Ronnie Drew & The Dubliners - The Town I Loved So Well

From a concert by the Dubliners with Paddy Reilly and Jim McCann.

The song is introduced by Paddy and sung by the late great Ronnie Drew,
Of Course the version most people are familar with is the one By the legendary Luke Kelly, Paddy Reilly also had a version of it.


In my memory I will always see
the town that I have loved so well
Where our school played ball by the gasyard wall
and we laughed through the smoke and the smell
Going home in the rain, running up the dark lane
past the jail and down behind the fountain
Those were happy days in so many, many ways
in the town I loved so well


In the early morning the shirt factory horn
called women from Creggan, the Moor and the Bog
While the men on the dole played a mother's role,
fed the children and then trained the dogs
And when times got tough there was just about enough
But they saw it through without complaining
For deep inside was a burning pride
in the town I loved so well


There was music there in the Derry air
like a language that we all could understand
I remember the day when I earned my first pay
And I played in a small pick-up band
There I spent my youth and to tell you the truth
I was sad to leave it all behind me
For I learned about life and I'd found a wife
in the town I loved so well


But when I returned how my eyes have burned
to see how a town could be brought to its knees
By the armoured cars and the bombed out bars
and the gas that hangs on to every tree
Now the army's installed by that old gasyard wall
and the damned barbed wire gets higher and higher
With their tanks and their guns, oh my God, what have they done
to the town I loved so well



Now the music's gone but they carry on
For their spirit's been bruised, never broken
They will not forget but their hearts are set
on tomorrow and peace once again
For what's done is done and what's won is won
and what's lost is lost and gone forever
I can only pray for a bright, brand new day
in the town I loved so well


Written by Phil Coulter

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Ronnie Drew
• Dubliners
• Paddy Reilly
• Jim McCann
• Town I Loved So Well
• Luke Kelly
• Phil Coulter
• Derry

[kola192003]

does anyone know what year this was? great performance by ronnie drew as always

[joekilgobinet]

@kola192003

I Think it was 1984 or !985

[alcylon]

Does this come DVD,,?

[joekilgobinet]

@alcylon I'm not sure. I have a video cassette of it called The Dubliners in concert with Paddy Reilly and Jim McCann.

[skane01]

It doesnt get any better - what a wonderful song performed by the magnificent granite voice

[shaunthewood]

Fantastic!!! ..... what a priceless clip this is .... thanks for sharing

[ankwill]

quite simply, pure magic!!!

[djp120970]

OMG

[rebkev01]

My favorite performance, with apologies to Mr. Kelly....

[kola192003]

@joekilgobinet thanks you, it just seemed very when paddy mentions Luke in the begining :(

[pedraozinhuu1]

Ronnie Drew NEVER DIE. He will lives in our hearts forever.

Viva Portugal. Viva IRELAND.

[pedraozinhuu1]

The music more feeling and beautiful of all world.

I am a portuguese boy and i love Ireland and his people.

Ronnie Drew is a better singer than any one. The BEST OF the world.

God bless Ronnie and his brothers of Ireland.