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 malt
And if you're not Irish, that isn't your fault

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

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

And what's it to any man whether or no'
Whether I'm easy or whether I'm true
As I lifted her petticoat easy and slow
And I tied up me sleeve for to buckle her shoe

Get up and go at it, five until five
When the whistle says budge it we come back alive
He'll sing to the heavens, he's stormy as hell
And wherever he goes, we'll be wishing him well

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

The dawn and the dust, the wise, the unjust
Kids in gambling games
The unheard, the unseen, the unwashed and unclean
Where the streets all have names
Baggers, street masons, street wagons to Stevens
With lovers and loners who can hear all intoners
The goths and the ravers, invalids and traders
Sing out Ronnie Drew

A life for a life or a hand for a hand
Trust in the music and strike up the band
The more that we sing the less that we fight
Time and again this is proved to be right

Build you a statue on St. Stephen's Green
No fairer monument ere to be seen
The statue of Ronnie Drew holding the hand
Of a girl with her hair in a black velvet band

Here's to you, Ronnie Drew
No stranger to devils or angles to tell
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew
A friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend to you
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
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you, Ronnie Drew

And what's it to any man whether or no'
Whether I'm easy or whether I'm true
As I lifted her petticoat easy and slow
And I rolled up me sleeve for to buckle her shoe