MY LYRICS ARE FROM SOME OF THE SONGS I HAVE WRITTEN IN THE PAST, SOME HAVE CHORDS WRITTEN IN.
MY LYRICS
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 MAN ON THE STREET
          Written by Paul Gillis©

          I met an old man one day on the street
          I asked him if he was ok
          He turned to me with a tear in his eye
          And this is what he had to say

          I had wealth and prosperity when I was young
          I had a wonderful life
          With Two lovely daughters and a handsome young son
          A caring and loving young wife

          Well things they soon got way out of hand
          Although I refused to admit
          The drink had taken a hold of my life
          But I didn’t see it take a grip

          It didn’t take long for her love to turn
          To a hatred that grew so strong
          And as I look back I must admit
          I was in the wrong

          I had wealth and prosperity when I was young
          I had a wonderful life
          With Two lovely daughters and a handsome young son
          A caring and loving young wife

          It cost me quite dearly my love for the drink
          For I soon found myself on my own
          Though I often walk by where I used to live
          To see how the children have grown

          They’re all adults now on a Sunday they come
          To spend some time with my wife
          I know I screwed up as I look at myself
          And what has become of my life

          I had wealth and prosperity when I was young
          I had a wonderful life
          Two lovely daughters and a handsome young son
          A caring and loving young wife

          Some days I don’t eat for no money have I
          I’ve no bed to sleep on at night
          My clothes are all tattered, my feet they are bare
          I’ve nothing-good left in my life

          So if you are young and a bit of a lad
          Take heed to what I have said
          Take stock of every tramp that you see
          And try not to end up that way

          I had wealth and prosperity when I was young
          I had a wonderful life
          Two lovely daughters and a handsome young son
          A caring and loving young wife

          I had wealth and prosperity when I was young
          I had a wonderful life
          Two lovely daughters and a handsome young son
          A caring and loving young wife
          Now I’ve nothing good left in my life

                                                                   ©P.Gillis 2004



        MIGRANT’S HOOLEE
          WRITTEN BY PAUL GILLIS
          ©P.GILLIS 2006

                G
          They held a migrant’s hoolee
          C
          Down in old Tralee
          G                   D
           Thousands came to join in for the crack
          G
          There were paddies there from Africa
          C
          And two from old Siagon
                G        D             G
          And a Dubliner they called him Paddy Whack


          C
          It started with a singsong
             G
          In mothers Lacy’s bar            
                                 D
          Jim he sang about Kilmainham jail
          G
          And banjo playing Barney
                   C
          Played a verse of Inisheer
               G        D            G
          And Ronnie told a rear auld Irish tale
          C
          The crowd they loved the buzz
                   G
          That was going round the bar
                                        D
          And the big names that were playing on the stage,
               G              C
          and most of them partook in auld mother Lacy’s pint
             G       D                G
          I swear that they were just there for the jar.
          C    D    G

          They held a migrant’s hoolee
          down in old Tralee
           thousands came to join in for the crack
          there were paddies there from Africa
          and two from old Saigon
          and a Dubliner called him paddy whack

          Then on to céilí in Macker’s of Tralee
          where paddy whack
          showed us an Irish reel
          at 84 years of age
          it was a feat onto its self
          but paddy only did it for the crack
          it didn’t take too long for
          a ruction to break out
          there were paddies throwing punches in the air
          not knowing who or what they’d hit
          they didn’t give a damn
          most of them were jarred on Irish stout.

          They held a migrant’s hoolee
          down in old Tralee
          thousands came to join in for the crack
          there were paddies there from Africa
          and two from old Saigon
          and a Dubliner called him paddy whack

          The Gardaí Síochána
          they were summoned to the bar
          to bring back law and order to the town
          Sgt Murray gave an order
          he said he’d sort it out
          but first of all they’d have to have a jar.
          It was a quarter past eleven
          before they waded in
          by then the lads had mostly all passed out
          he said well we did well me lads
          as he lowered down his pint
          I think it’s Reilly’s turn to get them in

           so they held a migrant’s hoolee
          down in old Tralee
          thousands came to join in for the crack
          there were paddies there from Africa
          and two from old Saigon
          and a Dubliner called him paddy whack

          they held a migrant’s hoolee
          down in old Tralee
          thousands came to join in for the crack
          there were paddies there from Africa
          and two from old Saigon
          and a Dubliner called him paddy whack


OUR FUTURE HOME
          WRITTEN BY: PAUL GILLIS
          © P.Gillis 2006

          C                                                           G
          “The winds they blew cruel ore the dark rolling sea
          C                                                D
          They filled our tall sails to help carry me
          C                                  G                           EM
          Along with my shipmates away across the foam
          C                              D    C              G
          To the land of the free, to our future home”

          G                                                     C
           For the famine has ravaged our beautiful land
          G                                        D
          Our people are dying, as  most of my clan
          G                                                 C
           The crops they are blighted the food there is none
          G                           D                     G
           There’s only one way out for a true Irish son

          That’s to sail far away to a new promised land
          in the hope of a new style of life
          where a man he can prosper from his hard toil
          and not breaking his back on barren Irish soil

          “The winds they blew cruel ore the dark rolling sea
          they filled our tall sails to help carry me
          along with my shipmates away across the foam
          to the land of the free, it’s our future home”

          It breaks my poor heart to leave my dear land
          to know I will never return again
          the land of my father, where he was born
          as I leave my home on a cold November morn

          My sisters are three I leave them behind
          my uncle and aunt and all of my kind
          as I sail across the cruel rolling sea
          in hope of a future that’s better for me

          “The winds they blew cruel ore the dark rolling sea
          they filled our tall sails to help carry me
          along with my shipmates away across the foam
          to the land of the free, it’s our future home”

          When I am settled in my new home
          my sisters will come to join me
          when  they arrive from way across the foam
          in the land of the free, it will  be their new home

          There’s rumours I hear that the streets of New York
                                                          they’re paved with gold
           our ship is making haste ore the dark rolling foam
           making great headway towards my future home.

          “The winds they blew cruel ore the dark rolling sea
          they filled our tall sails to help carry me
          along with my shipmates away across the foam
          to the land of the free, it’s our future home”

          “The winds they blew cruel ore the dark rolling sea
          they filled our tall sails to help carry me
          along with my shipmates away across the foam
          to the land of the free, it’s our future home”



SONGS OF THE SEA.
          Written by Paul Gillis©

Chorus
          Would the songs of the sea would they come back to me
          If ever, again I set sail
          If I travelled the road
          I did as a boy
          In search of a shoal of whales

          We shipped out of Cobh; it’s a harbour in Cork
          On a whaler so majestic and grand
          She was rigged fore and aft
          Her main sails were full
          As we set off away from the land.

          Six weeks out to sea with the dolphins astride
          They say they’re the fisherman’s friends
          Well I didn’t believe it
          Till they all disappeared
          And the storm well it started to rise

CHORUS

          Eight long days and seven long nights
          We fought very hard to survive
          The waves dashed our bow
          The lightening did strike
          I thought we were certain to die.

          On the eight evening, the sea became calm
          The winds disappeared to the east
          Young Tommy Wright
          Called down from the mast
          He suddenly sighted the beast.

CHORUS

          The first sign of whale a great frenzy arose
          As we gathered the harpoons and rope
          For fourteen long hours
          We battled our prey
          Till we hauled her great carcass aboard

          With our catch now on board
          The crew settled down
          We sailed to the grand port of New York
          To sell our great catch and have a short leave
          Before we settled a course back to Cork

          Would the songs of the sea would they come back to me
          If ever, again I set sail
          If I travelled the road
          I did as a boy
          In search of a shoal of whales
          In search of a shoal
          Of whales

          Would the songs of the sea would they come back to me
          If ever, again I set sail
          If I travelled the road
          I did as a boy
          In search of a shoal of whales
          In search of a shoal
          Of whales
                                                                      ©P.Gillis 2005


OLD & GREY
          Written by: Paul Gillis©

          Now I’m old & grey
          My working day is nearly done
          I can only pray me lad
          Someday I will see the sun

          As a boy in Dublin town
          When I was quite young
          Granda taught me Irish songs
          The ones our rebels sung

          He told me of a war long past
          Of heroes long since dead
          And of the proclamation
          That Padraig Pearse had read

          Now I’m old & grey
          My working day is nearly done
          I can only pray me lad
          Someday I will see the sun

          I served my time to coopering
          Down in dolphins barn
          With Micko, Jack and Paudín there
          We loved to spin a yearn

          Coopering was a dying trade
          or so I had been told
          if I wanna make it big
          I have to find black gold

          Now I’m old & grey
          My working day is nearly done
          I can only pray me lad
          Someday I will see the sun

          So on a Monday morning
          To Holyhead I went
          Bent on working down the mines
          Oh Lord I’d little sense

          Thirty five years of darkness
          That’s the time I’m here
          I think it’s time to go back home
          For the crack and for the beer

          Now I’m old & grey
          My working day is nearly done
          I can only pray me lad
          Someday I will see the sun

          Now my days are numbered
          And my old friends are few
          I need to go back home again
          For the rear auld mountain dew

          I’ll say goodbye to my old mates
          And the places that I love
          And I’ll take my place along the bar
          In the heavenly pub above.

          Now I’m old & grey
          My working day is nearly done
          I can only pray me lad
          Someday I will see the sun
                                                          ©pg 2002


THE STREETS OF MANHATTAN
          © P.GILLIS 2009


          The streets of Manhattan are cold in December

          the icy Hudson breeze it cuts you right to the bone

          wandering these sidewalks in search of food and a bed

          it’s bad till it snows then you’d sooner be dead


          For twenty long years I have tramped the old sidewalks

          the same ones I once  heard were paved with gold

          looking for a fortune I thought I would find here

          a fortune I now know I never will hold

 Chorus 1

          In summer my home it’s  central park
          I lie on the ground and stare into the dark
          wishing on the stars that I could return
          to Dublin once more before I die

          In summer I stroll out to the ocean
          I think of a family, I deserted long ago
          I promised to bring them to the land of good fortune
          but instead I spent my life with nothing to show

          You hear all the stories of wealth and prosperity
          you see all the trappings that some have to show
          but you don’t see the heartache that many of us suffer
          or the dead bodies lying  in the harsh winter snow

Chorus 1

          I pray to my god that I won’t end my days here
          in this city  that has denied me the right to a life
          for here I’m condemned to a life in the gutter
          in this place I  call home, with no family or wife

          I left a good job, a family and a home
          enchanted  by the prospect of money rolling in
          not stopping to think that it may not happen
           my family to suffering for my foolish sins

Chorus 2

          Now in winter I sleep under -- Brooklyn Bridge
          I eat from the dumpsters in the dead of the night
          wandering the snow filled sidewalks from morning till evening
          to keep warm and distract me from my terrible plight

Chorus 1(repeat)



TENDER MOMENTS
          Written by Paul Gillis©

          I want to hold you in my arms tonight my darling
          I want to hold you till the dusk turns into dawn
          I want to show you just how much I love you
          I want to hold till you wake up in the morn

          Can you remember how just long we’ve known each other?
          Since children playing by the local stream
          We always said someday we’d be together
          I always thought that we both had this dream

          You know it breaks my heart to see you with another
          You know it hurts to think that he can hold you tight
          And that you share some very special moments
          As he lies beside you right through the night

          I want to hold you in my arms tonight my darling
          I want to hold you till the dusk turns into dawn
          I want to show you just how much I love you
          I want to hold till you wake up in the morn

          In your eyes I can see a fire burning
          In the middle of a darkened sea of pain
          You know I could take this pain away forever
          If we could find a way to be together once again

          You’re torn between your lover and your family
          Between your feelings and your duty as a wife
          Just remember that the pain your heart is feeling
          Could remain with you right throughout your life

          I want to hold you in my arms tonight my darling
          I want to hold you till the dusk turns into dawn
          I want to show you just how much I love you
          I want to hold till you wake up in the morn

          If I could hold you close just one more time my darling
          From the darkest night right through to the brightest dawn
          And we could share some very tender moments
          And hold each other close until the dawn

          I want to hold you in my arms tonight my darling
          I want to hold you till the dusk turns into dawn
          I want to show you just how much I love you
          I want to hold till you wake up in the morn

          I want to hold till you wake up in the morn
        ©pg2002



WEAPON OF MASS  REPRODUCTION
          Written by Paul Gillis©

          E                             A      
          In the town of Roscommon just 16 years old
          E                         B
          His hormones were driving him wild
          E                            A
          Ten sons and eight daughters by young girls from the town
          E               B            E
          And one granny expecting his child

CHORUS 1
          A
          The parents were fuming
          E
          They swore their revenge
                               B
          They stood over our stud as he packed
          E                     A
          He departed the town with his tail ‘tween his legs
          E               B           E
          With his weapon still mostly in tact

          He moved o’er the water
          to London’s great town
          his weapon all ready to fire
          the young ladies were the target
          for this randy young lad
          for he intended, more children to sire.

          MI5 they were called
          as the word it had spread
          of the threat he that posed to their town
          the Parliament met
          to pass a new law
          to have his dear weapon ground down

          But jack being jack
          launched a vigorous attack
          on the week at the end of July
          He swore he would sire
          another 5 girls
          and maybe, another 10 boys.

Chorus 1

          Then off to New York
          to seek a new start
          where no one would know of his past
          but with Jack’s amorous ways
          I surely can say
          his anonymity it just couldn’t last

          His trail of destruction was easy to trace
          by the lawyer that followed his trail
          he told our young Jack there was money galore
          if he managed to stay out of jail

Chorus 1

          He put Jack in a clinic with hoses and pipes
          on a contraption that worked night and day
          the nurse said it kept going at three times the rate
          ‘till poor Jack’s body it was wasted away

          So that was the end of our poor little Jack
          for as usual he caused a big ruction
          he departed this life, five nurses in strife
          thanks to his weapon of mass reproduction

CHORUS 2
          A
          The parents were delighted
          E
          They had their revenge
                                   B
          For jack would be gone from their place
          E
          Next morning they packed him
          A
          In a large wooden box
          E             B          E
          So he could departed the human race
          A
            (SLOWLY)
         ©P.Gillis 2006


A CHILDS STORY
          WRITTEN BY: PAUL GILLIS
          © P.Gillis 2006

          C                        G                        AM
           “Ten years of age in a torn tattered dress
          F                    C           G              AM
          Tears on her face, her hair was a mess
          F           C                G                                AM
          She looked like an angel who had fallen from the sky
                EM                        AM          EM           AM
          She feared what lay in store and started to cry”

          AM                             EM                     AM
          Brought to a railway in the depth of the night
          C                                                G            AM      
          Crammed into the cattle cars, a terrible sight
          C                                 G                                     AM      
          The cries of the women who knew what lay in store
          EM            AM              EM       AM
          Cries she’ll remember for ever more

          The morning was cold the sky a deathly grey
          They wondered if this would be their last day
          The journey was long to the camp where they were bound
          The soldiers were cruel as they gathered them round

           “Ten years of age in a torn tattered dress
          Tears on her face, her hair was a mess
          She looked like an angel who had fallen from the sky
          She feared what lay in store and started to cry”

          They arrived at the camp in fear for their lives
          Husbands separated from their loving wives
          Children  were torn from their dear mothers arms
          Where they felt safe away from all harm

          The smoke was billowing from the tall towering stack
           Herded into sheds afraid to look back
          Some were to die on that dark September morn
          More to live , to pray and to  mourn

          “Ten years of age in a torn tattered dress
          Tears on her face, her hair was a mess
          She looked like an angel who had fallen from the sky
          She feared what lay in store and started to cry”

          For eighteen long months she fought for her life
          Sixty years on she was a grandmother and wife
          Yet she still remembered the terrible day
          The soldiers came to take her away

          For sixty long years the terrible screams
          Woke her at night when they came in her dreams
          She  was lucky, she had a will to survive
          Each morning she thanks god she’s still alive

          “Ten years of age in a torn tattered dress
          Tears on her face, her hair was a mess
          She looked like an angel who had fallen from the sky
          She feared what lay in store and started to cry”



LIFE ON THE STREET
          WRITTEN BY: PAUL GILLIS
          © pg2006

          Life on the street can be rough in the cold
          it’s hard on the blind and some of the old
          so few people care as they pass them by
          I really believe that they don’t hear them cry
          it’s a cry for some help to rise above the despair
          to give a feeling of hope when they know that you care

          The people I meet that live on the street
          most cold and hungry with little to eat
          no hope for the future, no love for the past
          living each day as if it were their last.
          Some are from families that are drifting apart
          most were poor right from the start
          one girl I met was battered at home
          her friend ran away from a foster home.

          Life on the street can be rough in the cold
          it’s hard on the blind and some of the old
          so few people care as they pass them by
          I really believe that they don’t hear them cry
          it’s a cry for some help to rise above the despair
          to give a feeling of hope when they know that you care

          Some of these people end up on the game
          to get money like this was ‘twas never their aim
          some take to the drink to kill off the despair
          they are intent that there is no one to care
          some on the street sink below that despair
          for they see that their life is going nowhere
          these who end up on the drugs there the worst
          their souls are eaten away by this curse

          Life on the street can be rough in the cold
          it’s hard on the blind and some of the old
          so few people care as they pass them by
          I really believe that they don’t hear them cry
          it’s a cry for some help to rise above the despair
          to give a feeling of hope when they know that you care

          So next time you walk through the town on your own
          thank god for lifestyle you’ve got
          spare a few minutes for the hungry and cold
          for a little can help a whole lot
          a few kindly words can help them to see
          that help may soon be at hand


REQUIEM FOR PADDY
        Written by: Paul Gillis
          © P.Gillis 2004


          Poor Paddy died in London the year was 63
          his mates wanted to bury him way across the sea
          for Ireland was his birth place
          and it’s there that he should lay
          in a 6 by 4 apartment
          until the judgement day

        chorus

          Paddy died in London now isn’t that a shame
          he didn’t leave no money for he didn’t have no fame
          he had a one bed flat in Fulham
          paid for by the dole
          he didn’t leave a family
          for the whiskey owned his sole

          Paddy’s mates were in a mess as to how to raise the brass
          not one of them were wealthy
          all of the working class
          they held a dance in Kilburn
          there were paddies by the score
          and when the cash was counted there was enough & more.

        Chorus

          So they decided to wake paddy in the Irish way
          there was lashings of beer and whiskey
          on that mournful day
          Paddies came from far and near
          to say a fond farewell
          again that night was half way ore
          they couldn’t give a damn if Paddy was in hell

          The wake it lasted 14 days of drunken merriment
          and when the lads the sobered up the money was all spent
          Paddy still lay in his wooden box a waiting to be sent
          to a grave yard in auld Ireland
          so he could rest content

        chorus

          Paddy’s mates were at a loss
          there was no way they could see
          to get Paddy and his wooden box
          across the Irish sea
          they decided to cremate him
          and post his ashes home

          ‘twas the only way that paddy
          would ever cross the foam
          © P.Gillis 2004




MY GREEN MOUNTAIN
          Written by Paul Gillis©

          The sun it was rising above my green mountain
          The wind it blew lightly through her long golden hair
          We strolled on the lane that ran round the mountain
          I held her quite closely waiting for the new day

          We stopped at a gate at the foot of the mountain
          We sat on the ground as the sun slowly rose
          It was there that I first held my Mary
          It was on my green mountain where I proposed.

          We married next spring in the church in the valley
          Within the next three years our children were born
          Now they’ve learned to love our green mountain
          As it towers over the coast of west Clare

          For fifty long years I remembered that morning
          For fifty long years I cherished her dear
          We lived in a cottage below our green mountain
          We reared our dear family in her lovely vale

          Last year my dear Mary she fell with the fever
          I watched for a month as she quickly declined
          I held her in my arms on the morning she passed on
          Along with my family I sat there and cried.

          We buried her there on the top of our mountain
           In a place that looks over the west coast of Clare
          There’s room for me beside my dear Mary
          When my time comes I know she’ll be waiting there

          The sun now it setting above my green mountain
          My time on this earth is trickling away
          I feel this may be my last night here
          I wait for Mary to come and take me away

          I’ll remember the sun rising on that great morning
          And the wind as blew through her long golden hair
          As I lie there beside my dear Mary
          In our new home that looks over the west coast of Clare.

          © P.Gillis 2005





Song List
1. MAN ON THE STREET
                2. MIGRANTS HOOLEE
                3. OUR FUTURE HOME
                4. SONGS OF THE SEA
                5. OLD & GREY
                6. STREETS OF MANHATTAN
                7. TENDER MOMENTS
                8. WEAPON OF MASS REPRODUCTION
                9. CHILDS STORY
                10. LIFE ON THE STREET
                11. REQUIEM FOR PADDY
                12. MY GREEN MOUNTAIN
1. MAN ON THE STREET
      2. MIGRANT’S HOOLEE
      3. OUR FUTURE HOME
      4. SONGS OF THE SEA.
      5. OLD & GREY
      6. THE STREETS OF MANHATTAN
      7. TENDER MOMENTS
      8. WEAPON OF MASS REPRODUCTION
      9. A CHILDS STORY
      10. LIFE ON THE STREET
      11. REQUIEM FOR PADDY
      12. MY GREEN MOUNTAIN