Henry's Songbook

Chorus:
Whack fol de diddle fel de diro deh
Whack fol de diddle fel de dero
Oh Mrs Dolan your son he isn't working

I'm a stranger here from Ireland's shore
Been on the road six months or more
Hiking working travel in style
I'm a vagabond from Ireland's Isle
My sunburned thumb stuck up in the air
Many's the lift from here to there
Cars buses vans and trains
In the punishing heat the snow and rain

I came from Dublin to Jerusalem town
Had a drink or two on the journey down
At a railway station called Gare du Nord
I missed my train through gargling hard
Three days later in Napoli
On a Turkish boat I sailed to sea
Slept in a hot hole down below
Travelling tourist class you know

When the promised land came into sight
The customs man gave me a fright
How much money have you got with you Joe
I bluffed and said fifty pounds or so
He said, Shalom and I said, Good day
Grabbed my gear got fast away
Down to the desert then I went
Digging up history living in a tent

It was in the Gulf of Acaba
I met some Paddies and we had a Fleadh
Danced through the streets of Eilat town
Sang Sean South of Garryowen
I was travelling I don't know
You pack your gear get up and go
Leave the crack for another bout
Could damn well do with a pint of stout

(as sung by Christy Moore)

Tune: Muirsheen Durkin

[1978:] I wrote this song in my salad days (back in 1965) when I worked on an archaeological expedition to Masada in the Negev desert. I was on general duty on top of the mountain with a walkie-talkie as a weapon and the temperature around 120 degrees in the shade. I was thinking of how I'd got there. (Joe Dolan, notes Christy Moore, 'The Iron Behind the Velvet')

[1984:] Joe went to fight in the Six Day War and wrote this song to prove he'd been there. Don't know if he ever got there. (Christy Moore Song Book 64)