The way we do "The Night Pat Murphy Died" (I rewrote it a bit to suit our performance).



THE NIGHT PAT MURPHY DIED

The night that Paddy Murphy died is a night I'll ne'er forget
All the boys got roarin' drunk and some aren't sober yet
As long as the drink was goin' `round, there's not a tear was shed
Till O'Leary came with the bagpipes all for to wake the dead
   Missus Murphy sat in the corner, pourin' out her grief
   While Kelly and his pals, them dirty robbin' thieves
They crept into the anteroom and a bottle of whiskey stole
And laid the bottle on the corpse to keep the liquor cold

(chorus)
Well, that's how they showed respect for Paddy Murphy
That's how they showed their honour and their pride
They said it was a sin and a shame and they winked at one another
Everything in the wakehouse went the night Pat Murphy died

They sat up Paddy in his box and to make a proper job
They shoved a pint into his hand and a pipe into his gob
They stopped the clock so Missus Murphy couldn't tell the time
It was a quarter after three; they told her it was nine
   Now the whole damn gang got merry, they didn't care for prayer
   "The Devil take his own tonight!", I heard someone declare
But of all the sights I ever saw, it made me shiver with fear
When they raked the ice right off the corpse and placed it on the beer

(chorus)

But everything was goin' grand; no ruction to observe
Till Finnegan told Flannagan, "Ye've got an awful nerve"
For Flannagan told Finnegan, "Your state is a disgrace!"
Then Finnegan wound up and put his fist in Flanny's face
   Well, the battle did take hold then, and everybody in
   I saw O'Brian on top o' Ryan on top o' Flynn on top o' Quinn
And that crazy Andy Burke was there; now whaddaya think he done?
He flung the corpse right into the fight with a holler, just for fun

(chorus)


When the peelers came to pay respect, they battered down the door
They fell upon poor Paddy then and drove him to the floor
They knocked him twice behind the ears and once upon the head
And when they jumped back from their work, sure, they found out he was dead
   Missus Murphy joined the fray then; she lathered all them cops
   She ran off every one of them and chased 'em several blocks
A lovely time was had by all, eighteen in court were tried
For in-stee-gay-tin' riot on the night Pat Murphy died

(chorus)




(since we perform it fairly quickly in the key of A, we launch into a couple of rounds of "Devil's Dream" to wrap things up.)