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The Traveler

by Trip McCool

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1.
Now, Here's to those who were born in the dirt Swore at the dirt and cursed at the dirt Ah, Here's to those who rose up from the dirt Of some long far forgotten land Here's to those who worked in the sod Who sweat in the sod who bled from the sod Ah, Here's to those who died in the sod Of some long far forgotten land Ireland , Oh Ireland My long lost home My new found friend Ireland Oh Ireland A stone skip away across the sea Ah, please won't you remember me Now, Here's to those who pulled up their roots Chewed up their roots, and spat out their roots AH, Here's to those who ripped out their roots Of some long far forgotten land Now, Here's to those who saved all they had Scraped all they had and gave all they had Ah, Here's to those who braved all they had For some long far forgotten land Now, Here I am with my hands in the dirt my knees in the dirt, my boots in the dirt Ah, Here I am with my soul in the dirt Of some long far forgotten land Now, Here's to those who remember the past Cherish the past and worship the past and Ah, Here's to those who will lift up a glass To some long far forgotten land
2.
Every morning, seven o'clock There's Twenty Irishmen a pounding on a rock The boss man says, "Shut up, keep still... Come down heavy on your cast iron drill." And drill, ye tarriers, drill Drill, ye tarriers, drill For it's work all day no sugar in you tay Down beyond the railway Drill, ye tarriers, drill And blast, and fire. The big boss man, he down to the ground Married a lady 'bout six feet 'round She bakes his bread, she bakes it well She bakes it harder than the nobs of Hell. The foreman, name of John McCann Swear I never met a meaner man A premature blast went off And a mile in the air goes big Jim Goff. The next payday she come around A dollar light poor Jimmy found "John, what for?" comes this reply "You're docked for the hour you was up in the sky." Tarriers live on work and sweat There ain't no tarrier, got rich yet Sleep and work, and work some more And drill right down to the devil's door." There I stand me hat in hand With two trains kissing in the Utah sand There's no one now, who knows my name An Irish derby is me claim to fame
3.
Ah the wheels they shine like silver And her heart it's solid gold As she drives St. Paddy's Wagon For to take the sinner home Oh Pat O'Shea he was a dray man Brought the beer by horse and cart But late at night became a wild man Under spell of the brewers art Now Patrick's wife she was a true one Kept the house and fed the brood At closing time she'd hitch the wagon And bring her man back home to roost One winter night with storm a raging The wife she says, "It's just too rough. I'm staying here beside me fire, After all, Enough's...enough!" They never found poor Patrick's body, It's like he vanished from this earth And Paddy's wife she's out there driving On a never ending search Now who's a saint and who's a sinner and who are we to pick and choose 'Cause we all ride St. Paddy's Wagon when there's nothing left to loose And down the Pub they tell the story, "So watch the time, and keep your head. And should you see St. Paddy's Wagon, you've had yer fill, it's time for bed"
4.
I was hanging with the boys Looking for some trouble and some noise We were cruising the Temple Bar Heard Crazy Celtic music from afar She was, laced in leather, solid black She had the whole joint jumping front to back She played the fiddle in the band The deepest, darkest eyes in all the land Black eyed Susan, Black eyed Sue Wildest flower Erin ever grew Black eyed Susan she rocked my world Stole my Irish heart that black eyed girl Drums were pounding, Bass went boom Everyone was dancing in the room She was laughing at the dogs in heat Stamping on their roses round her feet Black eyed Susan, Black eyed Sue Wildest flower Erin ever grew Black eyed Susan she rocked my world And Stole my Irish heart that black eyed girl Was it whisky, was it beer Or was the devil whispering in my ear I Knocked the bouncer on his ass Grabbed that girl and kissed her hard and fast Black eyed Susan, Black eyed Sue Wildest flower Erin ever grew Black eyed Susan she rocked my world And Stole my Irish heart that black eyed girl
5.
You wonder what I'm thinking as I look upon your face 'Ah Christ, they hired a baby to take the old mans' place' 40 years I worked here, I thought that you should know With only two days notice, the blackguards let me go When you sign up with the Shipyard, you sign away your soul You should have used your head boy, signed up for patrol You could have been a soldier, it would have been more fun It's safer chasing bullets, safer facing guns Listen up I'll tell ya everything I know You die to go to heaven, You live in hell below Every word I give ya, is the gospel truth You're a slave for Mr. Harland, a sheep for Mr. Wolff I could not save a ha'penny I could not save a crown Instead I lost three fingers pounding rivets round I then became a welder, now everywhere I go I'm seeing pretty angels, the world's a big halo A mate of mine was working down in the fires of hell Fitting pipes to boilers and all was going well When a 4 inch main exploded, it made an awful hiss And poor old Paddy Clancy, fried just like a fish I helped to build the grandest ship in 19 hundred twelve The RMS Titanic, a wonder I beheld I planned to be a stowaway, misfortune got me found The dirty lousy luck of it , I wish that I had drown If you know what's good for you, you'll turn around and run Take up stealing watches, and pocketbooks for fun For there's no meaner jailhouse, no sentence half as hard And there's no tougher prison than the Belfast Shipyards Listen up I'll tell ya everything I know There's Angels up in heaven, Yer Boss is down below Every word I give ya, is the gospel truth You're a slave for Mr. Harland a sheep for Mr. Wolff
6.
Ah Dee Oh Da 03:31
7.
I brew just enough for friends and me kin But the church and the law they tell me it's a sin I'm going away, farewell Ireland I'll not lick the boots of the Black and the Tan New York, New York Ameri-kay I'll loose my mind if I stay here a day Nicked an old horse and headed due South To find a wench and a good Public House I'm the Poteen Man, I'm the Poteen Man From County Wicklow to the Carolina sand I'm the Poteen Man, I'm the Poteen Man Making my way in a new found land Set up a trade in East Caroline To cultivate the Celtic Moonshine When two bloody rozzers they bashed in me still I grabbed up me pipes and I run for the hills Blue mountains above Green valleys below For sure it's the mirror of my Wick-a-low Hollers and Rivers and caves for to hide They'll never catch me on this mountainside I'm the Poteen Man, I'm the Poteen Man From County Wicklow to the Carolina sand I'm the Poteen Man, I'm the Poteen Man Making my way in a new found land Now isn't it grand, oh isn't it great My car she's the envy of this Bloody State The coppers they call her the Devils Machine She runs on a mixture of gas and Poteen Oh Moonshine dear Moonshine oh how I love thee Ya killed me ol' father but ah now try me So bless all Moonshiners and bless all Moonshine Their breath smells as sweet as the due on the vine I'm the Poteen Man, I'm the Poteen Man From County Wicklow to the Carolina sand I'm the Poteen Man, I'm the Poteen Man Making my way in a new found land
8.
Hey up, matey now Grab the sheets to come around Hey up, matey now We're sailing out to sea Hey up, matey now Seven leagues to solid ground Hey up, matey now A sailor's life for me Me father was a shepherd - Me mother was a wench He didn't mind the whiskey - she didn't mind the stench They couldn't afford a proper house they lived inside the barn With nanny goats and piglets it was there that I was born I grew up drinking whisky - I grew up eating stew Old and greasy mutton, you chew and chew and chew Soon I was tall enough, to church I went to pray I lifteded fathers brogans to Dublin ran away I begged for pennies on the corners down upon the quays Learned the art of nimble fingers from the runaways Me hand went down a pocket, Lord it was a shock A rat, a trap, a finger snap the Cap'n had me got He grabbed me by the scruffy and he swung me twice around I flew up with the birdies and their crappy coming down No one cared to save me from the trouble I was in I heard the Cap'n yelling, you can either sink or swim I flapped my arms and kicked my legs and screamed like holy heck He hauled me from the Liffey and he threw me on the deck Ya stink just like a piggie and you look just like a goat Alas it's ten year later and I'm still upon this boat
9.
Well I been in Kearny and I heard the Blarney In the lonely streets at dawn If the dirty boys want the dirty whisky Fer sure, I give 'em what they want Now the garbage mounds rising from the ground They can hide more than the view Say an unkind word to some little turd You're resting in the bubbling spew If you kick around in the bars of Jersey You get kicked around as well If when you sing with me in the bars of Jersey Then you're singing with The Choir From Hell You can watch the docks, going round the clock And there ain't no college boys there Men that make their pay in a world of grey Then spend it all on a beer A container box got a busted lock But if'n you help yourself, You spend eternity in the oily sea At the bottom of the Arthur Kill Then it's down the shore and you know what for Gotta get a little Seaside fun But the little sister had a twisted mister Poor baby she was Born to Run Sure the lights are pretty in Atlantic City But the shadows hide the pain Oh the girls at night disappear from sight Should they break the rules of the game From her northern hills to the southern pines To her sprawling shopping malls Well I chugged her beers and I slopped her whisky And many a Pub I crawled So then some sad day should you cross my way I got many a lie to tell I'm the wee old man with the devil's hand I'm Recruiting for the Choir From Hell
10.
The linen came from Belfast, The finest in the land And all of the embroidery of course it was by hand The lovely Celtic symbols Killarney never saw The pride o' me family, Shirt that No One Wore Well, me Grampa married Granny 60 years ago In the best a suit of clothes he had Borrowed from his brother, the seat baloney skin Behold a skinny dirty shirty lad Me Granny felt so bad for him she took a solemn vow She'd sew the grandest shirt in Ireland Started saving pennies up and shiny things she found Her needle fairly flew to beat the band A vestment pure and wonderful, don't touch... don't even look Just take your grimy fingers far away She kept it in the cedar chest beside the holy book "I thought we'd save it for a Special Day" For weddings and for funerals it stayed inside the trunk The Christenings and years went flying by No occasion met the test no banquet good enough And if you did suggest it she would cry I crept up to the attic, the chest I opened wide The day we put poor Granny in the ground Certainly the time was neigh to wear the holy cloth Oh, Jesus, Mary, Joseph what I found The linen all moth eaten, The thread had turned to sand And all the embroidery it fell right in me hand I laughed so hard I wet myself, no one ever saw The pride o' me family, Shirt that No One Wore
11.
My Donegal 04:20
Donegal, Donegal Your hills so green,so tall My heart is in the heather, We live and breath together No, I could never leave ya after all, my Donegal There's no one left to blame now but myself I am the last remaining of the twelve My father and my mother, my sisters and my brothers I pray they lift a glass up to my health The children were the first ones here to go To Boston or the graveyard down the road The rest were right behind them, there's nothing here to bind them They'll send me money soon as they take hold. I've got a good low fire to warm my bones Honest peat, not your Cardif coal And if I need some help, well the bible's on the shelf I'd rather have some whiskey, truth be told Perhaps I'll take a stroll down to the sea The bounty of the ocean all for free Ah it'll be so grand all the fish that I will land As soon as I can get back on my feet
12.
My boots they've been to the mountains My boots they've been to the sea My boots they walked through the desert A hard hearted lover is she I hitched a ride up the North land To only visit, you know There's more to lose than your boots, man Her beauty so deep and so cold The mud on my boots It'll never hold roots And no one remembers my name To live on the wheel Sure it has it's appeal If you don't mind the wind And you don't mind the rain I've laughed at thunder and lightning I've cried with pleasure and pain I've run from trouble like teardrops All wash away with the rain I'll leave no trace of my foot steps I'll leave your humble abode My boots belong to this big world They love each step of the road

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released March 20, 2012

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Trip McCool Oak Island, North Carolina

I put on the guitar and sing as if my ancestors were listening; and I truly believe they are so I better not disappoint them. Trip is the part of my soul that never forgot the sacrifices they made. My people rose up from the Irish mud to make a better life for me. I write songs for them, for my people, the immigrants, the poor, the salt of the earth. It's all true, even the lies. ... more

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