Tír na nÓg album

Time is Like a Promise (Condell)

If rain will fall high up here upon the mountain
Grass will grow and shepherds will be thankful
And our love will cover up all the mountain
For time is like a promise -
It tries all your strength to keep to.

Before she came I lived alone upon the mountain
The raven heard your voice high upon the wind
Then one day you came to me upon the mountain
For time is like a promise -
It tries all your strength to keep to.

The sun goes down and shadows soon are interweaving
But she lies so deep inside my love surrounds her
Time will outdo us, this I only know too well
For time is like a promise -
It tries all your strength to keep to.

Boat Song (O’Kelly)

My boat moved out to sea
And friends grew small from me
Waving from the shore
Will I see you more?
The land is misty, my eyes are too
The gulls are crying for me and you.

And now the sea is all around
But still above the seabirds sound
Gliding round the stern
When we land will they return?
The land is misty, my eyes are too
The gulls are crying for me and you.

My boat moved out to sea
And friends grew small from me
Waving from the shore
Will I see you more?

Mariner Blues (Condell)

You would stand with the early sun
On the rope that held my boat
And the wheeling seagull began to wonder
Why I’d missed the tide
You sometimes came to brown your arms
And you sat upon the stern
And you thought how fine the valleys were
In between each crest
And you might say, yes you might say
The mariner is glad.

The gull flew down one morning
As I was setting out to sea
And told me in his language
You’d bid your goodbyes to me
I climbed up to your house
And tapped upon your windows
But all I saw within your rooms
Were paintings of the sea
And warm pullovers on the floor
And boots with sandy heels
And drawings that you made of me
While sailing out to sea
And you might say, yes you might say
The mariner is sad.

Daisy Lady (O’Kelly)

There she stands among the daffodils she sells
Dressed in blue and yellow
I wonder why I fell so much in love with her
Daisy Lady, I wonder maybe if
Some lazy day you’ll stray away with me
Oowee! You drive me crazy!

I wish I was a bee among her pretty flowers
Oh I’d never sting her
You know I’d love to bring her
Honey sweet as she
Daisy Lady, I wonder maybe if
Some lazy day you’ll stray away with me
Oowee! You drive me crazy!

I bought some flowers from my flower girl today
A bunch of big red roses
And guess what? I suppose
I’ll send them right back to
My Daisy Lady, I wonder maybe if
Some lazy day you’ll stray away with me
Oowee! You drive me crazy!

Tír na nÓg (O'Kelly)

Across the dewy morning hills of Erin
Rode Niamh Chinn Oir on a snow-white steed
To Oisin, poet of the Fianna
For she fain would this mortal wed.

Ride with me to the fairyland of Tír na nÓg
For I have long loved you said she
And Oisin taken with her beauty
He bade farewell to his company

They rode through stormy regions far beyond the sea
To a land where time had ne’er its harvest reaped
And for an age there Oisin lived contented
Till longing for his comrades made him weep

I cannot help but read the sad dreams in your eyes
So you may return to your country
And take my blessing with this one command
‘Do not dismount from your fairy steed’

But when at last he reached that misty island
So strange a sight did meet his puzzled frown
For Oisin rode as a giant among the people
And nowhere were the Fianna to be found

He learned from a gathering of workers
Together straining with a heavy weight
That centuries before his friends had perished
Which painful tidings filled him with despair

As payment for the news that we have told to you
Pray help us this heavy stone to move
For if your strength can match your mighty stature
Scarce more than a touch enough should prove.

But the saddle tore as Oisin leaned to help them
And sorely he upon the ground was thrown
He quickly changed into an aged man
And ne’er again laid eyes on Tír na nÓg

Our Love Will Not Decay (Condell)

Were the calf to die in the womb
And the ewe to bear her lamb too soon
Should the field of barley fail
And the baby at your breast grow pale
Our love will not mildewed grow – no.

Were the snow to last until spring
And your fingers blue up to the ring
Should you curse the icy blast
All your beauty it destroys at last
Our love will not mildewed grow – no.

But with every new born day
The same thought through our lives will always stay
And the sun will shine through the dew
The baby will have rosy cheeks like you
Our love will not mildewed grow – no.

Dance Of Years (Condell)

Dance all you cockle shells
Play all you distant bells
The baby sleeps, his hands are still
And now we all can dance until
We fall asleep or lose the will

Sing to the sleeping child
He’s yours but a little while
The young man waits, his hands are full
He seldom stops to see the sun go down
And fails to see when he's in bloom

Dance all your years away
Life is a quiet slipping day
The old man sleeps, his hands are still
And now we all can dance until
We fall asleep or lose the will.

Live A Day (Condell)

Live a day and then come home
No more alone with strangers
All along the windy way
She felt the key and whistled
And when at last the day is done
She whispers ‘lock out the night
And lay your weary man down’
She tries to fight
What dulls my eyes and makes me old.

Throw away the empty spool
And take a stool beside me
Fill the cup with Rhenish old
A cup of gold on our lips
And step by step the creaking climb to slumber
Lock out the night
And lay your weary man down’
She tries to fight
What dulls my eyes and makes me old.

And when at last the day is done
She whispers, ‘lock out the night
And lay your weary man down’
She tries to fight
what dulls my eyes and makes me old.

Aberdeen Angus (Condell)

Daddy bought an Aberdeen Angus cow for Marie
He showed her how to manage the milking
Marie just giggled at me
Sold the milk then to buy a red hen
We kept in me grandmother’s bed
Me and Lizzy always busy to keep the aul' bird fed
And now we all sing in Pheonix Park
For our money, for our money.

Baroness Baggy-Eye told us to run away
And not sing at her gate
We turned on her chauffer and beat him with a poker
And left him to his fate
Rich Uncle Henry handed me a penny
To buy my heart’s desire
I took out me lighter as he grew whiter
And set his car on fire.

And now we all sing in Pheonix Park
For our money, for our money.

Piccadilly (O’Kelly)

I stood in Piccadilly and I thought I heard the sea
Thought I heard the sea
And a thousand voices laughed at me
I saw an aeroplane up in the sky, I shot it down
Yes, I shot it down
And I watched it fall without a sound

Please don’t leave me in this lonely, lonely city
Please don’t leave me all alone in this town
With every word you say you’re breathing sweet air I knew
And I’m bleeding with the scent and with the sound.

We saw a boy wave from the bridge but nobody waved back
Not a soul waved back
And he waved until the day grew black
I know you did oppose it but you filled my glass again
Filled it to the brim
And you’re hoping it might ease the pain

Please don’t leave me in this lonely, lonely city
Please don’t leave me all alone in this town
With every word you say you’re breathing sweet air I knew
And I’m bleeding with the scent and with the sound.

I stood in Piccadilly and I thought I heard the sea
Thought I heard the sea
And a thousand voices laughed at me
Please don’t leave me in this lonely, lonely city
Please don’t leave me all alone in this town
With every word you say you’re breathing sweet air I knew
And I’m bleeding with the scent and with the sound.

Dante (Condell)

Summer came from somewhere
It lay across the land
Soil was fine and warm in the hand
The shepherdess and the sheepdog
They kept a loving view
On starry nights fat lambs might stray
From the ewe
For summer came from somewhere
Now her journey’s done
Dante loves the summer sun.

White clover and mountains
A sight to fill the eye
Yet eyes have seen and still wonder why
Dante turns for home again
Her rosy cheeks at evensong
But she won’t leave her flock very long

For summer came from somewhere
Now her journey’s done
Dante loves the summer sun.

For summer came from somewhere
Now her journey’s done
Dante loves the summer sun.

Looking Up (O'Kelly)

When you’re looking up
I see the sun’s reflection in your dark blue eyes
When you’re looking down
The same sun sends some shining silver streams
through your golden hair
when you walk along
I collect the white daisies that spring beneath your feet
When you start to speak
I gather all your precious loving words
To save for when I’m old
When you go to sleep
Seven good fairies come and sprinkle you with love
When you start to wake
Three elfin painters with their jars of sunbeams
Colour your windows.

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