The Pogues

[fox69]

 

[fox69]

"A Pair Of Brown Eyes"

"A Pair Of Brown Eyes"


One summer evening drunk to hell
I stood there nearly lifeless
An old man in the corner sang
Where the water lilies grow
And on the jukebox Johnny sang
About a thing called love
And it's how are you kid and what's your name
And how would you bloody know?
In blood and death 'neath a screaming sky
I lay down on the ground
And the arms and legs of other men
Were scattered all around
Some cursed, some prayed, some prayed then cursed
Then prayed and bled some more
And the only thing that I could see
Was a pair of brown eyes that was looking at me
But when we got back, labeled parts one to three
There was no pair of brown eyes waiting for me

And a rovin' a rovin' a rovin' I'll go
For a pair of brown eyes

I looked at him he looked at me
All I could do was hate him
While Ray and Philomena sang
Of my elusive dream
I saw the streams, the rolling hills
Where his brown eyes were waiting
And I thought about a pair of brown eyes
That waited once for me
So drunk to hell I left the place
Sometimes crawling sometimes walking
A hungry sound came across the breeze
So I gave the walls a talking
And I heard the sounds of long ago
From the old canal
And the birds were whistling in the trees
Where the wind was gently laughing

And a rovin' a rovin' a rovin' I'll go
For a pair of brown eyes

 

[fox69]

"A Rainy Night In Soho"

"A Rainy Night In Soho"


I've been loving you a long time
Down all the years, down all the days
And I've cried for all your troubles
Smiled at your funny little ways
We watched our friends grow up together
And we saw them as they fell
Some of them fell into Heaven
Some of them fell into Hell

I took shelter from a shower
And I stepped into your arms
On a rainy night in Soho
The wind was whistling all its charms
I sang you all my sorrows
You told me all your joys
Whatever happened to that old song
To all those little girls and boys

Now the song is nearly over
We may never find out what it means
But there's a light I hold before me
And you're the measure of my dreams
The measure of my dreams

Sometimes I wake up in the morning
The gingerlady by my bed
Covered in a cloak of silence
I hear you in my head
I'm not singing for the future
I'm not dreaming of the past
I'm not talking of the fist time
I never think about the last

Now the song is nearly over
We may never find out what it means
Still there's a light I hold before me
You're the measure of my dreams
The measure of my dreams

 

[fox69]

"Amadie"

"Amadie"


Voici une histoire
D'un homme cajun
Amadie Adouin
Etat son nom
Avec sa guitare
Et avec sa voix
Amadie Adouin
Etait le roi

Here is the story
Of a Cajun man
Amadie Adouin
Was his name
With his guitar
And his voice
Amadie Adouin
Was the king

In a town seperated by railroad tracks
When one side's white the other side must be black

La sueur brulait
Dans ses yeux
Les blancs ont crie
N' arrete pas
Quand Amadie pouvait
plus jouer
Il demandait a Celine
Son mouchoir

The sweat burnt
In his eyes
The whites shouted
Don't stop
When Amadie couldn't
Play anymore
He asked to Celine
His handerchief

Black were the tears Amadie Adouin cried
Tears a white handkerchief just could not hide

Les bois d'Arcadia
Ils sont morts
Au fond de la terre
Amadie s'endort
Mais si vous voulez
Ecouter sa voix
Demande aux Ricains
De la chercher d'en bas

The forest of Arcadia
Is dead
Deep under the ground
Amadie falls asleep
But if you want to listen
To his voice
Ask the Yanks
To look for it from the bottom

They ran right over Amadie's vocal cords
Good old boys in a good ol' Model T Ford
Amadie took a walk by the railroad track
To the other side and he won't be coming back

They ran right over Amadie's vocal cords
Those good old boys in a good old Model T Ford
Amadie took a walk by the railroad track
To the other side and he won't be coming back

 

[fox69]

"And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda"

"And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda"


When I was a young man I carried my pack
And I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in nineteen fifteen my country said Son
It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we sailed away from the quay
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers
We sailed off to Gallipoli

How well I remember that terrible day
How the blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well
He chased us with bullets, he rained us with shells
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia
But the band played Waltzing Matilda
As we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then we started all over again

Now those that were left, well we tried to survive
In a mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
But around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying
For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

So they collected the cripples, the wounded, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my legs used to be
And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity
And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared
Then turned all their faces away

And now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving old dreams of past glory
And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore
The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men answer to the call
But year after year their numbers get fewer
Some day no one will march there at all

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll go a waltzing Matilda with me
And their ghosts may be heard as you pass the Billabong
Who'll go a waltzing Matilda with me?

 

[fox69]

"Anniversary"

"Anniversary"


The dawn shines her light
To scare off the night
And the sun from his slumber is woken
The bells are ringing out
As the town crier shouts
Words too strong to be spoken

There's a rumble in the ground
And the air fills with sound
Trumpets in the wind are a' blowing
The townsfolk peep
Through the curtains of sleep
To the sound of the cocks all a' crowin

The winds may blow
Come rain, come slow
Today's for you and me
I gave my heart to you my love
You gave your heart to me

The sun wears a smile
And the clock winks its dial
The clouds in the sky are unfolding
The birds on the wing
Like angels they sing
The heavens are glowing all golden

The crowds all spill out
They cheer and they shout
Banners and flags are a' waving
The flowers all a' bloom
Blow kisses to the moon
As blossom falls on the paving

The wind may blow
Come rain, come snow
Today's for you and me
I gave my heart to you my love
You gave your heart to me

The whole world roars
A chorus of applause
Strangers from Delhi to Dublin
Are swept off their feet
As they kiss on the street
And the waters like champaigne are bubbling

The wind may blow
Come rain, come snow
Today's for you and me
I gave my heart to you my love
You gave your heart to me

 

[fox69]

"Big City"

"Big City"


In the big city
Where the lights are low
Cold dirty ground
Where the rivers don't flow
Nothing's gonna change so throw it all away

In the big city
Where the kids will come cheap
And monsters prowl and never sleep
Don't cross the road if you haven't got the time of day

Well I lost my girl waiting for the train from Ride
I know she's out there somewhere
Selling all we got but I don't mind

In the big city
You can walk a thin line
Your mother won't know that you do a bit of crime
Your father's on the dole and he really hasn't got the time

In the big city
Where it's hard to see the sky
And the black earth trembles when the trains go by
And the bums on the corner tell you gently
To fuck off and die

Well I lost my girl and I missed my train to Ride
And I'm stuck here selling papers
And spitting on the ground when you walk by

In the big city
You can dance all night
Only if you're clean and the lads are not uptight
Or you may as well forget it and wait until the broad daylight

In the big city
Where the suits don't look you in the eye
Learn how to laugh you'll be planning when to die
And don't expect any favours from the cars passing by

I lost my girl waiting for the train from Ride
Well I don't mind matching colours or parking people's cars
ANd telling little lies if that's alright

In the big city

 

[fox69]

"Billy's Bones"

"Billy's Bones"


Billy ran around with the rare old crew
And he knew an Arsenal from Tottenham blue
We'd be a darn sight better of if we knew
Where Billy's bones are resting now
Billy saw a copper and he hit him in the knee
And he took him down from six foot to five foot three
Then he hit him fair and square in the do-re-mi
That copper won't be having any family

Hey Billy son where are you now
Don't you know that we need you now
With a ra-ta-ta and the old kow-tow
Where are Billy's bones resting now

Billy went away with the peace-keeping force
'Cause he liked a bloody good fight of course
Went away in an old khaki van to the banks of the river Jordan
Billy saw the Arabs and he had 'em on the run
When he got 'em in the range of his sub-machine gun
Then he had the Israelis in his sights, went a ra-ta-ta
And they ran like Shiites

One night Billy had a rare old time,
Laughing and singing on the Lebanon line
Came back to camp not looking too pretty
Never even got to see the Holy City
Now Billy's out there in the desert sun
And his mother cries when the morning comes
And there's mothers crying all over this world
For their poor dead darling boys and girls

Have a Billy holiday
Born on a Monday
Married on a Tuesday
Drunk on a Wednesday
Got plugged on a Thursday
Sick on a Friday
Died on a Saturday
Buried on a Sunday

 

[fox69]

"Blue Heaven"

"Blue Heaven"


Alligators snap at your ankles
And branches snap at your brain
If I ever get through this swamp alive
I'll nevermore pray for rain

This must be the place, and still
Somehow it don't seem right
That something in the moon
Could change these endless days
To lonely nights

I take a stroll down by the sea
And walk along the pier
Then I slip and hit my head
Now's the time to fear

See the surface, see the rocks
See my past fly swiftly by
I feel the water in my lungs
And wake up screaming for my life

In my blue heaven
There's a bottle of Pontchetrain
Chalmette by moonlight
To take away the pain

Card sharks and blue harps
And dolphins who can leap
In my Blue Heaven
Where I can laugh
And I can weep

Black shapes zip into corners
The big lads start to crawl
To holes of their own making
In the cracks within the wall

Snakes and rats and spiders
I know that they're still there
I pray to God that I may sleep
Without a hope, without a care

In my blue heaven...

Felines and sea lions
And rain on the beach
In my Blue Heaven
With angels who are out of reach

In my blue heaven...

Nightingales sing
And the bells they will ring
In my Blue Heaven
The Bells of Hell
Go ding-a-ling-a-ling

 

[fox69]

"Boat Train"

"Boat Train"


I met with Napper Tandy
And I shook him by the hand
He said "Hold me up for Chrissake
For I can hardly stand"
The most disgraceful journey
On which I've ever been
The last time that I travelled on
The Boat Train

I had a couple of drinks in town
A few more at the port
I puked up on the gangway
But some kind folks helped me board
They helped me to a table
Poured whiskey down my throat
They sat me at a table
And I lost my watch and coat

First we drank some whiskey
Then we drank some gin
Then we drank tequila
I think that's what did me in
Then we drank some brandy
And the women had a dance
The steward then announced
That we could play the game of "chance"

We crowded round the table
With our money in our hands
I ended up on the other side
Without a penny in my pants
I woke up in the toilet
When we got to Holyhead
The doors were all a-banging
And I wished that I was dead

We got on board the train
And then we had a drink or two
Started playing poker
But the booze ran out at Crewe
Some people started sleeping
Others looked for duty free
Some bastard started singing
"The little cottage by the Lee"
He then sang "Paper Roses"
"Boolavogue" "Eileen Aru"
Somebody started slagging off
The Pakis and the Jews

First I found some whiskey
Then I found some gin
I sat down in the corner
And I read the Daily News
First I drank the whiskey
Then I drank the gin
I tried to make the toilet
And I broke my fuckin shin
Next thing that I knew
I was in London in the rain
Staggering up the platform
Off the Boat Train