My[G] song for you this evening is[C] not to[D] make you [G]sad,
Nor for[Em] adding to the[D] sorrows of our[C] troubled northern[G] land,
But[G] lately I've been thinking,and it[C] just wont[D] leave my[G] mind,
To[Em] tell you of two[D] friends of mine,who were[C] both good friends of[G] mine.
[2]
Alan Bell from Banagh ,he lived just across the fields,
A great man for the nusic and the dancing and the reels,
O'Mally came from South Armagh,to court young Alice fair,
And we'd often meet on the Ryan Roan and the laughter filled the air.
[Chorus]
[G]There were[C] ros[G]es,[C]ros[G]es,There were [C]ros[G]es,
And the[Em] tears of the[D] people[C] ran to[G]geather.
[3]
Though Alan he was Protesant,and Sean was Catholic born,
It never made much difference,for the friendship it was strong,
And sometimes in the evenings when we heard the sound of drums,
We said it wont devide us we always will be one.
[4]
For the ground our fathers plowed in the soil is just the same,
And the places that we say our prayers have just got different names,
We talked about the friends who died and we hoped there'd be no more,
It's little then we relized the tragedy in store.
[5]
It was on a Sunday morning when the awful news came round,
Another killing had been done just outside Newry Town,
We knew that Alan danced up there we knew he liked the band,
But when we heard that he was dead we could not understand.
[6]
We gathered at the grave side on that cold and rainy day,
And the minister he closed his eyes and prayed for no revenge,
And all of us who knew him from along the Ryan Road,
We bowed our heads and we said a prayer for the resting of his soul.
[7]
Now fear it filled the country side,there was fear in every home,
When the car of death came prowling round the lonely Ryan Road,
A Catholic would be killed tonight,to even up the score,
Oh God it's young O'Mally,that they've taken from the door.
[7]
Alan was my friend he cried,he begged them with his fear,
But centures of hatred have ears that cannot hear,
An eye for an eye was all that filled their mind,
And an eye for another eye till everyone is blind.
[8]
I dont know where the moral is or where the song should end,
But I wonder just how many wars are fought between good friends,
And thoes that give the orders are not the ones to die,
It's Bell and O'Mally and the likes of you and I.
