The Ballad Of Ronnie Drew

Here's to the Ronnie, the voice we adore
Like coals from a coal-bucket
Scraping the floor
Sing out his praises in music and march
And if you are not Irish
That isn't your fault

Raise up our voices like dogs in a pack
Thankful for honest man, we never lack
We got them by twenties, we got them by ones
Them and their daughters
And all of their sons

(Hey! Hey)
Here's to you (Hey) , Ronnie Drew (Hey)
Here's to you (Hey) , Ronnie Drew (Hey)
Ronnie Drew
(Hey! Hey) , we love you, yes we do
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you

I watched them plenty
Through right and 'er wrong
Whether I'm easy or whether I'm true
But as she lifted her petticoat easy and slow
I rolled up my sleeves for to buckle her shoe

Get up and work from five until five
When the whistle says better
We'll come back alive
He'll sing to the heavens
He's stormy as hell and wherever he goes
We'll be wishing him well

(Hey! Hey)

Here's to you (Hey) , Ronnie Drew (Hey)
(Hey) Here's to you (Hey) , Ronnie Drew (Hey)
Ronnie Drew (Hey) , we love you, yes we do
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you

The dawn and the dusk, the unwise
The unjust gives and gets him gaze
The unheard, the unseen, the unwashed
And the clean where the
Streets all have names baggot Street
Meets the street right on
St stephen's Street lovers
And loners who can peer on your shoulders
The gods and the rapers
Immigrants and traders, sing about him

A man for a man and a hand for a hand
Trust in the music, strike up the band
The more that we sing, the less that we find
Time and again, this is brood to be right

Build you a statue on St stephen's Green
No fairer monument there to be seen
A statue of Ronnie Drew, holding the hand
Of a girl with her hair
In a black velvet band

(Hey! Hey)

Here's to you (No stranger to dare)
Ronnie Drew (Or angels to devil)
Here's to you
(A friend of a friend of a friend of a)
Ronnie Drew (A friend to you) ronnie Drew
(Ronnie Drew) , we love you, yes we do
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you
(Ronnie Drew)

I watched them plenty
Through right and 'er wrong
Whether I'm easy or whether I'm true
But as she lifted her petticoat easy and slow
I rolled up my sleeves for to buckle her shoe