Raglan Road - The Chieftains and Roger Daltry

On Raglan Road of an autumn day
I saw her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare
That I might one day rue
I saw the danger and I passed
Along the enchanted way
And said let grief be a fallen leaf
At the dawning of the day

On Grafton Street in November
We tripped lightly along the ledge
Of a deep ravine where can be seen
The worth of passion's pledge
The Queen of Hearts still making tarts
And I not making hay
Oh I loved too much and by such by such
Is happiness thrown away

I gave her gifts of the mind
I gave her the secret signs
Known to the artists who have known
The true gods of sound and stone
And word and tint I did not stint
I gave her poems to say
With her own name there
And her own dark hair
Like clouds over fields of May

On a quiet street where old ghosts meet
I see her walking now
Away from me so hurriedly my reason must allow
That I had loved not as I should
A creature made of clay
When the angel woos the clay
He'll lose his wings at the dawn of day

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Roger Daltry
• Chieftains

[jimdoran69]

This has always been one of my favorite poems, and it's an exercise in futility to compare this version to that one...at the end of the day, it honors Kavanagh's legacy that a performer would make it a point to perform it...And like it or not Roger puts his all into this version...And the Chieftains felt this performance was worthy enough to make it onto the DVD, so I'll defer to their expertise on this one!

[jimdoran69]

Thanks, for the feedback everyone. This song means so much to me. And this is my favorite rendition!

Enjoy!!

[JivinBowsie]

noone in my opinion will ever sing it as beautifully as luke kelly. i hear alot of peoples versions but there don't come even close to his version. dislike nearly all versions to it.

[weezerpleaser18]

@angelf1re His day job is singing.

[crc778Hypnodoc]

Not as bad a version as I expected but it takes away the meaning of the words. Trouble when a song as exceptional as this is taken to the musical heavens by Luke Kelly's spellbinding version, then it's a rare case of that is the ONLY way it should be done

[hardhand14]

What a version. Nice to see Paddy Moloney rocking out on the Uilleann pipes towards the end.

[ultanbeare]

fairplay to him rogers a legend bet he has luke kelly in his record collection

[cscdigitalgraphics]

Great version of this song. Roger did a great job!

[huughjarse]

Fair play to Roger, not an easy song to sing.

words ;- Patrick Kavenagh "

melody ;- " Fainne geal an lae " ( dawning of the day), - suggested by Benedict Kiely,

" Paddy" Kavenagh was having a pint with Luke Kelly, Benedict kiely, et al...

Paddy read his poem " Raglan road ", Kiely, - a walking encyclopaedia of melodies noticed that the rhythm fitted the old song " fainne geal an lae "

He asked Kelly to sing the poem to the old air, - ad lib.

- LEGEND...

[sparemepee]

leave it to dudes who understand it

[krisskool4u]

@dethnova5 Hugh Fitzcairn on Highlander... ROGER DALTREY in real life the BEST singer in this fucking universe!

[brucefetter]

at least he looks good.