Swimming The Horses

They're swimming the horses down at the pier

They're going to race them again this year

You hear them blowing

Throwing their heads up

Over the waves

 

Didn't we roam far when the weather was fine

Laugh and drink the red red wine

Like all the other drunken lovers

Climbing their ivy vines

To the moon

 

The winds out west will come back to haunt me

Back here in this reverie a strayaway cry is heard

It echoes like the night bird

Out over Dooneen

 

They're swimming the horses down at the pier

They're going to race them again this year

Your hear them blowing

Throwing their heads up

Over the waves

The Last King Of Feothanach

The Last King Of Feothanach

For Alec Granville

 

Oh the Last King of Feothanach was wandering by my window

Head bent forward all along the windy quay

All my troubles evaporated when I heard the music

A moment of music with the sisters of the sea

And he, he was singing all alone in the whistling breeze

 

There's a hole in the heavens that the clouds made when they parted 

A patch of the ocean only he can plainly see

When he closes his eyes he can hear his own true lover

A moment of music then she's gone so suddenly

And he, he is singing all alone in the whistling breeze

 

Try to catch the feeling the momentum of the moment

A moment of music oh say who could it be

He would ordinarily have liked to hear the blackbird

But the song of the raven won him over eventually

And he, he was singing all alone in the whistling breeze

 

There'll be flowers on the water when the last king leaves forever

In a moment of music we'll be waving from the quay

While the blackbird and the raven watch together

The last king of Feothanach will sail away to sea

And he, he'll be singing all alone in the whistling breeze

 

 

All Down The Day

We got away from our terrible town

And happily crossed the water

All down the day

Down London way

 

Singing in a dingy room

And working in the morning

All down the day

Down London way

 

You were funny and you were free

You were my inspiration

All down the day

Down London way

 

With saveloy and cider can

The life of rainy day heroes

All down the day

Down London way

 

And then you went and you wandered home

When summertime was over  

All down the day

Down London way

 

Down and out in London town

The black dog following after

All down the day

Down London way

 

Those rainy days were an old sweet song

That I know but I can’t remember

All down the day

Down London way

 

Where Foxglove

Where foxglove and the fuchsia grows fuchsia grows

And tumbles down to the sea

We looked into a midnight well

Reflected there imperfectly

 

The rhapsody of traffic swells traffic swells

The northside echoes with history

The rush hour crowds and old church bells

The flickering of a cinema screen

 

And what did you see in the midnight well midnight well

Were you only in a garden in the rain

What symphonies in Dublin town

In the rackety swaying of an evening train

 

And who will you love even so even so

When the crowds have faded by and by

Will all the birds be singing out

When morning breaks upon our eyes

The Old Coastal

There are moments that come so easily to mind

Like a first kiss of wind

And they tear away with you for ever

 

We're deep south and the day begins

With sunlight on bare skin

That shrouds the ways of your dreaming

 

All i really wanted to do

Was play the vagabond blues with you wherever you came from

Down at the crossroads we're all the same

And maybe we'll never find our way home

Oh I would tear away with you for ever

 

The famous gambles have all gone south

It's just another tall tale

From an old coastal rambler

Who tramps the winding river mouth

Boats washed up and creaking

As one by one clouds cross over

 

God's country and the devil's hand

I know them both well and

Isn't it a shame

That god and devil are the same

They take your time

Tear away all the your treasure

 

There are moments that come so easily to mind

Like a first kiss of wind

And they tear away with you for ever

 

The stars go out and the day begins

It's a good day to ramble on

Oh I would tear away with you for ever

 

The Lights of San Francisco