1. |
Away Down the Marina
02:36
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We met on Patrick Street;
That night I’ll ne’er forget
With my little girl so sweet
But the night was very wet, wet, wet.
She had lovely jet-black hair,
My pretty Persian queen-ah
And we went that night with great delight
Away down the Marina.
I saw her standing there
Beneath the gas lamp’s glow
With the raindrops on her hair
And I asked her if she’d go, go, go.
She there and then agreed;
She couldn’t have been keener
And my heart did skip as we did trip
Away down the Marina.
We kissed beneath a tree,
All dry and snug and warm,
Said my little girl to me,
Sir, I hope you mean no harm, harm, harm!
I said, I loved her so
From the minute that I’d seen her;
We kissed again and love took wing
Away down the Marina.
We waited for a year,
We planned that we would wed,
Each night I’d call to see her;
For I loved the things she said, said, said.
As springtime came around
And the trees were getting greener;
Our love did bloom like flowers in June,
Away down the Marina.
Well soon she was my bride
And we had a family
And we watched the flowing tide
And she loved no one but me, me, me.
In our cottage small and bright;
The prettiest you have seen-ah;
A little nest of peace and rest
Away down the Marina.
Well now we’re getting old;
But she’s still my darling wife,
Though we have no wealth or gold;
We have such a happy life, life, life.
I sit on my front porch
And I play t’ol concertina;
All the songs we knew when first we two
Went way down the Marina.
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2. |
Bridie and the Pole
04:19
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As I walked out to take the air
Down by the River Lee so fair,
I didn't have a single care
Nor thought about tomorrow.
On a seat down by the water's edge
I heard a man with sad, bent head
Crying out, ‘I may as well be dead
As living with this sorrow.
There's a dark cloud o'er my soul
Since Bridie went to Krakow with the Pole.’
Well, I sat down at the poor man's side,
As all the while he cried and cried,
Then he blew his nose and dried his eyes
Saying, ‘Stay a while beside me.’
Says he, ‘I was out earning bobs,
No time at home to do odd jobs
So I hired this Pole called Stanislov
To make some ease for Bridie.
Oh it grieves me to my soul:
That I ever let my darling have the Pole.’
‘Well, her front and back he took in hand,
He trimmed her verges, cleaned her pond,
Her pansies soon he'd looking grand
Likewise her fine azalea.
He fixed her fence, touched up her gate,
Her hanging baskets he made straight,
With him she didn't have to wait,
I felt an awful failure:
For my wife was on a roll.
No time for me just her and Stan the Pole.’
‘And indoors he was better still
A mighty man behind a drill,
He renewed and screwed and glued until
My Bridie was delirious;
But the Celtic Tiger left our shore,
Saying, he was coming back no more
And Anglo Irish left me sore,
My fiscal state was serious;
And when I searched my soul:
I knew my love would have to lose the Pole.’
‘Well, she didn't scream or shout or fight,
She said, "He'll go this very night
And him and me we'll be alright;
For he swears he won't forsake me,
And let me tell you something, Dan,
You're not as good a man as Stan
And since things began it's been my plan
Back home to let him take me,
So when you're here on the dole:
I'll be stepping out in Krakow with my Pole.” ’
Then he cried some more, I took my leave
And left him sitting there to grieve,
For his sad tale I did believe
And it gave me cause to worry.
For that day I'd just got in a man,
Doing decking for my Mary-Anne,
A strapping Lithuanian,
So I struck off in a hurry
And I vowed upon my soul:
There'd be no repeat of Bridie and the Pole.
Well, I lost no time, I got home straight,
I marched that decker out the gate,
Mary-Anne was in an awful state,
And swore she'd surely leave me;
So I bought her a new four-by-four,
Now the wolf is howling at the door,
But she says she'll love me ever more,
And I'm awful glad, believe me,
That I'm not like that poor soul:
Mourning Bridie off in Krakow with the Pole.
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3. |
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Ye damsels of Castalia, Melpomene and Thalia,
Extenuate an alien that languishes is woe
Dan Cupid has surprised me, waylaid and pauperised me,
Why thus he martyrised me is what I wish to know
Exiled in this fair city, a paragon of pity
I lucubrate my ditty and catalogue to tell
Of the beauties of that matron, my connoisseur and patron,
That consort fit for Satan, the Star of Sunday’s Well.
Expressly fabricated for to be venerated
Her weight is estimated at fully fifteen stone,
The undulating ocean recalls her vagrant motion
Magnanimous devotion I render her alone
She’s blooming and she’s bonny with real estate and money,
A floweret filled with honey in a soft suburban dell,
And I the bee go soaring around her bower adoring
The beauty and the store of the Star of Sunday’s Well.
This matron subsidises both Beamish’s and Wise’s,
The viands that she prizes provide most comely fare
I wish I could administer a modicum of Guinness t’her
For there is nothing sinister or medieval there
Her heart I would allure it, but that a grocer’s curate
Is planning to secure it with artifices fell
And I’ve given hints abundant to that obscure incumbent
To flutter less redundant round the Star of Sunday’s Well.
Two lovers linked together all in the summer weather
Patrol Marina’s heather or strolled along the Dyke
The blackbirds and the thrushes established in the bushes
Their elegies in gushes propelled to Kerry Pike
I heard their jocund roister and sighed as for his cloister
That quaint but fulsome oyster like a hermit in his cell
But I lacked reciprocation in this matron’s cogitation
For I got a harsh negation from the Star of Sunday’s Well.
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4. |
Jiggin' Around Cork
04:03
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5. |
How to Make Proper Tea!
02:55
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6. |
Prince's Street
04:01
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I spent Monday on Strawberry Hill
‘Til I fell and I landed on your windowsill
I hung there by a golden fine web
I had woven from a hair of your head
I spent Tuesday just walking through town
‘Til I saw a gold angel come tumbling down
And waltzing with seagulls up in an elm tree
Where the wind runs her fingers above the dark Lee
And O will you meet me on Saturday night
We'll dance in the shadows between the streetlights
Between these two rivers I know where we'll meet
On Prince's Street
I spent Wednesday doing nothing at all
‘Til late in the evening the wind came to call
And stood at my window and danced a handstand
The sun on her shoulder and birds in her hands
The next morning I woke from a dream
Of where the fish lie on their beds of deep green
I watched Thursday morning put on its new coat
Of cloud at the elbow, blue sky at the throat
And O will you meet me on Saturday night
We'll dance in the shadows between the streetlights
Between these two rivers I know where we'll meet
On Prince's Street
I spent Friday just counting the time
‘Til up in a tower I heard some bells chime
I saw a great goldfish take wing like a swan
And told me that Saturday wouldn't be long
And O will you meet me on Saturday night
We'll dance in the shadows between the streetlights
Between these two rivers I know where we'll meet
On Prince's Street
And O will you meet me on Saturday night
We'll dance with your ankles all bathed in moonlight
Between these two rivers I know where we'll meet
On Prince's Street
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7. |
Johnny Go Boating
03:53
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Johnny, go boating down to Blackrock,
Johnny, go boating down to Blackrock.
Johnny, go boating kissing and courting,
Johnny, go boating down to Blackrock.
Next Sunday morning we’ll leave the Coal Quay.
We’ll bring bread and butter and a bottle of tae.
Don’t mind the weather for if ‘twill rain,
We’ll pull into Dunkettle come home by the train.
When we were boating down the Lee
You told me you loved me by Tivoli
That’s too many years ago, Johnny, a stór,
Sure it’s time for us all to go boating once more.
Days of our youth when the sun always shone
Days of fond memories oh where have they gone?
Days when I wandered away from the flock
And went boating with Johnny way down to Blackrock.
Down the Marina the crowd will be grand
We’ll listen awhile to the Barrack Street band
Back on the river and so on her way
Just Johnny and me on our beautiful day.
We’ll have a few drinks at the Pier Head bar
Go for a ride in Lar Flaherty’s car
Around by Ringmahon then back to the pier
And we’ll row away home with the tide, Johnny dear.
Back once again at the Coal Quay wall
Everything wrapped in my mother’s old shawl
Happy as children as homeward we walk
With our arms ‘round each other too tired to talk.
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8. |
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On a night of talk, of smiles and tears,
A woman scrolled through four score years,
Recalling times that had long flown
And a city, which she once had known.
I was reared, she said, on Coburg Street,
Where Patrick's Hill plants down its feet;
That was back in the long ago
When the pace of life was smooth and slow.
Chorus
Those were the days, that was the time
When I was young and in my prime,
Cork was heaven and life was sweet
And I was the Rose of Coburg Street.
I was the Rose of Coburg Street.
'Our street was like a village then;
There country folk did their shopping.
From places such as Carrignavar
They came to town by horse and car.
Shops sold salt fish, duck eggs, crubeens,
Half-heads, cabbage - the white or green.
As kids the street was our playground,
From morning till the sun went down.
'On reflection I do suppose
It was Frank Mac called me "The Rose,"
He used to live near the Blackstone
And played with a band on saxaphone.
We got married then moved away
To live our lives by Boston Bay:
The usual mix of joy and tears,
Frank's been buried these last ten years.
'On coming home I'd hoped to find
Traces of what I'd left behind;
But kids don't play on Coburg Street;
Where are neighbours I'd love to meet?
Gone the clip-clop of iron shoes,
Noble horses being absent too.
The shops are shut and nobody knows
The dame who's now a faded Rose.'
Just then was heard a plaintive tone!
The sound of a muted saxophone,
In that room - 'twas like a dream!
A change came o'er the woman's mien:
Now she was young with a graceful air,
Eyes of hazel and Titian hair:
Before me there for a moment fleet,
Stood the lovely Rose of Coburg Street.
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9. |
Timahoe
03:54
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Oh when I was a bachelor, years and years ago, years ago
I met a girl way down in Timahoe, Timahoe
She gave me that come over here eye
I knew I should have passed her by
But she took me by the hand and led me on, led me on
Oh we strolled around the town, arm in arm, arm in arm
I told her, one day I’d buy a farm, buy a farm
But when I said I’d take her home
She suggested we should roam
And she took me by the hand and led me on, led me on
Oh we walked into the hay barn, hand in hand, hand in hand
And at the courting, I thought I’d beat the band, beat the band
But when I put my two arms round her
Me two legs began to flounder
But she took me by the hand and led me on, led me on
Oh I kissed her on the cheeks and on the lips, on the lips
As she wriggled and shook her shapely hips, shapely hips
And that night I did propose
Though I’m not so sure, God knows
But she took me by the hand and led me on, led me on
Oh the wedding day, I felt really rather scared, rather scared
And for her, I wondered if I really cared, really cared
But when it came to say I do
All me dreams they turned to blue
For she took me by the hand and led me on, led me on
Oh we feasted all the day and half the night, half the night
And when all the wedding guests had gone from sight, gone from sight
I stood before her bedroom door
Me two feet they were clung to the floor
But she took me by the hand and led me on, led me on
Oh I said I didn’t want a family, family
Oh ho she said she didn’t think the same as me, same as me
Now I have a pair of twins
Triplets and a set of quins
For she took me by the hand and led me on, led me on
Now I’m just another married man, married man
Enjoying married life as best I can, best I can
And if you’ll take a tip from me
You’ll pass every girl you see
For she’ll take you by the hand and led you on, led you on
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10. |
Holding an Eye
04:29
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I danced for you,
And I sang for you,
And we laughed and we cried,
But with all of my tricks,
I still couldn't hide,
My love for you,
My love for you.
When I see the moon, way up in the sky,
I remember the times I held your eye,
The first time I held it was in sweet October,
You admired my smile,
You slept on my shoulder,
And we laughed for a while
When I see the sun, way up in the sky,
I remember the times I held your eye,
The next time I held it was that Christmas day,
You brought me home,
You asked me to stay,
That was nice for a while.
When I see the stars, way up in the sky,
I remember the times I held your eye,
The last time I held it was a rainy July,
You sent me a letter,
You said to me why,
That was your good bye!
And I danced for you,
And I sang for you,
And we laughed and we cried,
But with all of my tricks,
I still couldn't hide,
My love for you,
My love for you.
I still cannot hide
My Love for you!
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11. |
Grá Dá Raibh
03:22
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Ní féidir liom thú a thuiscint,
Ní oirim duit níos mó
Ní féidir liom thú a mhealladh fiú amháin
A mhealladh i mo threo;
Níl uaim ach bheith i d’aice
Ag suí, ag spraoi agus ag ithe
Nach mé ‘tá trína chéile
‘Smé ag maireachtaint i measc do chlainne
Curfá
Tóg uaim mo ghrá
Ná bí i m’chrá
Beir leat mo ghrá;
Tóg uaim mo ghrá;
Ná bí i m’chrá,
A stór mo chroí, tabhair leat mo ghrá go deo
A stór mo chroí, is leat mo ghrá go deo
Thosnaíomar amach le chéile
Geallas gur leat mé go deo
Thugas cúl le mo chlann ‘gus mo bhaile
Ní rabhadar uaim níos mó,
Do thug tú dom do ghrá trá amháin
Do thug tú dom do chroí
Féach orm anois, a chailín óg
‘Smé ag leimt i dtreo na Laoi
Chaith tú amach ó do thigh mé
Bhain tú díom mo gháire
Chuir tú scian tri mo chroí
Do mharaigh tú mé le náire
Déarfaidh mé slán mo chuisle
Déarfaidh mé slán go deo
Beadhsa sásta ansan más sea
‘S mise i mo luí faoin bhfóid.
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12. |
The Tae Man
05:33
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13. |
Reel Cork, Like!
03:33
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14. |
The Jetty Queen
03:06
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Words: Traditional & Music: Jimmy Crowley Freestatemusic – Additional Music: Brian Miller
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