The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #6051   Message #50743
Posted By: Rob Derrick
23-Dec-98 - 07:18 PM
Thread Name: Parting songs
Subject: Lyr Add: THE PARTING SONG (JOURNEY'S END)^^
Oops. Sorry about the redundancy. It's as bad as the old woman who took the two pills

"To be sure, to be sure"

But to continue the subject, there are two songs called "The Parting Glass" that I know of. The first is the most popular, and therefore accounts for why I can't for the moment remember it. Ah, it is:

Of all the money that e'er I spent
I've spent it in good company...

as popularized by the Clancy Bros.

The second, which I also learned from Liam Clancy and Tommy Makem, and the one that is my favorite, is

The fire is out, the moon is down
The parting glass is dry and done
And I must go and leave this town
Before the rising of the sun

And long's the road, and far's the mile
Before I rest my soul again
With girls that weep, and girls that smile
And all the words and ways of men

For some there are that may not bide
But wander to there journey's end
Nor take a girl to be a bride
Nor keep a man to be a friend

And when I'm done with wandering
I'll beside the road and weep
For all the songs I did not sing
And promises I did not keep

According to Tommy Makem's official web site, the correct title of the latter song is "The Parting Song (Journey's End)." I have submitted it under this title to DigiTrad. -JoeClone 20-Feb-2001.