Lyr Req: Willie MacBride's Answer to Finbar Furey

Subject: Parody (again) No Man's Land ?
From: Barry Finn
Date: 10 Aug 98 - 03:16 PM

I recently heard a parody of "No Man's Land". I did search the DT & did a search of past threads, none are what I'm looking for. This has Willie McBride replying from the grave (not the Steve Suffet version) to a bewildered Finbar Fury, thanking him for singing about him as a young man, though he wasn't & how he died not slow & obsene but choking on a bone & how the band's off playing in the forest. Thanks for any help. Barry

Subject: RE: Parody (again) No Man's Land ?
From: Martin Ryan.
Date: 10 Aug 98 - 03:27 PM

Yes Barry - there are (at least) two parodies on the go in Ireland at the moment. The other one is in the DT! I've heard the one you're looking for but don't have a set of words. If they don't show up, I'll make enquiries.

Regards

Subject: Lyr Add: WILLIE MACBRIDE'S ANSWER TO FINBAR FUREY
From: Barry Finn
Date: 19 Aug 98 - 07:11 PM

WILLIE MACBRIDE'S ANSWER TO FINBAR FUREY

Well, hello, Finbar Furey; this is Willie MacBride.
I can see you as you sit there down by my graveside,
And I loved your song about me that I'd like to put straight.
I was 40, not 19, as you sang in your song.
You subtracted the years on my gravestone all wrong,
And the way that I died it was foul and obscene.
You see, I choked on a chicken bone in the Army canteen.

CHORUS: They didn't beat the drum slowly; they didn't play the fifes lowly.
Didn't sound the Dead March as they lowered me down,
And me coffin was plywood and porous,
And the band was having a picnic in the forest.

Yes, I left both a wife and a sweetheart behind.
When the wife she found out, well, she near lost her mind.
Though I gave her of my best, I never treated her cheap,
But in her faithful heart I'll be forever a creep.
Ah, but now I'm a hero and your song was so kind.
I'm big, strong and handsome in everyone's mind,
But I'm scrawny and knock-kneed; I'd frighten the crows.
I'd a cauliflower ear and a wart on me nose. CHORUS

Well, now, Finbar Furey, I can't help wondering why
You sit talking to gravestone with a tear in your eye,
And sure, look at you now; you've had such an attack,
I bet this is the first grave that's answered you back.
You're as white as a sheet and you're shaking and sick.
Do you know something, Finbar? You're as thick as a brick.
This is not the voice of a spirit long lost;
It's your ol' brother Eddie; I'm behind a white cross. CHORUS


I'm confused; you'd think Finbar wrote the song and not Bogle. Barry

Subject: RE: Parody (again) No Man's Land ?
From: Martin Ryan.
Date: 19 Aug 98 - 08:14 PM

Well done, Barry!

Regards

Subject: RE: Parody (again) No Man's Land ?
From: alison
Date: 20 Aug 98 - 12:01 AM

Hi,

Nice one Barry but there seems to be a line missing in the first verse (either the 3rd or 4th).... any ideas.

Thanks

Slainte

alison

Subject: RE: Parody (again) No Man's Land ?
From: Barbara
Date: 20 Aug 98 - 01:06 AM

Probably part of both, I'd guess something like
"I can see you as you sit there down by my graveside
And I loved your song about me, it was great
But there's a few facts wrong that I'd like to put straight
I was 40 not 19 as you sang in your song..."
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: Parody (again) No Man's Land ?
From: Barry Finn
Date: 20 Aug 98 - 07:18 AM

Sorry, Barbra your very close, thanks, it should've read:

And I loved your song about me, sure it made me sound great
But there's one or two things that I'd like to put straight

Barry

Subject: RE: Parody (again) No Man's Land ?
From: GUEST,cathy dwane
Date: 13 Sep 01 - 04:59 PM

Barry, Thanks ever so much it has been driving me mad trying to get those words. Cathy

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Willie MacBride's Answer to Finbar Furey
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 10:30 AM

Almost right - back to first verse
"I loved your wee song, sure it made me sound great,
but the a few little things that I'd like to put straight.
You subtracted the years on my gravestone all wrong
I was 39 not 19 like you sang in your song"

otherwise spot on!!
some versions say "you'd swallow a brick" (rather than thick as a brick)
also "this is me, Davie Arthur behind th

Subject: Lyr Add: WILLIE MCBRIDE'S REPLY TO ERIC BOGLE
From: Dennis the Elder
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 11:46 AM

Here's Willy McBride's answer to Eric Bogle, not sure where I got it from so I can not give the writer the respect they deserve.

WILLIE MCBRIDE'S REPLY

My dear friend Eric, this is Willie McBride,
Today I speak to you across the divide,
Of years and of distance of life and of death,
Please let me speak freely with my silent breath.

You might think me crazy; you might think me daft,
I could have stayed back in Erin, where there wasn't a draft,
But my parents they raised me to tell right from wrong,
So today I shall answer what you asked in your song.

Yes, they beat the drum slowly; they played the pipes lowly,
And the rifles fired o'er me as they lowered me down,
The band played "The Last Post" in chorus,
And the pipes played "The Flowers of the Forest."

Ask the people of Belgium or Alsace-Lorraine,
If my life was wasted, if I died in vain.
I think they will tell you when all's said and done,
They welcomed this boy with his tin hat and gun.

And call it ironic that I was cut down,
While in Dublin my kinfolk were fighting the Crown.
But in Dublin or Flanders the cause was the same:
To resist the oppressor, whatever his name.

Yes, they beat the drum slowly; they played the pipes lowly,
And the rifles fired o'er me as they lowered me down,
The band played "The Last Post" in chorus,
And the pipes played "The Flowers of the Forest."

It wasn't for King or for England I died,
It wasn't for glory or the Empire's pride.
The reason I went was both simple and clear:
To stand up for freedom did I volunteer.

It's easy for you to look back and sigh,
And pity the youth of those days long gone by,
For us who were there, we knew why we died,
And I'd do it again, says Willie McBride.

Yes, they beat the drum slowly; they played the pipes lowly,
And the rifles fired o'er me as they lowered me down,
The band played "The Last Post" in chorus,
And the pipes played "The Flowers of the Forest."

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Willie MacBride's Answer to Finbar Furey
From: Dennis the Elder
Date: 30 Jun 11 - 11:54 AM

Well, I found out quickly where I got it from Mudcat. Heres the credit I should have posted
(Lyrics: Stephen L. Suffet (Copyright 1997)
Tune: "No Man's Land" by Eric Bogle