And when they landed in New Brunswick they just left him on the quay
With no money, no possessions, just the clothing that he wore
And he didn’t speak the language that they used around that shore
And life holds many dangers when you are only 10
Abandoned as an infant now abandoned once again
Chorus
And the sound that they heard was the crying of the world
For the boy who was never coming home
Won’t see again, won’t see again, he will never see his land again
I met with Patrick Gallagher in Canada one day
A descendant of the young boy who was left out on the quay
He talked about his ancestor and bore his name with pride
And he told to me the story of his struggle to survive
How he met with a French farmer whose own family had grown
And he gave him a new language and he gave him a new home
And in time Patrick married and had a children of his own
And through the generations his story has passed down
The once mighty empire and its warships are long gone
But in Canada the name of Patrick Gallagher lives on
A testament to courage and the will to stay alive
Of the young boy from Donegal who managed to survive
Chorus
And the sound that they heard was the crying of the world
For the boy who was never coming home
© Kieran Wade
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Kieran Wade Dublin, Ireland
Kieran Wade is an Irish singer/songwriter and musician from Dublin who has spent most of his life involved in the world of
Irish traditional music.
Some of his songs have been recorded by various artists in Ireland, Canada and the USA and 5 songs were covered by the singer Sean Keane on his CD “The Irish Scattering”.
... more
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