SMOKE OVER BELFAST
(Graeme Miles, 1972)

A week ago or so, I dropped a friend of mine a line
You know he’s back in Ireland, where he’s not been for some time
I asked him how the old place was, but a change is plain to see;
His reply came back this morning. and here’s what he said to me:

He said “Thankyou for your letter, good to hear again from you
You asked me how old Ireland was, well the changes have been few
Sure they’ve built a lot round Dublin since the last time that I came
And the smoke drifts over Belfast, over Belfast just the same

I just motored down to Waterford and stayed awhile in Cork
Old Waterford’s not changed at all and neither has the port
I drove back home through Athlone where it always seems to rain
And the smoke drifts over Belfast, over Belfast just the same

I stopped a while in Strabane – now that’s a little border town
The place was full of soldiers, but do you   know what I found?
Some youngsters playing harling, that’s an ancient Irish game
And the smoke drifts over Belfast, over Belfast just the same

Though Ireland hasn’t changed a lot since 1969
The mountainsides are still as green and the fishing still as fine
And I still take my weekend walks through the winding little lanes
And the smoke drifts over Belfast, over Belfast just the same

The war I don’t remember much, for I was just a kid
And I’ve only seen in pictures what the bombs and bullets did
The rubble and the ruin and the firemen fighting flames
And the smoke drifts over Belfast, over Belfast just the same

What’s to do for poor old Ulster now, how can it be put right?
How can we rid this bitterness that makes the factions fight
Old Ireland’s seen enough of blight, she’s swallowed too much bane
Must the smoke drift over Belfast tomorrow just the same?”

And when I’d finished reading and had put the letter down
I thought about his questions and what answers could be found
Surely common sense and reasoning, prevail they must some day
And the smoke then over Belfast will slowly drift away

Written by Graeme Miles in 1972, one of the last songs he wrote.
Recorded by Martyn Wyndham-Read on the CD "Where Ravens Feed".