lyrics
Marnix Van Ghendt
I am looking for the lyrics of :
"The back door" and "My own native land" both songs of Cherish the ladies.
Can anyone help me?
Thanks, Marnix
Christopher Brennan
I don't know if anyone else has passed these on, but if not here they
are. Hope they are helpful.
Chris Brennan
cris...@rochester.rr.com
THE BACK DOOR
Words and Music by Cathie Ryan
Copyright 1991, Wake the Neighbors Music (ASCAP)
"This song is dedicated to all undocumented Irish aliens."
Chorus: I didn't see the Statue of Liberty
Never heard her welcoming words
I came through the back door silently
Unwanted … Unseen … and Unheard
I know I am lonely in this country
I think I always have been
I knew as a child I'd leave Ireland
The goodbyes were ghosts in the wind
A dream handed down in my family
Uncle Pat and Aunt Han before him
And over the radio to haunt me
All the songs they sang were of leaving.
(Chorus)
I don't mind hard work for a living
There's so much I'm able to do
I can't spend my life as a "live-in"
With nothing to look forward to
I want my own bed, my own kitchen
I want my nights to myself
I don't want to hide underground anymore
If it means that I hide from myself
"Give me your poor, your tired and your hungry…
The exiles of your teaming shores"…
Words carved deep in stone
And in the hearts back at home…
… But not meant for the living anymore
I'm a long time out by the back door
A long time passing unseen
The voices that haunt me are harsh now
Confuse me and urge me to leave
But I claim the promise of this country
I have the right to my own dream
And no one can take that away from me
I have half a chance here
I'm not leaving.
(Chorus)
MY OWN NATIVE LAND
Traditional, Arranged by Cherish the Ladies
"From the singing of John McGoldrick, Co. Clare, and Joe Heaney, Co.
Galway ('Beannacht De agus amhran le n'anam/God's blessing and a song go
with his soul').
There's a dear little isle in the Western Ocean
There's an island of purity, holy and grand
It's a name fills its daughters and sons
With emotion
When they are out on a far distant strand
'Tis Ireland, my country, the birthplace
Of heroes.
The home of the patriot, warrior and sage
Of bards, and of chieftains
Whose names live in story
May they live forever on history's page.
Once you were a proud and a glorious nation
Your name and your fame were known
All over the world
'Til misfortune came o'er you
And sad desolation
Your Emerald Banner in slavery lay unfurled
They tortured your children
They spoiled your green banner
They tried to exterminate you
Long, long, long ago
But the Irish are somehow
Like wild creeping flowers
The faster you pluck them
The faster they seem to grow
I love every blade of grass green on your mountain
Every leaf on your tree
And every rock on your strand
I love your green valleys and murmuring fountains
I love you, acushla, my own dear native land