Song Description

A woman tells the melancholy story of how she came to be.

Lyrics

They tell the tale of the emerald black
Her eyes shone like the sea
Her life I wish I could carry back
She's gone because of me
She's gone because of me

They raised her up in Galway town
A thing of beauty rare
Alabaster was her skin
And black of coal her hair

All the lads from 'round about
Saw her in the sun
She danced the green in her velvet rare
Until the day was done

Oh ho, you think I'm telling tales
But they watched her every one
They laid a bet to lay her down
She had no chance to run
There was nowhere to run

The emerald black was an innocent
She hadn't got a clue
With auburn hair and the widest hands
He did what he would do

No praying in the night, they say
Could undo what he did
He spawned a seed that she didn't want
It could not be hid

Oh ho, you think I'm telling tales
But I was there to show
On that day I became the life
Of a man she didn't know
She loved but didn't know

And now I live by the Western sea
Upon the sapphire shore
My auburn hair is the legacy
Of the man who gave no more

Love is never a surety
No gem of rarest gleam
It takes a life and it gives a life
With nothing in between

Oh ho, you think I'm telling tales
But I've danced the emerald green
I, too, have laid my life for a lad
There's nothing in between
I want the in between

The emerald black has her freedom now