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There Were Roses by Moloney, O'Connell & Keane
There Were Roses
Tuning: E A D G B E
Capo: 2nd fret
Key: D
[Verse 1]
C
My song for you this evening
F G C
Is not to make you sad.
Am G
Nor for adding to the sorrows
F C
Of our troubled northern land.
C
But lately I've been thinking,
F G C
And it just wont leave my mind.
Am G
I'll tell you of two friends one time,
F C
Who were both good friends of mine.
[Verse 2]
C
Isaac Scott from Banagh,
F G C
He lived just across the fields.
Am G
A great man for the music
F C
And the dancing and the reels.
C
MacDonald came from South Armagh
F G C
To court young Agnes fair,
Am G
And we'd often meet on the Ryan Road
F C
And laughter filled the air.
[Chorus]
F C F C
There were roses, roses.
F C
There were roses...
C G F C
And the tears of the people ran together.
[Verse 3]
C
Now Isaac he was Protestant,
F G C
And Sean was Catholic born.
Am G
But it never made a difference,
F C
For their friendship, it was strong.
C
And sometimes in the evening,
F G C
When they heard the sound of drums,
Am G
They said they wont divide us,
F C
We will always be as one.
[Verse 4]
C
For the ground our fathers plowed
F G C
And the soil, it is the same.
Am G
And the places where we say our prayers
F C
Have just got different names.
C
We talked about the friends who died,
F G C
We hoped there'd be no more.
Am G
Twas little then we realized
F C
The tragedy in store.
[Chorus]
F C F C
There were roses, roses.
F C
There were roses...
C G F C
And the tears of the people ran together.
[Verse 5]
C
It was on a Sunday morning
F G C
When the awful news came round.
Am G
Another killing had been done
F C
Just outside Camlough Town.
C
We knew that Isaac danced up there,
F G C
We knew he liked the band.
Am G
But when we heard that he was dead,
F C
We just could not understand.
[Verse 6]
C
We gathered at the gravesite
F G C
On a cold and rainy day.
Am G
The minister he closed his eyes
F C
And for no revenge he prayed.
C
And all of us who knew him
F G C
From along the Ryan Road,
Am G
We bowed our heads and said a prayer
F C
For the resting of his soul.
[Chorus]
F C F C
There were roses, roses.
F C
There were roses...
C G F C
And the tears of the people ran together.
[Verse 7]
C
Now fear it filled the countryside,
F G C
There was fear in every home.
Am G
When late at night a car came
F C
Prowling round the Ryan Road.
C
A Catholic would be killed tonight
F G C
To even up the score.
Am G
Oh Christ! It's young MacDonald
F C
That they've taken from the door.
[Verse 8]
C
Isaac was my friend he cried,
F G C
He begged them with his tears.
Am G
But centuries of hatred
F C
Have ears that do not hear.
C
An eye for an eye,
F G C
That was all that filled their minds.
Am G
And another eye for another eye
F C
Till everyone was blind.
[Chorus]
F C F C
There were roses, roses.
F C
There were roses...
C G F C
And the tears of the people ran together.
[Instrumental verse]
C
F G C
Am G
F C
C
F G C
Am G
F C
[Verse 10]
C
Now I don't know where the moral is,
F G C
Or where the song should end.
Am G
But I wonder just how many wars
F C
Are fought between good friends.
C
And those who give the orders
F G C
They are not the ones to die.
Am G
It's Scott and MacDonald,
F C
And the likes of you and I.
[Chorus]
F C F C
There were roses, roses.
F C
There were roses...
C G F C
And the tears of the people ran together.
[Instrumental chorus]
F C F C
F C
C G F C
C G F F
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