Saint Patrick's Day

Dear Friends:

I'm giving you the lyrics to "The Wearing of the Green" and, for your amusement, a few of my thoughts to go along with them.
Please sing along - I'm using the first four lines as a chorus after each following verse:

Oh Paddy dear and did you hear the news that's going round
The Shamrock is by law forbid to grow on Irish ground
Saint Patrick's Day no more to keep, his color can't be seen
For there's a Bloody law against the wearing of the green

I met with Napper Tandy and he took me by the hand
And he said, "How's poor Ireland and where does she stand?"
She's the most distressful country that ever you have seen
For they're hanging men and women there for the wearing of the green

Then since the color we must wear is England's cruel red
Sure Ireland's sons will never forget the blood that they have shed
You can take the Shamrock from your hat and cast it on the sod
But it will take root and flourish there though under foot it's trod

When the law can stop the blades of grass from growing as they grow
And when the leaves of summertime their verdure dare not show
Then I will change the color that I wear in my corbeen
But till that day, please God, I'll stick to the wearing of the green


We take a punk approach to a lot of our music, which is why I'm not singing the last two verses. But here they are, for those sons and daughters of Ireland (of whom I may or may not be one, not really sure - sorry - I'm Scottish. And Choctaw. Primarily) who are with us today to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day.


But if at last our color should be torn from Ireland's heart
Her sons, with shame and sorrow, from the dear old soil will part
I've heard whispers of a country that lies far beyond the sea
Where rich and poor stand equal in the light of freedom's day

Oh Erin, must we leave you, driven by the tyrant's hand
Must we ask a mother's welcome from a strange but happier land?
Where the cruel cross of England's thraldom never shall be seen
And where, thank God, we'll live and die still wearing of the green!

Traditional upbeat, cheerful Irish melody. Lyrics by Dion Boucicault.

And they came, by the millions, to escape the great potato famine. And they were pretty much looked down on by established American society, even though, unlike most other immigrants, they spoke English reasonably well.

And when the got here, they were immediately drafted and sent by the tens of thousands to die in the American Civil War. A war that wasn't really about freeing the slaves, but it ended up being about that.

And the descendants of those Irish immigrants went on to settle the American West, wresting it mile by bloody mile from the American Indians, who weren't really all that wild about giving it up.

And today the descendants of those Irish immigrants, and the descendants of the African slaves they helped to free, and the descendants of the American Indians whose land they took (and I'm sure there are plenty of Americans who have all three bloodlines) are now embroiled in that horrible bloody mess over there in Iraq.

I'm not speaking for Jon, by the way, just for me. I just think this is a really good song to remember on Saint Patrick's day and I really hope you'll sing it along with me - here's the chorus again...

Oh Paddy dear and did you hear the news that's going round
The Shamrock is by law forbid to grow on Irish ground
Saint Patrick's Day no more to keep, his color can't be seen
For there's a Bloody law against the wearing of the green

If you want to know what I think about all this, that's why I've started blogging. If you come here, I hope you will share your deepest, most seriously considered thoughts by using the comment function for everyone to read. That conversation starts here. Thanks for coming.

Happy Saint Patty's Day!

rbs