Subject: RE: Sporting hero songs?
From:
McGrath of Harlow
Date: 05 Sep 09 - 06:50 AM
Here's a YouTube of "The Ballad of Muhammed Ali", a new song in this "sporting hero" tradition, written by Dermot Kelly of Ennis. It was written to mark the visit paid this week by Ali to the town, from where his great-grandfather came back in the 19th century.
I put up a thread about the visit, in which the song came in, but I thought it'd be handy to have it in here as well.
Come gather around me a story I'll tell
About a great boxer, a hero as well
Has come from the US his people to find
Who left dear old Ireland so warm and so kind.
Muhammed, Muhammed, Muhammed Ali
Come float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,
From Grady's, The Turnpike, your ancestors came,
Brought glory to Ennis, to Ireland great fame.
Your style was so graceful, your hands were so swift.
Your smile so beguiling, your mind full of wit,
Your flashing foot movements, your body so big,
Somewhere in there was a real Irish jig.
Muhammed, Muhammed, Muhammed Ali
Come float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,
From Grady's, The Turnpike, your ancestors came,
Brought glory to Ennis, to Ireland great fame.
You were for peace, not a man for the war,
Refused to enlist, Ali you were a star,
You shone like a beacon to guide the ship home
To County Clare, Ireland, to be with your own.
Muhammed, Muhammed, Muhammed Ali
Come float like a butterffly, sting like a bee,
From Grady's, The Turnpike, your ancestors came,
Brought glory to Ennis, to Ireland great fame.
Boxers may come, boxers may go,
Some with great skill, some melt with the snow,
But you were the greatest, an oak standing tall,
The best, still the best, still the best of them all.
Muhammed, Muhammed, Muhammed Ali
Come float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,
From Grady's, The Turnpike, your ancestors came,
Brought glory to Ennis, to Ireland great fame.
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sj
