Ron Hynes/Connie Hynes
Constance, the night is beautiful
If you could see it all from where I stand
If I could catch it's light
I'd send it home to you
Were it not for these shackles on my hands
Oh the tale I tell is of a loaded gun
And another one who took your heart and soul
Here inside this cell, they know me all too well
Tho' my name is just a number on a roll
Constance Constance
Constance, the moon's magnificent
So reminiscent of your sweet face
In my heart of hearts I am innocent
But then again so is each man in this place
And I am heartsore, and what is more
I don't ever sleep from midnight until dawn
I wake up in the dark, to a pounding heart
And the scream that dies inside the night is mine
Constance Constance
Constance, the rain is falling now
Like a ghostly shroud the fog rolls in
As a common rule, it takes a special kind of fool
To find a drowning pool and fall in
Oh the tale I tell is of a loaded gun
And another one who took your heart and soul
Here inside this cell, they know me all too well
Tho' my name is just a number on a roll
Constance Constance Constance
(C)Fat Baby/Augusta/Sold For a Song:TMP Socan
Ron Hynes
I am leaving on the evening tide
Now Mother don't go cryin'
For my own tears are hard enough to hide
And won't survive sad parting
For I am bound away to Americay
No I can't delay, No my mind won't change
Let your young man say goodbye, before your boy begins to cry
I am leaving on the evening tide
I am leaving on the evening tide
Look here old man, I've done all I can
I can't rise up your burden
For the land is done, and your course is run
Mine is barely begun
So I am bound away, and I know what you'll say
You'll curse the day that you gave me my name
And with your heart so betrayed with cruelty and pride
But I am leaving on the evening tide
I am leaving on the evening tide
I am leaving on the evening tide
Make no mistake my darling
And were I to gaze once more into your eyes
I would still be in your arms by morning
So I am bound away before the break of day
This note explains what I could never say
Please don't wait for me, forget the tears we cried
I am leaving on the evening tide
I am leaving on the evening tide
(C)Blue Murder/Sold For A Song:TMP Socan
Ron Hynes
Sonny lives on a farm
On a wide open space
Where you could take off your shoes
And give up the race
You could lay down your head
By a sweet river bed
But Sonny always remembers
What it was his mama said
O Sonny don't go away, I am here all alone
Your daddy's a sailor who never comes home
All these nights get so long and the silence goes on
And I'm feelin' so tired, I'm not all that strong
Sonny carries a load
Tho' he is barely a man
There ain't all that to do
Still he does what he can
And he watches the sea
From a room by the stairs
And the waves keep on rollin'
They've done that for years
O Sonny don't go away, I am here all alone
Your daddy's a sailor who never comes home
All these nights get so long and the silence goes on
And I'm feelin' so tired, I'm not all that strong
Sonny's dreams can't be real
They're just stories he's read
They're just stars in his eyes
They're just dreams in his head
And he's hungry inside
For the wide world outside
And I know I can't hold him
Tho' I tried and I tried and I tried
O Sonny don't go away, I am here all alone
Your daddy's a sailor who never comes home
All these nights get so long and the silence goes on
And I'm feelin' so tired, I'm not all that strong
(c) Wonderful Grand Music/Sold for a Song:TMP Socan
Ron Hynes
I taxied up and down this town
Since 1954
Wore out ten or a dozen cars
Over thirty years or more
Drove the other side of midnight
To the clear edge of dawn
Heard a whole lot of what wasn't right
And more of what was wrong
Man gets in my cab one night
I'm sittin' at the stand
Slumps down in the backseat
With his face down in his hands
A mumbled out of town address
Is his only remark
Until we're halfway out the highway
And he speaks up from the dark
(And he says) I can find no comfort in this night
Friend I believe I might have taken someone's life
I remember screamin', I remember the front door slam
Don't remember how I got these stains upon my hands
I drop him at this dirty shack
He's the picture of despair
Can't remember what the meter read
Or if he even paid the fare
All I recall was a sweet release
I was halfway back to town
And the police cruiser with the flashing light
Was flaggin' me down, flaggin' me down
There are times I hear him whisper in the night
Friend I believe I might have taken someone's life
I remember screamin', I remember the front door slam
But I don't recall how I got all these stains upon my hands
I taxied up and down this town
Since 1954
Wore out ten or a dozen cars
Over thirty years or more
Drove the other side of midnight
To the clear edge of dawn
Heard a whole lot of what wasn't right
And even more of what was wrong
Even more of what was wrong
Oh what was wrong
(C)Blue Murder/Sold For A Song:TMP Socan
Ron Hynes
The common man don't count at all these days
Has begun to feel that he's in the way
That he's a sad drab store closed window display
The common man don't count at all these days
The common man got one thing on his mind
Feels that his opinion is a sad waste of time
Best if he sit quietly with others of his kind
The common man got one thing on his mind
But he can surmise between truth and lies
Between chains and strong ties
But not the mask of treacherous disguise
The face of it goes way beyond his eyes
The common man don't count at all these days
Has begun to feel that he's in the way
That he's a sad drab store closed window display
The common man don't count at all these days
(C)Blue Murder/Sold For A Song:TMP Socan
Ron Hynes
My love I'm gone to Canada
And it's truly we must part
Tho' the tears that lie behind your eyes
Will surely break my heart
And if I return to this land again
In faith I dare not say
For the time does fly, and feelings die
Love fades away Love fades away
For I have been untrue dear
And a shame stirs in my soul
Having slandered each and every vow
That I had sworn to hold
Down darkened halls of confusing walls
I led my soul astray
Now the time does fly, with faith denied
Love fades away Love fades away
Outside the dawn is closing
As the night goes so must I
So weary now with rage and tears
Still soft my love does lie
And I am gone down desperate road
From the house that I've betrayed
Where the time does fly, and feelings die
Love fades away Love fades away
My love I'm gone to Canada
And it's truly we must part
(C)Blue Murder/Sold For A Song:TMP Socan
Ron Hynes
Godspeed Godspeed
Forgive a sweet soul a desperate deed
His was a prison and he was freed
Godspeed Godspeed
God Bless God Bless
What's born out of sorrow or out of distress
Speculation is anyone's guess
God Bless God Bless
God only knows
What takes the petal from the rose
What makes the dark rivers overflow
What makes a lifetime come and go
But God Damn God Damn
You put your hand in the hand of the man
You must have believed he would understand
And forgive a sweet soul a desperate deed
Godspeed Godspeed
(C)Blue Murder/Sold For A Song:TMP Socan
Ron Hynes
Oh the harbour lights are gleaming
And the evening's still and dark
And the seagulls are all dreaming
Seagull dreams on Amherst Rock
And the mist is slowly drifting
As the storefront lights go dim
And the moon is gently lifting
As the last ship's coming in
All the sailors got a story
Some are true, some are false
But they're always wrecked and they're up on the deck
Dancin' the St. John's Waltz
Oh we've had out share of history
We've seen nations come and go
We've seen battles rage over land and stage
Four hundred years and more
For glory or for freedom
For country or for king
Or for money or fame but there are no names
On the graves where men lie sleeping
All the nine to fives survive the day
With a sigh and a dose of salts
And they're parkin' their cars and packin' the bars
Dancin' the St. John's Waltz
Oh my heart is on the highway
And I'm sold on goin' to sea
All the planes fill the skyway
The trains run swift and free
So leave the wayward free to wander
Leave the restless free to roam
If it's rocks in the bay or it's old cliche
You'll find your way back home
So don't question or inquire
What's been gained, what's been lost
In a world of romance don't miss out on the chance
To be Dancin' the St. John's Waltz
(c)Wonderful Grand Music/Sold for a Song:TMP Socan
Ron Hynes
This could be the final breath
This is life and death
This is hard rock and water
Out here where the wind has turned
And the towers are burning
There is no returning
We defy the centuries
We live the oldest of intensities
Laughter and misery
Out here between time and tide
Between tears and elation
Lies a secret nation
The prayer to which we say Amen
Is written with a poison pen
This could be the final breath
This could be the final strife
Is there a spark of life still shimmering
Out here in the falling rain
Who will fan the flames
When the final days are numbering
The prayer to which we say Amen
Is written with a poison pen
This could be the final breath
This is life and death
This is hard rock and water
Out here between wind and flame
Between tears and elation
Lies a Secret Nation
(c)BlueMurder/Sold for a Song:TMP Socan
Ron Hynes
She's the grandest of ladies
And still not that old
She's just grey at the edges
But years do take toll
But she's just as good boys
As she used to be
Many long years ago
You can take it from me
She's been put thru her paces
When the crowds cheered her on
Been in lots of hard places
In that swift run to home
She has lifted out hearts up
Like leaves in the wind
Made us all cheer and stand up
And call out her name
And her stride's got that rhythm so dark and so bold
It's like primitive thunder seven centuries rolled
Lots of good riders
Lots of good men
Who have stood up beside her
And would stand up again
(c)BlueMurder/Sold for a Song:TMP Socan
Ron Hynes/Declan O'Doherty
The lighthouse lures the old dissenters
Retired pirates lonely painters
Early morning jubilators
Up to no good instigators
All of them the strangest cases
Worn out hands and weathered faces
Sons of long forgotten races
That the darkest night embraces
The lighthouse lures the weary soldier
Deciding that the war was over
Threw his rifle in the clover
He passed over peaceful water
Settled down in greener pasture
Married some poor miner's daughter
Thru the tears thru the laughter
He stayed restless ever after
I can hear the siren singing
Somewhere on a lonely wind
I can hear the song she whispers
Calling my name
(c)Fat Baby/Sold for a Song:TMP/All Hands Music Socan
Ron Hynes
So well I remember the morning that I sailed away
And turning one last time I threw a kiss to her
She smiled to me from the cold edge of the water
I turned my face to the wind and the tears followed
That night I dreamed that I lay beside her
Clinging to her like a child to his mother
And when I awoke the cold lay claim to my heart
Knowing full well as I whispered her name
I never would smile upon her sweet face again
And well I remember the morning that I sailed away
(C)Blue Murder/ Sold For A Song:TMP Socan