Karaoke Track: Streets Of New York by The Wolfe Tones (West Coast Entertainment) - Karaoke Nerds

I was eighteen years old
when I went down to Dublin

with a fistful of money
and a cartload of dreams

Take your time,
said me father
stop rushing like hell

And remember all is not
what it seems to be

For there's fellows
would cut you
for the coat on your back

Or the watch that you got
from your mother

So take care me young bucko
and mind yourself well

And will you give
this wee note
to me brother

At the time Uncle Benjy
was a policeman in Brooklyn

And me father the youngest
looked after the farm

When a phone call
from America said
'Send the lad over'

And the ould fella said
sure it wouldn't do any harm

For I spent my life working
this dirty old ground

For a few pints of porter
and the smell of a pound

And sure maybe there's
something
you'll learn or you'll see

And you can bring it back home
make it easy on me

So I landed at Kennedy
and a big yellow taxi

Carried me and my bags
through the streets
and the rain

Well my poor heart
was pumping around
with excitement

And I hardly even heard
what the driver was saying

We came in the short parkway
to the flatlands in Brooklyn

To my uncle's apartment on
East 53rd

I was feeling so happy
I was humming a song

And I sang you're as
Free as a bird

Well to shorten the story
what I found out that day

Was that Benjy got shot
in a downtown foray

And while I was flyng
my way to New York

Poor Benjy was lying
in a cold city morgue

Well I phoned up the ould fella
told him the news

I could tell he could hardly
stand up in his shoes

And he wept as he told me
go ahead with the plan

And not to forget to
be a proud Irishman

So I went up to Nelly's
beside Fordham Road

And I started to learn
about lifting the load

But the healthiest thing
that I carried that year

Was the bitter sweet thoughts
of my home town so dear

I went home that December
'cause the old fella died

Had to borrow the money
from Phil on the side

g

And all the bright flowers
and grass couldn't hide

The poor wasted
face of my father

I sold up the old farmyard
for what it was worth

And into my bag stuck
a handful of earth

Then I boarded a train
and I caught me a plane

And I found myself back
in the US. again

It's been twenty two years
since I set foot in Dublin

The kids know to use
the correct knife and fork

But I'll never forget
the green grass
and the rivers

As I keep law and order
in the streets of New York

Title: Streets Of New York
Artist: The Wolfe Tones
Brand: West Coast Entertainment
(3 Other Versions)
Code: WCE04-04
Genres: celtic, irish folk