Song For Ireland-Lyrics+Chords+Tab-The Dubliners Songs

A Song For Ireland Lyrics And Chords written by Phil and June Colclough.Made famous by The Dubliners with Luke Kelly on vocals also recorded by Mary Black . A timeless classic that never seems to age. I have included another version of the chords below that stay in the D Major key but include more chords.

[D]Walking all the[A] day
By[G] tall towers where falcons build their[D] nests
In silver wings they[A] fly, they[G] know the call for freedom in their[D] breasts,
[G] saw Black Head against the[D] sky
With twisted rocks that run down to the[A] sea
[G]Living on your Western[D] shore,
Saw summer sunsets, I asked for[A] more,
I[G] stood by your[D] Atlantic[A] Sea,
And [G]sang a song for[D]Ireland

Drinking all the day,
In old pubs where fiddlers love to play,
Saw one take the bow,
To play a reel that was so grand and gay,
I stood on Dingle Beach and cast,
In the wild foam for the Atlantic bass,
When living on your Western shore,
Saw the summer sunset, I asked form more,
I stood by your Atlantic Sea,
And sang a song for Ireland

Talking all the day,
With true friends who try to make you stay,
Telling jokes and news,
And singing songs to pass the night away,
We watched the Galway salmon run,
Like silver dancing, darting in the sun,
When living on your Western shore,
Saw the summer sunset, I asked for more,
I stood by your Atlantic Sea,
And sang a song for Ireland

Dreaming in the night,
I saw a land where no man had to fight,
And waking in your dawn,
I saw you crying in the morning light,
Lying where the falcons fly,
They twist and turn all in your air-blue sky,
Living on your western shore,
Saw the summer sunset, I asked no more,
I stood by your Atlantic sea,
And sang a song for Ireland

SONG FOR IRELAND 4/4 in the key of DMajor but with added chords to make it sound more intresting.

[D]Walking [Bm]all the[A] day

Near[G] tall [D] towers where [G]falcons [A]build their[D] nests

Silver [Bm]winged they[A] fly,

They[G] know the [D]call of [G]freedom [A]in their[D] breasts,

[G] Saw Black [Em]Head a[G]gainst the[A] sky

With [D]twisted [Bm]rocks that [D]run down [G]to the[A] sea

Chorus

[G]Living on your [D]Western[Bm] shore,

Saw summer [D]sunsets, [G]asked for[A] more,

I[G] stood by your[D] Atlantic[A] Sea,

And [G]sang a [D]song for[G]Ir[A]e[D]land

[D]Drinking [Bm]all the [A]day,

In [G]old [D]pubs where [G]fiddlers [A]love to [D]play,

Saw one [Bm]take the [A]bow,

To [G]play a [D]reel that [G]was so [A]grand and [D]gay,

[G]stood on [Em]Dingle [G]Beach and [A]cast,

In the [D]wild [Bm]foam [D]for the At[G]lantic [A]bass

Chorus

[D]Laughing [Bm]all the [A]day,

With [G]true [D]friends who [G]try to [A]make you [D]stay,

Telling [Bm]jokes and [A]news,

And [G]singing [D]songs to [G]pass the [A]night a[D]way,

[G]Watched the [Em]Galway [G]salmon [A]run,

Like [D]silver [Bm]dancing, [D]darting [G]in the [A]sun

Chorus

[D]Dreaming [Bm]in the [A]night,

I [G]saw a [D]land where [G]no man [A]had to [D]fight,

And waking iBm]in your [A]dawn,

I [G]saw you [D]crying [G]in the [A]morning [D]light,

[G]Lying [Em]where the [G]falcons [A]fly,

They [D]twist and [Bm]turn all [D]in your [G]air-blue [A]sky

Chorus

The youtube video is of myself [Martin Dardis] and the chords I use are the same as what's on the page, key of D Major.

The Dubliners and me…

Well, how to begin? Maybe I’ll start by briefly introducing myself.

My name is Marc and although I am German born I always felt a strong affection for Ireland, the country, its people, their history and culture and especially their music,

I first listened to Irish folk music as a teenager and later, after a rather spontaneous decision to learn how to play the guitar some eight years ago or so, I’ve been collecting, preparing, playing and singing the songs myself.

The ones of you that might have red what Martin Dardis wrote about his motivation to build up this website will know that his aim was to provide a central place where one could find almost every Irish folk song imaginable and to preserve this precious heritage for the upcoming generations.

I share this noble intention and was therefore very eager and proud when I got the chance to contribute to this great work by providing several missing songs and the associated chords out of my personal collection.

Okay, that’s all very nice you’ll probably say now, but what the hell has all this to do with the title of this abstract?

Well, some time ago when I sent him over a bunch of new Dubliner’s Songs for the site, Martin asked me if I was willing to write some kind of review about what the band and their songs mean to me and my own attitude towards music, because he supposed I was fan of them just like him.

Probably like many of you, the Dubliners are one of the first things that come into my mind when I think about Irish folk music. That’s no wonder of course, if one takes a look on the more than forty albums they have recorded in their over forty years career, surprisingly without ever writing any song themselves, as I myself hadn’t known for many years but just assumed.

Anyhow I had to think about Martin’s request for a while at first. Actually I had regarded myself as a great Wolfe Tones’, Clancy Brothers’ and Corries’ fan -the last ones are Scottish, I know, nevertheless awesome.

But if you had asked me some time ago for my opinion about the Dubliners I probably would just have answered something like “Yeah, they’re alright, but none of my favourites”.

So why this?

Now, just as the Dubliners are the first thing to come into my thoughts concerning Irish folk music, the first I’d connect with them is the name of Luke Kelly- also no wonder for all he has contributed to the popularity of Irish music, may he rest in peace and enjoy himself playing now together with Ronnie Drew!

But, to be honest, myself, I’ve never been the biggest fan of his very unique voice- all his admirers out there may forgive me this heresy…

Nevertheless I owe him probably a lot because it was in fact a cassette copy of one of their very old albums (I unfortunately forgot which one) being the first piece of Irish music I’ve ever listened to consciously in my life and which has likely been the basis for my later enthusiasm (many thanks to my old mate Per, who once recommended it to me).

In December 2007 I finally saw them playing life in concert. Actually I went there without great expectations, but mostly because we don’t often get the possibility to see big Irish bands over here and besides this because I thought that it was just some kind of must as a folk fan to see the Dubliners at least once.

Today I am very glad I went there for it was absolutely fantastic to see which great show this gang of senior citizens, as they would probably call themselves, performed there on stage and in which way they inspired hundreds of Germans of various ages to join them in song, finally culminating in A Nation Once Again. In this context, one should know that over here we sadly don’t have a living tradition in our own folk music and so this is not at all self-evident.

After this kind of revelation, I finally began to deal more with them and their music. My today’s medium of choice for this is called YouTube. With a tiny bit of insistence you can find there almost everything you are looking for. And of course, you will find there thousands of videos connected to the Dubliners, most of them being musical ones. There I first got aware how much they had really done and which broad spectrum of great and lovely songs they had covered. Many of these now belong to my personal favourites, like Three Score And Ten, Dicey Riley, Donegal Danny and Rose of Allendale.

Just some weeks ago I had the chance for another smashing concert of them and so I think I can come now to the following conclusion:

Yes, I am a great Dubliner’s fan! Thank you guys for your music and for giving it to Ireland and the world! I hope you will carry on for many more years!

Erin Go Bragh!

Marc Patrick Fahrbach, January 2009

Alternative chords ,,D=G A=D G=C