If you (G)ever go to Dublin town
In a hundred (D)years or (G)so
(C)Inquire for me in (G)Baggot street
And what I was like to (D)know
O (G)he was the queer one
Fol dol the di do
He was a queer one
And (D)I tell (G)you D-C
My (G)great-grandmother knew him well,
He asked her to (D)come and (G)call
On (C)him in his flat and she (G)giggled at the thought
Of a young girl's lovely (D)fall.
O (G)he was dangerous,
Fol dol the di do,
He was dangerous,
And (D)I tell (G)you D-C
On (G)Pembroke Road look out for my ghost,
Dishevelled with (D)shoes un(G)tied,
(C)Playing through the railings with (G)little children
Whose children have long since (D)died.
O (G)he was a nice man,
Fol do the di do,
He was a nice man
And (D)I tell (G)you D-C
Go (G)into a pub and listen well
If my voice still (D)echoes (G)there,
(C)Ask the men what their (G)grandsires thought
And tell them to answer (D)fair,
O (G)he was eccentric,
Fol do the di do,
He was eccentric
And (D)I tell (G)you D-C
He (G)had the knack of making men feel
As small as they (D)really (G)were
Which (C)meant as great as (G)God had made them
But as males they disliked his (D)air.
O (G)he was a proud one,
Fol do the di do,
He was a proud one
And (D)I tell (G)you D-C
If (G)ever you go to Dublin town
In a hundred (D)years or (G)so
(C)Sniff for my person(G)ality,
Is it Vanity's vapour (D)now?
O (G)he was a vain one,
Fol dol the di do,
He was a vain one
And (D)I tell (G)you D-C
I (G)saw his name with a hundred more
In a book in the (D)librar(G)y,
It (C)said he had never (G)fully achieved
His potentialit(D)y.
O (G)he was slothful,
Fol do the di do,
He was slothful
And (D)I tell (G)you D-C
He (G)knew that posterity had no use
For anything (D)but the (G)soul,
The (C)lines that speak the (G)passionate heart,
The spirit that lives a(D)lone.
O (G)he was a lone one,
Fol do the di do
O he was a lone one,
And (D)I tell (G)you D-C
O (G)he was a lone one,
Fol do the di do
Yet he lived happily
And (D)I tell (G)you