Happy St. Paddy's day to all. I have sung this song a few times in the past week.
          Sandy

THE IRISH WAKE

Times was hard in Irish town, everything was going down
An' Pat Malone was pushed for ready cash
He'd for life insurance spent, all his money, to a cent
And so, all of Pat's affairs had gone to smash

Then, his wife spoke up an' said, now dear Pat, if you was dead
This fifty thousand dollars we could take
And so, Pat laid down and tried, to make out that he had died
Until he smelt the whiskey from the wake

Then Pat Malone forgot that he was dead
He raised himself an' shouted from the bed
If this work goes on a minute, the corpse, he will be in it
And you'll have to get me drunk to keep me dead

Oh, they give the corpse a sup, and then from that they filled him up
And laid him out again upon the bed
But before the morning grew, everybody felt so blue
They forgot that he was only playing dead

Oh, they raised him from the bunk, still alive but awful drunk
And laid him in the coffin with a prayer
But the driver of the cart, said by gosh, he'd never start
Until he saw that someone paid the fare

Then Pat Malone forgot that he was dead
He sat up in the coffin while he said,
If you dare to doubt my credit, you'll be sorry that you said it
Drive on or else the corpse will break your head

Oh, then they started out, on the cemetery route
The neighbors tried the widow to console
Till they stopped beneath the base, of Malone's last resting place
And gently lowered Patrick in the hole

Then Malone began to see, just as plain as one, two, three
That he'd forgot to reckon on the end
So, as the clods begin to drop, he broke off the coffin top
And to the earth, he quickly did ascend

He came nearly going under, t'was a lucky thing by-thunder
That Pat Malone forgot that he was dead