The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #110977   Message #3540734
Posted By: Jim Dixon
23-Jul-13 - 07:50 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: McNulty Family songs
Subject: Lyr Add: GREEN ON THE GREEN (from McNulty Family)
You can hear this song at The Internet Archive; or Click for an MP3:


GREEN ON THE GREEN
As recorded by the McNulty Family

1. I am a green-on-green boy; I'm here to sing for you,
And just in case you didn't know, I'm Irish through and through.
No matter where I chance to roam, on land or sea or sky,
Beneath the orange, white and green, for Ireland I would die.

CHORUS: So I'm off to Dublin on the green, on the green, our helmets gleamin' in the sun,
And the Tans they flew like lightning to the rattle of a Thompson gun.

2. I am a jolly plough-boy; I ploughed the fields all day,
Till something came across my mind: I thought I'd run away.
I tired of civilian life on the day that I was born,
So I'm off to join the I.R.A., and I'm off tomorrow morn.

3. I'll throw away my old grey coat; I'll throw away my plough.
I'll throw away the job I love, no more to milk the cow,
No more to plough the old green fields, no more to sow the corn,
For I'm off to join the I.R.A., and I'm off tomorrow morn.

4. I have a girl I left behind; her name is Nelly dear.
I know that she'll be true to me when I am not here,
And when the war is over and Ireland is free,
I'll take her to the church at home and a rebel's wife she'll be.

[This song is also known as THE MERRY PLOUGHBOY or OFF TO DUBLIN IN THE GREEN. It is usually attributed to Dominic Behan (although the title and the lyrics vary)