Banks Of Marble Lyrics And Guitar Chords

The Irish Brigade. Written by Lee Rice 1950 and recorded by Pete Seeger and Iris DeMent. This is The Irish Brigade's version which is more militant than the original version. If the tune sounds familiar it's because it's pretty much the same tune as Long Kesh by The Wolfe Tones which is also an older tune.

 I've travelled round this country
From  shore to shining shore
And I've never ceased to  wonder
the  things I heard and  saw
 
Chorus:
 But the banks are made of marble
With a  guard at every door
 And the vaults are filled with silver
That the  worker sweated  for
I've seen the weary housewife, 
Buying groceries at the store
And I've heard the grocer saying
This is going to cost you more

Chorus:
 But the banks are made of marble
With a guard at every  door
And the vaults are filled with silver
That the  worker sweated for.
[chorus]
I’ve seen the  weary  miner
Scrubbing  coal dust from his  back
And I’ve  heard his children  crying' 
got no  coal to heat the shack.

But the banks are made of marble
With a  guard at every  door
And the vaults are filled with silver
That the  worker sweated  for.
I've seen the weary sailor,
Standing idly on the shore,
And I've heard his skipper saying
There's no berth here anymore.

But the banks are made of marble
With a  guard at every  door
 And the vaults are filled with silver
That the  worker sweated  for.
Lets rise up and take our country
Lets rise up and take our land
Let us all rise together
For together we must stand.

We'll blow up the banks of marble
With the guards on every door,
And share out the vaults of silver
That the worker sweated for.

We'll blow up the banks of marble
With the guards on every door,
And share out the vaults of silver
That the worker sweated for

Here are the chords as played by Pete Seeger.

[B]I've traveled round this country
From [E]shore to shining [B]shore.
It [F#]really made me [B]wonder
The [F#]things I heard and [B]saw.

I [B]saw the weary farmer,
[E]Plowing sod and [B]loam;
I [F#]heard the auction [B]hammer
A [F#]knocking down his [B]home.

[Chorus:]
But the [B]banks are made of marble,
With a [F#]guard at every [B]door,
And the vaults are stuffed with silver,
That[F#] the farmer sweated [B]for.,,[E]

I saw the [F#]seaman [B]standing
[E]Idly by the [F#]sho[B]re.
I [F#]heard the bosses say[B]ing,
Got no [F#]work for you no [B]more.

But the banks are made of mar[F#]ble,
With a guard at every [B]door,
And the vaults are stuffed with sil[F#]ver,
That the seaman sweated [B]for.,,,[E]

I [B]seen the weary miner,
Scrubbing [E]coal dust from his [B]back,
I [F#]heard his children [B]cryin',
Got no [F#]coal to heat the [B]shack.

But the [B]banks are made of marble,
With a [F#]guard at every [B]door,
And the vaults are stuffed with silver,
That the [F#]miner sweated [B]for.,,,[F#]

[B]I've [F#]see[B]n my brothers working
[E]Throughout this mighty [F#]lan[B]d;
[F#]I prayed we'd [B]get together,
And [F#]together make a [B]stand.

[Final Chorus:]
Then [B]we'd own those banks of marble,
With a [F#]guard at every [B]door;
And we'd share those vaults of silver,
That [F#]we have [B]sweated for

🎵 Banks of Marble (in G Major)

Tuning: Standard (EADGBE)
Tempo: ~80 BPM (steady folk tempo)
Time Signature: 4/4

🎸 1. Strumming Pattern

A simple, flowing pattern that fits Irish and American folk ballads:

Pattern (per measure):

↓ ↓↑ ↑↓↑

Count:

1 2 & & 4 &

Tips:

Downstrokes (↓) on beats 1 & 3;

Upstrokes (↑) between beats for rhythm.

Keep it soft and even — no hard accents.

Add one full strum at the end of each verse line for closure.

🎶 2. Fingerpicking Pattern

Style: Travis picking

Thumb (T): Alternates bass (E–D or A–D)

Index (I): G string

Middle (M): B string

Basic Travis Pattern (each beat = 1 note):

Bass → G → D → B

🎵 Verse 1 Fingerpicking Tab
   G
e|----------------|----------------|
B|------0---------|------0---------|
G|----0---0-------|----0---0-------|
D|--------0-------|--------0-------|
A|----------------|----------------|
E|--3-------------|--3-------------|
 I've traveled round this country,

   C                              G
e|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
B|------1---------|------1---------|------0---------|------0---------|
G|----0---0-------|----0---0-------|----0---0-------|----0---0-------|
D|--------2-------|--------2-------|--------0-------|--------0-------|
A|--3-------------|--3-------------|----------------|----------------|
E|----------------|----------------|--3-------------|--3-------------|
 From shore to shining shore.

   D                              G
e|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
B|------3---------|------3---------|------0---------|------0---------|
G|----2---2-------|----2---2-------|----0---0-------|----0---0-------|
D|--------0-------|--------0-------|--------0-------|--------0-------|
A|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
E|--2-------------|--2-------------|--3-------------|--3-------------|
 It really made me wonder

   D                              G
e|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
B|------3---------|------3---------|------0---------|------0---------|
G|----2---2-------|----2---2-------|----0---0-------|----0---0-------|
D|--------0-------|--------0-------|--------0-------|--------0-------|
A|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
E|--2-------------|--2-------------|--3-------------|--3-------------|
 The things I heard and saw.

🎵 Verse 2 Fingerpicking Tab
   G
e|----------------|----------------|
B|------0---------|------0---------|
G|----0---0-------|----0---0-------|
D|--------0-------|--------0-------|
A|----------------|----------------|
E|--3-------------|--3-------------|
 I saw the weary farmer,

   C                              G
e|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
B|------1---------|------1---------|------0---------|------0---------|
G|----0---0-------|----0---0-------|----0---0-------|----0---0-------|
D|--------2-------|--------2-------|--------0-------|--------0-------|
A|--3-------------|--3-------------|----------------|----------------|
E|----------------|----------------|--3-------------|--3-------------|
 Plowing sod and loam;

   D                              G
e|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
B|------3---------|------3---------|------0---------|------0---------|
G|----2---2-------|----2---2-------|----0---0-------|----0---0-------|
D|--------0-------|--------0-------|--------0-------|--------0-------|
A|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
E|--2-------------|--2-------------|--3-------------|--3-------------|
 I heard the auction hammer

   D                              G
e|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
B|------3---------|------3---------|------0---------|------0---------|
G|----2---2-------|----2---2-------|----0---0-------|----0---0-------|
D|--------0-------|--------0-------|--------0-------|--------0-------|
A|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
E|--2-------------|--2-------------|--3-------------|--3-------------|
 A-knocking down his home.

🎵 Verse 3 (Banks Are Made of Marble)
   G                              D
e|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
B|------0---------|------0---------|------3---------|------3---------|
G|----0---0-------|----0---0-------|----2---2-------|----2---2-------|
D|--------0-------|--------0-------|--------0-------|--------0-------|
A|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
E|--3-------------|--3-------------|--2-------------|--2-------------|
 But the banks are made of marble,

   G
e|----------------|----------------|
B|------0---------|------0---------|
G|----0---0-------|----0---0-------|
D|--------0-------|--------0-------|
A|----------------|----------------|
E|--3-------------|--3-------------|
 With a guard at every door,

   G                              D
e|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
B|------0---------|------0---------|------3---------|------3---------|
G|----0---0-------|----0---0-------|----2---2-------|----2---2-------|
D|--------0-------|--------0-------|--------0-------|--------0-------|
A|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
E|--3-------------|--3-------------|--2-------------|--2-------------|
 And the vaults are stuffed with silver,

   D                              G             C
e|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
B|------3---------|------3---------|------0---------|------1---------|
G|----2---2-------|----2---2-------|----0---0-------|----0---0-------|
D|--------0-------|--------0-------|--------0-------|--------2-------|
A|----------------|----------------|----------------|--3-------------|
E|--2-------------|--2-------------|--3-------------|----------------|
 That the farmer sweated for...

If the chords in the key of B don't suit your voice then here are the chords in the key of G.
[G]I've traveled round this country
From [C]shore to shining [G]shore.
It [D]really made me [G]wonder
The [D]things I heard and [G]saw.

I [G]saw the weary farmer,
[C]Plowing sod and [G]loam;
I [D]heard the auction [G]hammer
A [D]knocking down his [G]home.


But the [G]banks are made of marble,
With a [D]guard at every [G]door,
And the vaults are stuffed with silver,
That[D] the farmer sweated [G]for.,,[C]

I saw the [D]seaman [G]standing
[C]Idly by the [D]sho[G]re.
I [D]heard the bosses say[G]ing,
Got no [D]work for you no [G]more.

But the banks are made of mar[D]ble,
With a guard at every [G]door,
And the vaults are stuffed with sil[D]ver,
That the seaman sweated [G]for.,,,[C]

I [G]seen the weary miner,
Scrubbing [C]coal dust from his [G]back,
I [D]heard his children [G]cryin',
Got no [D]coal to heat the [G]shack.

But the [G]banks are made of marble,
With a [D]guard at every [G]door,
And the vaults are stuffed with silver,
That the [D]miner sweated [G]for.,,,[D]

[G]I've [D]see[G]n my brothers working
[C]Throughout this mighty [D]lan[G]d;
[D]I prayed we'd [G]get together,
And [D]together make a [G]stand.


Then [G]we'd own those banks of marble,
With a [D]guard at every [G]door;
And we'd share those vaults of silver,
That [D]we have [G]sweated for