Found this thread in the unanswered requests permathread. I've tried to tidy up Barbara's posting which wasn't too far off the mark in the first place. I used to know Mick fairly well at one stage, but I haven't seen him in a long time. The version below mightn't be word perfect, but its how I remember hearing Mick singing it on many occasions in pubs like Slattery's The Meeting Place and O Donoghues in Dublin.

The Dodder is the river that flows under the well known Balls Bridge in Dublin.


BLACK DODDER FLOWING
(by Mick Fitzgerald)

1. Springtime had come with the rain in the morning
And the swans changing plume, scattered reeds blowing,
And I a mere stranger, I chanced without knowing
On the song of the black Dodder flowing.

CHORUS: Spring rushes on and leaves you,
And trees will be green while they stand,
For seasons are only a verse in your song
That you hold for a while in your hand.

2. She moves like a woman that's fancy and free,
A woman with secrets well hidden from me,
And bridges and houses keep growing, keep growing.
Soon they'll bow to the black Dodder flowing.

3. Oh, I stood for a while where she turns for the sea,
Saw the wind reach and touch her, before turning to me;
And I walked along with her without ever knowing
The song of the black Dodder flowing.