Lyrics for Saturday

The Night Pat Murphy Died
Traditional, Arranged by Alan Doyle & Séan McCann

Oh, the night that Paddy Murphy died is a night I'll never forget,
Some of the boys got loaded drunk and they ain't got sober yet!
As long as a bottle was passed around every man was feeling gay,
O'Leary came with the bagpipes some music for to play!

That's how they showed their respect for Paddy Murphy,
That's how they showed their honour and their pride,
They said it was, "a sin" and "a shame" they winked at one and another,
And every drink in the place was full the night Pat Murphy died!

As Missus Murphy sat in the corner pourin' out her grief,
Kelly and his gang came tearin' down the street,
They went into an empty room and a bottle of whiskey stole,
They put that bottle with the corpse to keep that whiskey cold!

That's how they showed their respect for Paddy Murphy,
That's how they showed their honour and their pride,
They said it was, "a sin" and "a shame" they winked at one and another,
And every drink in the place was full the night Pat Murphy died!

Well, two o'clock in the mornin' after emptyin' the jug,
Doyle rose up the icebox lid to see poor Paddy's mug,
They stopped the clock so Missus Murphy couldn't tell the time,
And at a quarter after two we argued it was nine!

That's how they show their respect for Paddy Murphy,
That's how we show our honour and our pride,
They said it was, "a sin" and "a shame" they winked at one and another,
And every drink in the place was full the night Pat Murphy died!

Well, they stopped the hearse on George Street outside some damn saloon,
They all went in at half past eight and staggered out at noon,
The went up to the graveyard so holy and sublime,
Found out when they'd got there they'd left the corpse behind!

That's how they showed their respect for Paddy Murphy,
That's how they showed their honour and their pride,
They said it was, "a sin" and "a shame" we winked at one and another,
And every drink in the place was full the night Pat Murphy died!

Oh, the night that Paddy Murphy died is a night I'll never forget,
Some of the boys got loaded drunk and they ain't been sober yet!
As long as a bottle was passed around every man was feeling gay,
O'Leary came with bagpipes some music for to play!

That's how they showed their respect for Paddy Murphy,
That's how they showed their honour and their pride,
They said it was, "a sin" and "a shame" we winked at one and another,
And every drink in the place was full the night Pat Murphy died!
Well, every drink in the place was full the night Pat Murphy died!

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Have had an utterly lovely Friday with and her husband, at Great Falls where we saw snakes and salamanders and herons and buzzards, then at Lebanese Taverna for lunch, then home to get the kids and , then out for Thai food for dinner downtown and then to see Great Big Sea. They were fantastic -- the Lisner Auditorium acoustics are pretty poor but it really made very little difference, the sellout crowd was on its feet for nearly the entire concert, they got everyone singing along during the second set by playing a medley of 80s songs and not singing themselves ("Summer of '69", "Jesse's Girl", "Sweet Dreams") as the audience proved they knew all the lyrics, they were being filmed for something and the lights were on the crowd rather than the band on numerous occasions, I discovered that my younger son (who stood on his seat and danced through every song) knows all the words to "When I'm Up (I Can't Get Down)", "Sea of No Cares" and "Ordinary Day" as well as "Donkey Riding", "General Taylor", the one above and the ones I knew he knew.

Now I'm home and have just watched Doctor Who's shattering "Father's Day", one of the best hours of sci-fi TV I have ever seen, which despite being predictable -- it follows horror conventions from "The Monkey's Paw" through Final Destination -- is utterly devastating and I will have to write about it when I am more awake. This show is just SO good, and I had thought it was just good crack the first couple of weeks.


Great Big Sea at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium. Those people standing in the foreground are wearing "Hard" and "Easy" t-shirts and, as you can see, did not sit all show, even during the band intros.