Story Behind The Song
A true story
| Song Length |
5:28 |
Genre |
Country - Bluegrass, Folk - Americana |
| Subject |
Father |
Similar Artists |
Tim O'Brian |
| Language |
English |
Era |
1800 - 1899 |
Lyrics
My mom's granddad was an Irishman
Who died when he was young
A railway brakeman crushed to death
At the coming of the dawn
He left a widow and two young daughters
To a fate unknown
And they worked a homestead in North
Dakota
Trying to make a home
Oh I love the Irish songs
So lonesome and so long
Yes I love the Irish songs
When I'm in a mood to mourn
He drank good whisky and danced to a fiddle and sang the sad ol'songs
But his red hair and his railway watch
were all he passed along
My mother got his dark red hair and sang Sweet Molly Malone
And her mother missed him all her life
Until her race was run
Oh I love the Irish songs...
Both his widow and his daughters are now dead and gone
His fate is forgotten, but his music lives on
When a plaintive fiddle takes me to a land unknown
And a sad ol' song makes me, want to stop and mourn
Oh I love the Irish songs....