(intro 2x) C G C G
D G
Kids wear white garters, and smell like their mothers
C G
whose husbands and fathers alike
D C
drink black beer in the same public houses
C D G C G
smelling of smoke and strong whiskey.
D G
Mammies and daddies, skipping ropes,
C G
lectures from priests, living in hope
D C
that they've not mistaken the brand of their coats,
C D G C G
paid for by their spiritual teachings.
D G
A busy year this, the streets running red,
C G
how many sent to their nuptial bed.
D C
And how many sent home to a winter of graves,
C D G C G
and how many wait in for the slaughter.
G D
Oh, oh, the holy ground,
C Am D
céad mile failte, there's saints and there's scholars to see.
G D
Oh, oh, the holy ground,
C Am D
faraway hills ain't as green as they once used to be.
( Em Am Em Am )
D G
It's Easter again, and we cannot forget
C G
our brothers and sisters and all that was said.
D C
So practise your pipes, stand proud in the wet,
C D G C G
for the eyes of the world are upon you.
D G
God in his mercy has given us men
C G
to lead us to peace, but they can't bring an end
D C
to the profits that pay off the lease on the land,
C D G C G
we still send them over the water.
D G
Seventeen years, Kelly is a man,
C G
who stands on the street with a gun in his hand.
D C
He's protecting the pipers that play in the band,
C D G
while the enemy waits with an army.
G D
Oh, oh, the holy ground,
C Am D
céad mile failte, there's saints and there's scholars to see.
Em D
Oh, oh, the holy ground,
C Am D
faraway hills ain't as green as they once used to be.
( Em Am Em Am )
D G
Dia le hÉireann, suckle the empire,
C G
dia le hÉireann, suffer the loss
D C
of the green and the blue while the media feeds
C D G C G
on the blood and the pain and the hatred.
D G
Father walks home on a colourless night,
C G
and the organisation has blinded his sight,
D G
His wife and his kids are sleeping tonight,
C D
in the arms of sweet Jesus and Mary.
Em D
Oh, oh, the holy ground,
C Am D
céad mile failte, there's saints and there's scholars to see.
G D
Oh, oh, the holy ground,
C Am D
faraway hills ain't as green as they once used to be.
Em D
Oh, oh, the holy ground,
C Am D
céad mile failte, there's saints and there's scholars to see.
G D
Oh, oh, the holy ground,
C Am D
faraway hills ain't as green as they once used to be.