The Wolfe Tones - The Streets Of New York lyrics
[The Wolfe Tones - The Streets Of New York lyrics]
I was eighteen years old
When I went down to Dublin
With a fistful of money and
A cartload of dreams
"Take your time", said me father
"Stop rushing like hell
And remember, all is not what it seems to be
For there's fellas would cut you for
The coat on your back
Or the watch that you got from your mother
So take care
Me young buck-o and mind yourself well
And will you give this wee
Note to me brother"
At the time Uncle Benjy was
A policeman in Brooklyn
And me father the youngest
Looked after the farm
When a phone call from America
Said "Send the lad over"
And the ould fella said
"Sure it wouldn't do any harm"
"For I've spent my life working
This dirty old ground
For a few pints of porter and
The smell of a pound
And sure maybe there's something you'll
Learn or you'll see
And you can bring it back home
Make it easy on me"
So I landed at Kennedy and a big yellow taxi
Carried me and me bags through
The streets and the rain
Well my poor heart was
Thumping around with excitement
And I hardly even heard what
The driver was saying
We came in the Shore Parkway
To the flatlands in Brooklyn
To my uncle's apartment on East 53rd
I was feeling so happy I was humming a song
And I sang "you're as free as a bird"
Well to shorten the story
What I found out that day
Was that Benjy got shot down
In an uptown foray
And while I was flying my way to New York
Poor Benjy was lying in a cold city morgue
Well I 'phoned up the ould fella
Told him the news
I could tell he could hardly
Stand up in his shoes
And he wept as he told me
"go ahead with the plan"
And not to forget, be a proud Irishman
So I went up to Nelly's beside Fordham Road
And I started to learn
About liftin' the load
But the heaviest thing that
I carried that year
Was the bittersweet thoughts of my
Home town so dear
I went home that December 'cause
The old fella died
Had to borrow the money from
A fella on the side
And all the bright flowers
And brass couldn't hide
The poor wasted face of me father
I sold up the old farmyard
For what it was worth
And into my bag stuck a handful of earth
Then I boarded a train and
I caught me a plane
And I found myself back in the US again
It's been twenty-two years since I've
Set foot in Dublin me kids know to use the
Correct knife and fork
But I'll never forget the green
Grass and the rivers
As I keep law and order in
The streets of New York
Na na na, na na na, na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na na na na na
Na na na, na na na, na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na na na na
When I went down to Dublin
With a fistful of money and
A cartload of dreams
"Take your time", said me father
"Stop rushing like hell
And remember, all is not what it seems to be
For there's fellas would cut you for
The coat on your back
Or the watch that you got from your mother
So take care
Me young buck-o and mind yourself well
And will you give this wee
Note to me brother"
At the time Uncle Benjy was
A policeman in Brooklyn
And me father the youngest
Looked after the farm
When a phone call from America
Said "Send the lad over"
And the ould fella said
"Sure it wouldn't do any harm"
"For I've spent my life working
This dirty old ground
For a few pints of porter and
The smell of a pound
And sure maybe there's something you'll
Learn or you'll see
And you can bring it back home
Make it easy on me"
So I landed at Kennedy and a big yellow taxi
Carried me and me bags through
The streets and the rain
Well my poor heart was
Thumping around with excitement
And I hardly even heard what
The driver was saying
We came in the Shore Parkway
To the flatlands in Brooklyn
To my uncle's apartment on East 53rd
I was feeling so happy I was humming a song
And I sang "you're as free as a bird"
Well to shorten the story
What I found out that day
Was that Benjy got shot down
In an uptown foray
And while I was flying my way to New York
Poor Benjy was lying in a cold city morgue
Well I 'phoned up the ould fella
Told him the news
I could tell he could hardly
Stand up in his shoes
And he wept as he told me
"go ahead with the plan"
And not to forget, be a proud Irishman
So I went up to Nelly's beside Fordham Road
And I started to learn
About liftin' the load
But the heaviest thing that
I carried that year
Was the bittersweet thoughts of my
Home town so dear
I went home that December 'cause
The old fella died
Had to borrow the money from
A fella on the side
And all the bright flowers
And brass couldn't hide
The poor wasted face of me father
I sold up the old farmyard
For what it was worth
And into my bag stuck a handful of earth
Then I boarded a train and
I caught me a plane
And I found myself back in the US again
It's been twenty-two years since I've
Set foot in Dublin me kids know to use the
Correct knife and fork
But I'll never forget the green
Grass and the rivers
As I keep law and order in
The streets of New York
Na na na, na na na, na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na na na na na
Na na na, na na na, na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na na na na