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Uncle Mike

  • (Frank Hennessy)

    Chorus - hopeless!

    When I was young I spent some time with my Irish uncle Mike
    I must have travelled a hundred miles on the crossbar of his bike
    As we rattled down the road Uncle Mike would sing
    A song without a single word and the bicycle bell would ring
    And he sang

    Sometimes when he'd get lonely he would often say to me
    Turn down the radio and I'll tell you how things used to be
    We had no television then we had no gramophone
    And if you required some music then you had to make your own
    Like this

    Summer nights we gathered round down at the village hall
    If there was no fiddle to play for us then it didn't matter at all
    When the conversation faltered old Mike brought out his song
    And the young ones took their partners and they'd dance the whole night long
    To his

    And after Mass on Sunday across the road he'd stand
    Along with all the other lads in his Sunday suit so grand
    The girls would go parading 'twas such a pretty sight
    And one would say, Hey Michael who're you taking to the dance tonight
    And he'd say

    When the hay was gathered in and safe from the winter harm
    There would be a celebration in the kitchen at the farm
    He'd not get home till daybreak sometimes in a terrible state
    His ma would ask him where he'd been he would tell her straight
    Down by the

    And when Uncle Mikey passed away I was a man myself
    He left me the cottage and the land the total of his wealth
    But he was loved by everyone in the country and the town
    And you never saw a bigger crowd when we laid old Mikey down
    And we sang

    (as sung by Iain MacKintosh)

Susannes Folksong-Notizen

  • [1998:] This is a feature of the Irish tradition - when times were hard, when there were no instruments around, people would lilt or diddle as they call it tunes for other people to dance to. (Tomás Lynch on Belgian radio, 30 Apr)

Quelle: Ireland

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