Irish traditional song lyrics — collected by Beer Belly Band.
I’m waiting for John Murphy’s van, to take me to the site
Sure I’m working seven days a week
From morning to dark night
And when I step into the van and gently close the door
Sure the first thing that they ask me
What I did the night before
Take me back to Castlebar, in the county of Mayo
It’s the only place in Ireland I’m longing for to go
Where they greet you with a friendly smile
And they bid you time of day
When I set my foot in old Mayo, I never more will stray
Dirty Jack, the ganger man, he talks about the time
Himself and old John Murphy
Worked deep down in the mines
He says he meets him often at, the Dorchester Hotel
If you want to get promotion now
Get down and dig like hell
Chorus – Short instrumental
Jack from Connemarra, when he gets in the hump
Sure he talks about the money he made
While working on the lump
Sure he blames old Maggie Thatcher
And the government as well
He said he’s made his money now, so they can go to hell
Chorus
There’s another chap from Pakistan, no bigger than a duck
He sells his wares upon the site
They fell off of the back of a truck
He says he is a carpenter, and that might well be true
But I’ve never seen him working, he’s always in the loo
Chorus – Short instrumental
At the Duke of York on saturday night, McGraley does remit
He says he first came over here, in nineteen thirty-eight
That was the year before the war
If me memory serves me clear
For written on the factory wall, was ‘No Irish wanted here’
Chorus X 2