Lyr: Irish Blessing/May the Road Rise to Meet You

Subject: May the Road Rise to Meet You
From: Jon
Date: 31 Jan 98 - 01:38 AM

I just heard a really nice version of "May the Road Rise to Meet You". I know the poem and have been trying to find lyrics. I don't know if it was a trad song or a new one. Any thoughts? (I tried searching DT for 'road rise' and didn't find what I was looking for)

Thanks,

Jon

Subject: RE: May the Road Rise to Meet You
From: Joe Offer
Date: 31 Jan 98 - 02:16 AM

Well, Jon, we had this discussion of "The Irish Blessing" a while back, and here and here are a couple of links to texts for blessings and toasts. That should give you a start.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: An Irish Blessing
From: Tim Salt
Date: 13 Sep 99 - 06:42 PM

Does anybody out there know the poem called "The Irish Blessing"?

If you do I'd love to hear from you.

Subject: RE: An Irish Blessing
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Sep 99 - 09:07 PM

Tim,

Welcome to the Mudcat. If you will click here you will find a thread we had for St. Patty's day which has tons of Irish blessings, jokes, songs, etc. on it. Hope you find the one you are looking for.

Good luck,

katlaughing

Subject: RE: An Irish Blessing
From: Big Mick
Date: 13 Sep 99 - 09:14 PM

Tim, give us a bit more of a clue and we can probably help you. Do you know any of the lines, or the general nature of the work? Is it contemporary or an older work?

Big Mick

Subject: RE: An Irish Blessing
From: Tim Salt
Date: 14 Sep 99 - 02:04 AM

Katlaughing & Big Mick

Thanks for pointing me to the St Patricks thread. The one that comes closest to it is The Irish Toast. Certainly the lines "May the road rise with you/And the wind be at your back" are familiar.

Thanks

Tim

Subject: RE: An Irish Blessing
From:
Date: 14 Sep 99 - 10:01 AM

Hi Tim,

we sing a song called 'An Irish Blessing' in our folklore chorus in Plochingen, Germany and it's pretty close to this old toast, but has a second phrase as well. It goes

May the roads rise to meet you
may the wind be always at your back,
may the sun shine warm upon your face,
the rain fall soft upon your face.

And until we meet again, until we meet again
may God hold you in the palm of his hand.

May the sun make your days bright,
may the stars illuminate your nights,
may the flowers bloom along your path,
your house stand firm against the storm

Hope you like it.
Regards
Sabine

Subject: RE: An Irish Blessing
From: paddymac
Date: 14 Sep 99 - 12:04 PM

There's a outstanding version of the poem/song/toast in the barbershop tradition. Marvelous chord progressions. Might be a bit outside what most would consider "folk", but is nevertheless (IMHO) a valid "folk" artform. If anybody is interested, send me a message and I'll track down a copy for you.

Subject: RE: An Irish Blessing
From: Tim Salt
Date: 14 Sep 99 - 02:06 PM

Hi Sabine

Thanks for the extra phrase - sounds really nice. It would be good to hear you and your group perform it - thanks!

Hi padymac

It would be great to get a copy if you can find one - thanks!

Tim

Subject: RE: An Irish Blessing
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 14 Sep 99 - 09:43 PM

I heard it first as:

May the roads rise with you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the Lord smile upon you
And hold you in the palm of His hand.

And sometimes, they added:

And may you be in Heaven half-an-hour
Before the devil knows you're dead.

But I couldn't sing that, and I wanted to. It didn't rhyme and it didn't scan, so I revised it and gave it a simple tune for us simple folk who can't master barbershop harmonies. My wife and I recorded it on our New Harmony LP, also available as a cassette. Goes like this:

May the roads rise with you,
May the winds be gentle where you stand;
May the Lord smile upon you,
And hold you safely in his hand.

May your friends be many;
May they share your joy through all your days.
May the sun shine upon you,
And warm you on your wandering ways.

May your dreams be peaceful in the night.
May you wake to welcome morning's light.

(repeat first verse)

Sandy

Subject: RE: An Irish Blessing
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Sep 99 - 09:54 PM

That is lovely, Sandy!

Subject: RE: An Irish Blessing
From: Big Mick
Date: 14 Sep 99 - 10:44 PM

There are so many lovely blessings from the land of my Grandparents. I love this one which my Grandfather used to say:

May the blessing of Light be upon you, light without and light within...
And in all your comings and goings,
May you ever have a kindly greeting
from them you meet along the road.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: Irish Blessing Tune?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 30 Mar 01 - 04:54 PM

I suspect you'll know the cheesy plastic crapola thing I'm getting at... The "May the road rise up to meet you blah blah blah half an hour before the devil knows yer dead? thing?!?!?!

Does anyone know if this was ever put to music?

A chummer of mine is getting married in May and has was asking me to sing it during the signing of the register... I told him that while I'dbe flattered, I was pretty sure it had no music to go with it... I then convinced him to use a good song... "All That Is" by Garnet Rogers... But...

Still I'm wondering, for no other reason but to know...

Anyone know one way or the other?

;-)

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Irish Blessing Tune?
From: MMario
Date: 30 Mar 01 - 04:57 PM

multiple times. Some of them 4 part harmony -

but I've heard it most to "When Irish Eyes are smilin'"

Subject: Plastic Irish Blessing Tune?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 30 Mar 01 - 04:59 PM

Oh... hey... that's something I hadn't though of... That it might be put to an existing tune...

Any other suggestions... not that I'm gonna sing it... I'm just curious...

;-)

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Irish Blessing Tune?
From: MMario
Date: 30 Mar 01 - 05:11 PM

a midi here treacle

another

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Irish Blessing Tune?
From: MMario
Date: 30 Mar 01 - 05:13 PM

yet another

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Irish Blessing Tune?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 30 Mar 01 - 05:29 PM

Neat...

Ta' eh, MMario!

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Irish Blessing Tune?
From: Big Mick
Date: 30 Mar 01 - 06:41 PM

Yeah, Clinton, in fact it was sung at the funeral of Jim Goldsmith, my bandmate. It was a version I had not heard. They were playing from sheet music if you want me to track it down and send it to you.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Irish Blessing Tune?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 30 Mar 01 - 07:45 PM

you could Mick... but don't knock yerself out eh... It's just idle curiosity at this point... they've already decided they'd MUCH rather have me sing "All That Is"

;-)

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Irish Blessing Tune?
From: Chip2447
Date: 30 Mar 01 - 11:37 PM

It is a staple at renaissance fairs. Most notably by the group, Wild Mountain Thyme from Wisconsin. Not sure how to do the blue clicky [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Irish Blessing Tune?
From:
Date: 31 Mar 01 - 09:43 AM

I have a copy of Irish Blessing. It was arranged for Grupo Vocal Olissipo by Bob Chilcott, who was one of the Kings Singers. Is is arranged for a a 4 part choir, but could easily be used for a solo voice. It has piano part with it. Hope this helps. It is Oxford University Press if you want to buy a copy. Margaret

Subject: RE: Tune Req: Irish Blessing: 'May the road rise up...
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Apr 12 - 08:03 AM

CAN i GET A PRINTOUT OF THE LYRICS TO THIS BLESSINGS FOR YOU ?

Subject: ADD: Irish Blessing-May the Road Rise to Meet You
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Apr 12 - 01:14 AM

Hi - there are many different versions of this blessing. I have combined most of our threads on this song, so you can see several versions above. You'll find YouTube recordings of various versions here (click).
Hope that helps.
-Joe Offer, Mudcat Archivist-

---

The version I know is just a bit different:

AN IRISH BLESSING

May the road rise to meet you
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rain fall soft upon your field.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand,
May he hold you in the palm of his hand.


Noel Paul Stookey sings a very nice melody he wrote for these lyrics. You'll find it on his 1977 album, Real to Reel.

Subject: RE: ADD: Irish Blessing-May the Road Rise to Meet You
From: Stewie
Date: 19 Apr 12 - 03:10 AM

As far as I can see, no mention has been made of Tommy Sands' take on this: track 9, 'Slainte Mhaith/Cat in the attic', on his 'To Shorten The Winter' CD. Nice!

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: ADD: Irish Blessing-May the Road Rise to Meet You
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 20 Apr 12 - 12:14 AM

I had the road rise to greet me about year ago....it hurt!

Subject: RE: ADD: Irish Blessing-May the Road Rise to Meet You
From: GUEST,henryp
Date: 20 Apr 12 - 05:50 AM

Keep You in Peace

Warm be the sun that shines upon you
Soft be the winds as they breathe on you
Smooth be the roads that rise before you
Keep you in peace till we meet again

Chorus inspired by a Celtic blessing - Sarah Morgan 1992

Words in Mudcat/Digital Tradition

Subject: RE: ADD: Irish Blessing-May the Road Rise to Meet You
From: GUEST,The Man from UNCOOL
Date: 25 May 12 - 07:15 PM

I'm guessing, henryp, that you're not Sarah Morgan in disguise, but quoting from a piece BY her? If so, I can confirm she still sings this, especially at the end of gigs. I might be able to get the full lyrics (and possibly chords) off her, if anyone's still trying to follow up the original enquiry.

Subject: RE: ADD: Irish Blessing-May the Road Rise to Meet You
From: michaelr
Date: 25 May 12 - 08:33 PM

Why should a road have to rise to meet someone? Are they floating? Walking on air? Trying to make an emergency landing in a small plane?

I'm with Dick, I'd prefer the road to stay put and refrain from meeting any part of me but the soles of my feet.

Danged blessing makes no sense...

Subject: RE: ADD: Irish Blessing-May the Road Rise to Meet You
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 25 May 12 - 09:15 PM

I had the misfortune of having the roaad rise up to meet me last spring.Too much blood pressure medication. All I have to say, is that it hurts.