Song Lyrics

All By The Quay – Kevin McSherry



All by the quay In Belfast City
I boarded a ship and was on my way
I left my home, my wife and my family
To cut hay in England and send home my pay
Among the pigs, the sheep and the cattle
I played a jig and I passed the day
The moon did rise over Country and castle
As we sailed into Morecambe Bay

Chorus:

Well it’s not the way that I’d spend my life boys
I’d rather be back with my wife and my kin
But as long as the rich spend their lives getting richer
I’ll always be following the work where its in

From Heysham Port to Lancaster City
Is a fine old step on a moon lit night
But with no warm words to welcome Paddy
I slept neath a hedge in the cold starlight
On the next days hike on to the hirings
I fell in with a giant called Kevin O’Shea
He’d taken two weeks to travel from Galway
With a fine pair of horses and a gig to trade.

I worked all summer for a man named Farrer
Me and a fella from the county Tyrone
We cut and carried the hay from his meadows
And stacked it high dry in his barns of stone
And over the meadows the curlews were calling
The lapwings tumbled by lambs and by ewes
At home these same sounds usher the spring in
The same old sounds but a different view.

We cut the tall grass in the morning right early
Had it turned and shaken out by the bright midday
In the evening light before dew was falling
We forked it into field cocks for to spread next day
And all this while my own land was tended
By my sweet Maggie and my children three
My Dad, God bless him, will help to bring the oats in
The ‘taters we planted will wait for me

Always – Kevin McSherry

Sometimes in my head sometimes in my room
You are with me – Always
Sometimes in the car as I drive through the gloom
You are with me – Always

As I draw back the blinds and watch another day dawn
You are with me – Always
When all other light has gone in the dark of a storm
You are with me – Always

There by my side if I’m right, if I’m wrong
You are with me – Always
My love for you will never be gone
You are with me – Always

The smile on your lips your welcoming arms
You are with me – Always
That gentle love that keeps me so warm
You are with me – Always

I don’t know where this goes I know it’s going somewhere
‘Cos you are with me – Always
Wherever it goes I know you’ll be there
‘Cos you are with me – Always

Always on my lips always on my mind
You are with me – Always
A love like ours I never will find.
You are with me – Always

Bentham Hirings – Kevin McSherry

It’s a long days walk to Bentham hirings
All on the lanes of the vale of the Lune
To pass my time and ease my contentment
I took out my whistle and I played me a tune rpt.

A summer haze hung over the valley
there was barely a breeze disturbing the air
when over the fields came the sound of sweet laughter
And a north country maiden with bonny brown hair

She said young man where are you bound now?
And why are you playing your whistle so gay
I said I am bound for the Bentham hirings
And I play to remember my home far away

She said to me, then why do you travel
So far from your home and your own country?
I said there’s no work, no land and no wages,
I have brothers and sisters at home I must feed.

Then come with me now to my own dear Father
He’s ‘bout for to travel to Bentham today
To hire a young man to help with the hay time
I’ll say to him now that it’s you he should pay

I tell you good sirs and all that do listen here
That summer sun was the finest I knew
I sent home my love and all my receiving
And married that girl in the warm summer dew.

repeat 1st verse

Binary Decisions – Kevin McSherry

I want some binary decisions
Something to split me and you
I need some binary decisions
To divide us in two
Some loveless reason
Something outrageous will do

Yes I need something outrageous
I don’t care what I say
I’ll say something outrageous
And repeat it all day
It don’t have to make sense
Reason just gets in the way

Chorus:
Are you in or out now?
Are you on my side?
Are you with me or not?
Cos it’s time to decide
I’m not here to reason
I’m only here for the ride

How I love the media
They get paid by the word
We’ve all been to the same school
We love something absurd
They’ll repeat every nonsense
Every outrageous word

We hate career politicians
It’s only me you can trust
You know I’m on your side
And I’ll kick up a fuss
I drink the same drink that you do,
I drink it from a pint glass.

I am a populist politician
And I know what to do
We use binary decisions
To divide us in two
Then we’ll know who’s on our side
They’ll hate the same people we do.

We want some binary decisions
Don’t leave no room for doubt
Some divisive reasons
Some thing to give it a clout
so I can easily say
Are you in or out

Say my Name – Kevin McSherry

My oppressors took away my name.
They called me by an unpleasant thing.
The bullies only see the difference in me,
They treat my brothers and my sisters just the same

Without love in their jealous eyes
I’m an outsider, an embarrassment, a curse.
Without love they cannot see the irreplaceable me
That my mother used to cherish and to nurse

But I am not one of a type I am me.
I have a name and a right to be free
I’m entitled to be known by the state and by my own
By the name that my mother gave to me.

With no name They can pretend that I’m not special.
Without respect bullies take their fill.
With no name I am easier to torture to deport
With no name I am easier to kill.

Pikey, Paddy, Packy, Papist, Jock or Jew
Asylum Seeker, Refugee are just a few
Of the names that people choose to rob and to abuse
Those who for no fault of their own don’t look like you

But I am not one of a type I am me.
I have a name and a right to be free
I’m entitled to be known by the state and by my own
By the name that my mother gave to me.

Every hair on my head has been counted
Every hair on my head it has been seen
By my maker and she knows me from my head down to my toes
And by my name she will call me when life’s closed.

Though I share my name with others it is my own.
It belongs to us and it belongs to me alone
My name speaks out for me before I knock upon your door
It holds me there on peoples breath when I have gone

Say my name and know that I’m a wonder
Say my name and show that I am free
Say my name and try to see that through all eternity
There will never ever be another me. (repeat)

There are names that people choose to rob and to abuse
The bullies only see the difference in me
But my maker and she knows from my head right to my toes
And by my name She will call me when life’s closed

Say my name and know that I’m a wonder
Say my name and show that I am free
Say my name and try to see that through all eternity
There will never ever be another me
There will never ever be another you or me

Sledging on my own – Kevin McSherry

Chorus Today as the orange morning light
Warmed the winter stone
Without a child to guide me
I went sledging on my own.

Stealing time before breakfast
While the sleepy fought off the day
I took from the shed my children’s sled
The finest I’ve ever made

The ghost of my childhood beside me
Chapped legs and hat pulled down
Pulled his sled on fraying thread
To the hilltop’s glistening crown

Right there in that crispy silence
We raced the slope alone
The finest and fastest powder snow
That my ancient bones have known

We finished white faced and excited
Feet flat on the springy mesh fence
The most wonderful thing I have done for too long
So we did it again and again

The Maid of Malham Moor – Kevin McSherry

As I walked out on Malham Moor
One morning in the month of May
I met a maid and fell in beside her
For she was walking my way

ch She sang so sweet the birds sang too
I knew my heart would find no cure
In all my life I never met another
Like the maid I met on Malham moor

She said young man it’s not my custom
To walk and talk with passers by
But if I do sing and you do play
Then this mornings walk will quickly fly

The sun was sinking low to the horizon
When we came to take our separate way
And as we said farewell to one another
And vowed we’d meet another day

Now our lives have taken us to different place
And we never we never met to sing and play again
But the joy we shared at that surprising meeting
Will stay with me till my life’s end

Three Men Came A Walking – Kevin McSherry

Three men came a walking one cold winters night.
The snow had been falling the stars they were bright
They stopped at the place where the path was least worn
And sang of the joy of that first Christmas morn

Ch. Merry Christmas they sang to the sky and the snow.
They sang to the places where long shadows grow
They threw back their heads as they sang of His birth
May Christmas bring justice and peace to this Earth

The first once was a soldier, his face was quite pale
He liked to go drinking good wine and strong ale,
The dark battles he’d fought now a different place
His name it was Ethan, he sang with such Grace

The second man, Clem, was a joiner by trade
He worked all his life at the plane and the lathe
His hands in his pockets, his notes never wrong
His song it was steady and gentle and strong

The third man was round and his face could be seen
through the smallest of gaps in his clothes in between
His collar turned up and his hat pulled down tight
Old Sam the baker with voice clear and bright

Chorus

They sang as the snow again silently fell
It caught in their beards and moustaches as well
They sang to the fields and the fells up above
They sang just to be happy to share all their love

Tripoli – Michael McSherry

The Sea Is Still,
And we will
Soon Leave the bay of Tripoli

Sweet child
Hold me tight
It’s going to be a dark night

But this boat has a captain
and he knows what is happening
He knows the shore he’s been before, no-one knows more

And this boat seems to me
To be sea worthy
Strong enough for you and me to cross the sea

On such a sweet night
with the stars burning so bright
there can be no fright, not for our brave guys

So close your eyes and if you are able
pretend you are sleeping in your cradle
That swings beneath the limbs of the baobab tree

Close your eyes and if you’re able
while you are rocking in your cradle
can’t you hear your aunties singing float on the desert wind

The Sea Is Still,
And we will
Soon Leave the bay of Tripoli

La La La La

So close your eyes and if you are able
pretend you are sleeping in your cradle
That swings beneath the limbs of the baobab tree

Close your eyes and if you’re able
while you are rocking in your cradle
can’t you hear your aunties singing float on the desert wind

The Sea Is Still,
And we will
Soon Leave the bay of Tripoli

Sweet child
Hold me tight
It’s going to be a dark night

Whisky and Gin – Michael McSherry

Oh God, find me a job
But I’m worth more than the minimum wage
And if it’s OK
I will work during the day

ch And then at night
I would like if you don’t mind
To drink whisky and gin
And you’re welcome to join in,
Cos I don’t think it is a sin

Oh God, find me a house
I don’t care where, I just need out
I think I could live in some flats
Yes I think I could cope with that

Oh God, don’t bother with a car
It don’t look like I’m going that far
Anyway, if I get stuck
I put out my thumb and it brings me luck

You Know Me – Kevin McSherry

Ch You know me like no other lover
Together we have blossomed and we’ve grown
You brushed my resting body with your loving calm
You plucked my soul and warmed it with your own

In the bright and burning light of day you know me
I’ve grown inside the words that you have said
I have seen you stretch, and touch the higher things
I’ve heard the words form in your head

Like no other you have seen my nakedness
You know me tongue tied and confused
You have seen behind my masks, you’ve measured all my pain
You have seen my hurt and picked it through

Why do we fight, why do we play that game?
Why do I pretend that life can be the same
When half of me has taken flight, when darkness fills the space at night
Where once you held both our souls together as your own

I have seen your shadow dancing in the night
I have seen the making of your style
I have felt your body tense, in the darkness next to mine
I have seen the rising of your smile

A Place to Stay – album lyrics

A Place To Stay Kevin McSherry

You know I heard the stories told
By many people they were young and they were old
How England does this world bestride
Of how hope and Justice is It’s pride

Bridge: And here I am, and here I go
I’m on a long cold lonely road

When trains and planes cost so much less
And they could carry me without the stress
I risked my life I took a boat
It had too many people in to float.

Br + Ch If I had a place to stay
A certain place to stay and to play
Then I wouldn’t move at all
You know I wouldn’t move at all

And so I took a wagon ride
I struggled for place to try and hide
Between the wheels, below the frame
I clung on through the cold and driving rain

In all the world there is one place
Where joy and laughter is the face
Of those who greet you on the road
Of those who come to share your heavy load

As I was walking one day in December Kevin McSherry

As I was walking one day in December
I met with a soldier so cold and so grey
His uniform sat with his figure like strangers
His body week from the toil of the day
In his dark eyes I saw a man broken
A City of rubble, the buildings all gone
And in that moment I saw a vision
Of chaos that chilled my soul right to the bone

We walked without words for a while to an ale house
Where we supped good stew till our plates were wiped clean
Then only then did he break his silence
To speak of a vision of what might have been
We can dwell on the hurt, we can dwell on the insult
We can look for the devil within
Or we can choose to see what can bind us
To find what is beautiful under the skin

He said when I was a boy I played the brave soldier
I marched as a young man in uniform red
With comrades I strode on the cobbles of strange towns
Re-living and not-doubting the stories we’d read
Yet I have seen that what we have in common
Is greater than all that which holds us apart
Our lives and our loves, our struggles, our fortune
Our music, our laughter the joy in our hearts

We can bring this joy right here in our own land
Justice and fortune could be equally shared
We can nurture the earth and our neighbours together
For together our futures are much better prepared
We can dwell on the hurt, we can dwell on the insult
We can look for the devil within
Or we can choose to see what can bind us
To find what is beautiful under the skin

Dark Times – If I could be free – Kevin McSherry

If I could be free in this my own dear land
Here safe and sound so my children grow free
If there were no fear of oppression to harm them
There’s no place on Earth that I’d rather be.

But these are dark times in this my own dear land
Dangerous movements of rancour and fear
Subvert the truth with their lies and their malice
To challenge the freedoms that cost us so dear

The freedom to play and the freedom to prosper
The freedom to gather in commonly cause
The freedom to work for equitable wages
For land not divided by wealth or by war

Now venomous voices gather around us
Oxygen blows through the patriot’s flame
To ridicule reason and those who embrace it
Take cudgels to critics who’s cares they distain.

Were we to be free in this our own dear land
We’d not carry the burden of a privileged few
The land and the wealth and the work and the wages
Would fairly divide to provide for us too

Never again must we heed the bawling
Of braggarts and blowhards who swagger and swear
Who’d take us to war with their hatred and loathing
In this our dear land we must banish despair

May we walk without fear may we welcome the stranger
May we work together the stronger to grow
May we confront the tasks that we share together
With sisters and brothers on far distant shores

If we were free in this our own dear land
To walk on the green hills and swim in the sea
There would be no path that we could not follow
No fences, no barbed wire and no chains to see

If I could be free in this my own dear land
Here safe and sound so my children grow free
If there were no fear of oppression to harm them
There’s no place on Earth that I’d rather be.

None So Blind – Kevin McSherry

I never understood when my father said to me
There are some so blind that they just don’t want to see
They don’t want to look for fear what they might find
They don’t want to see what might disturb their peace of mind

There are none so blind as them as cannot see
There are none so blind as them as cannot see
Them as cannot see son them as cannot see
There are none so blind as them as cannot see
Them as cannot see the writing on the wall
Them as cannot see the hunger in the hall

He said “When you’ve got a problem boy the most important task
Is to make sure your solution’s fits the question you have asked.
There are many people son strolling through this land
Who cannot see the conflict in the things that they’ve got planned”

Them as go to war and say I’m fighting for my peace
Them as buy stolen goods and complain about the thieves
Them as praise the one who gives alms to the poor
But calls a man a fool if he asks why they are poor

Them as cannot see the rising of the tide
Them as cannot see that there’s nowhere else to hide
Them as cannot see that when all the bees are gone
No-matter rich or poor, we won’t be lasting long.

You can take a horse to water but you can’t make him drink
You can give a man a reason but you can’t make him think
When the bright Sun that he’s reading gives substance to his fears
And the blinding light it’s shining hides the reason for his fears