Gentle Annie lyrics and Guitar chords by Tommy Makem
The tin whistle sheet music is included. I have included 2 sets of guitar chords. The first is the basic version and the second is set to the key that Tommy Makem sings it in the live youtube version. The song was also recorded by Foster And Allen and by Danny Quinn.
[G]Fair and lovely Annie,
Your[C] gentle ways have[G] won me.
You bring peace and joy and[Em] laughter every[D]where.
Where you[G] go the sunshine follows,
You're a[D] breath of spring in [G]winter
And my heart and soul are[D] always in your[G] care.
[G]Gentle Annie,[Em] Gentle[G] Annie,
And my heart and soul
Are[D] always in your[G] care.
When you touch me with your fingers,
My cares and worries vanish
Like the morning dew before the rising sun,
When your eyes tell me you love me,
Then my soul is filled with wonder
And my love for you will live when life is done.
Gentle Annie, Gentle Annie,
And my love for you
Will live when life is done.
You're the flower among the flowers,
You're the birdsong in the morning,
You're the laughter of the children at their play.
You're my hope and joy and wisdom,
You're my reason just for living,
You're my treasure,
You're my very night and day.
Gentle Annie, Gentle Annie,
You're my treasure,
You're my very night and day.
When the mountains all come tumbling
And the earth has stopped its turning,
When the winds don't blow and stars refuse to shine,
When the moon has left the heavens,
And the seven seas are empty,
I will still have Gentle Annie on my mind.
Gentle Annie, Gentle Annie,
I will still have Gentle Annie on my mind.
Your[C] gentle ways have[G] won me.
You bring peace and joy and[Em] laughter every[D]where.
Where you[G] go the sunshine follows,
You're a[D] breath of spring in [G]winter
And my heart and soul are[D] always in your[G] care.
[G]Gentle Annie,[Em] Gentle[G] Annie,
And my heart and soul
Are[D] always in your[G] care.
When you touch me with your fingers,
My cares and worries vanish
Like the morning dew before the rising sun,
When your eyes tell me you love me,
Then my soul is filled with wonder
And my love for you will live when life is done.
Gentle Annie, Gentle Annie,
And my love for you
Will live when life is done.
You're the flower among the flowers,
You're the birdsong in the morning,
You're the laughter of the children at their play.
You're my hope and joy and wisdom,
You're my reason just for living,
You're my treasure,
You're my very night and day.
Gentle Annie, Gentle Annie,
You're my treasure,
You're my very night and day.
When the mountains all come tumbling
And the earth has stopped its turning,
When the winds don't blow and stars refuse to shine,
When the moon has left the heavens,
And the seven seas are empty,
I will still have Gentle Annie on my mind.
Gentle Annie, Gentle Annie,
I will still have Gentle Annie on my mind.
Here are the guitar chords as sang by Tommy Makem.
[F]Fair and lovely Annie,
Your[C] gentle ways have[F] won me.
You bring peace and joy and laughter every[C]where.
Where you[F] go the [C]sunshine [Dm]follows,
You're a[Am] breath of spring in [F]winter
And my heart and soul are[C] always in your[F] care.
[C]Gentle [F]Annie,[Dm] Gentle[Ab] Anni[Am]e,
And my [F]heart and soul
Are[C] always in your[F] care.
[F]Fair and lovely Annie,
Your[C] gentle ways have[F] won me.
You bring peace and joy and laughter every[C]where.
Where you[F] go the [C]sunshine [Dm]follows,
You're a[Am] breath of spring in [F]winter
And my heart and soul are[C] always in your[F] care.
[C]Gentle [F]Annie,[Dm] Gentle[Ab] Anni[Am]e,
And my [F]heart and soul
Are[C] always in your[F] care.
Gentle Annie Sheet Music Notes
Below is another version of the sheet music
Tommy Makem has been appearing on concert stages, in
night clubs and elsewhere with the Clancy Brothers. But that
uncommon quartet—each member a strong individualist, each
with a different bent of talent—has also left room for each of its
members to be known as a person. The final word on the subject
by the only one who could get away with saying it, was offered
by Mrs. Joan Clancy, mother of the brothers, when she heard the
Tradition album, “Come Fill Your Glass With Us.” Said Mrs.
Clancy: “You're all great singers, but Tommy Makem is a greater
singer than any of you.”
She is not the only one to have recognized Tommy Makem’s
outstanding skill. After his appearance at the Newport Folk
Festival of 1959, The New York Times singled out Tommy
Makem and Joan Baez as the best younger artists that Newport
was bringing to a national audience. Pete Seeger recognized it,
as well, and right after the Newport Folk Festival of 1960,
Tommy was asked to join Pete in two concerts, at Sterling
Forest, N.Y., and at the Music Inn, Lenox, Mass.
Who, then is Tommy Makem, if you haven’t had the pleasure
of hearing him yet? He is an actor and a traditional singer
from the town of Keady, County Armagh, three miles north of
the border that separates Northern Ireland from Eire. Music has
been fact, fiber and fun throughout his 27 years. His father,
Peter, is a scutcher by trade (the scutching of flax is a process
in the making of linen, an almost moribund industry) but a
musician through and through. Peter Makem has been a fiddler
and piper who played the bass drum for some forty-five years
in the doughty local band named for Oliver Plunkett, a martyr
of the Cromwell age.
And from the other side, his mother, Sarah, was a Boyle, and
‘they were as singing a family as one could find. There were
aunts and uncles who sang, and it is from Mrs. Makem that
Tommy learned most of his songs he knows today. (His brother
and sister are folk musicians also.)
Young Tommy toddled off to the local school run by the De
la Salle Christian Brothers, and the musical thread was carried
on. In first grade, he recalls learning his first two American
folk songs: “Shenandoah” and “Bound for the Rio Grande.”
But the real musical riches were to come from Tommy’s fifteen
years in the choir of St. Patrick’s church. There, beginning at
the age of 8 under the tutelage of a “brilliant musician,” Canon
Pentony, Tommy sang Gregorian chant and motets. He didn’t
learn to read music, but learned to make it in his “own way.”
He first sang in public at the age of 5 the song that opens this
record, “The Little Beggarman.”
Although Tommy started to work at 14, as a clerk-bookkeeper
in a garage, those teen-age years were filled with study. Recalling
his schedule recently, Tommy spent Monday night at pipe band
practice, Tuesdays at play practice, Wednesdays at the choir and
more play practice with the Keady Dramatic Society, Thursday
it was back with the pipe band, Fridays the choir and Sundays
he would play at dances.
When he turned 19, Tommy left his garage job for a while to
become a barman at Mone’s Bar, a local pub. His post behind
the old mahogany was particularly advantageous for another job
of his. As the local correspondent for The Armagh Observer,
under a nom de plume he would report on local gossip, and
news of the hurling games and football matches.
Acting continued to consume much of his interest, and some
of his stage work began to win attention. When he was 20, a
director of the Old Vic invited Tommy to join that noted troupe,
but he declined. As he did when Michéal MacLiammoir invited
him to join his company in Dublin. In 1955 Tommy decided to
come to the United States to pursue his acting career. He settled
for a time with his relatives, the Boyles, in Dover, N.H.
A bad accident occurred in March 1956, while Tommy was working
in Dover. A piece of a printing press fell on his left hand,
and necessitated five or six operations over a period of the next
two years.
Tommy had met two of the Clancy brothers, Liam and Bobby,
when they and Diane Hamilton visited Keady to record “Lark
in the Morning.” He was to meet the other two, Patrick and Tom,
at a party in New York early in 1956. They all hit if off beautifully,
and Pat simply said to him: “Let’s make a record.” and
the group was on its way. The four did a concert that winter at
the Circle in the Square. Then Tommy had two appearances at
the Gate of Horn in Chicago, one solo opposite Josh White, and
another stint with Robin Roberts. The acting continued, and he
had roles in “Shadow and Substance” and “Playboy of the
Western World” with the Irish Players, “Guests of the Nation”
at the Theatre de Lys. A. whole summer of stock with the Shelley
Players followed in New Scotland, N.Y. in which he played
“everything.”
There were television appearances with the Clancys on the
Du Pont Show of the Month—“Treasure Island,” and with Liam
Clancy on “Camera 3.” With Liam, or all three Clancy brothers,
Makem then appeared at the Village Gate, the Fifth Peg, One
Sheridan Square, the Blue Angel, Gerde’s Folk City, the Second
Fret in Philadelphia, the Playboy Club in Chicago, and made a
television appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Now that the group is hell-bent for national fame—they have
sung at Town Hall, Carnegie Hall and the Lexington Avenue
Young Men’s and Women’s Hebrew Association—there seems
to be no limit to the places where Tommy Makem’s rich voice
and jaunty manner are going to be seen and heard. He still feels
acting is his first love, and wants to combine acting and singing
in the rosy future ahead.
What advice does he have for the young city enthusiast who is
learning folk songs? “Buy my records,’ he answers with a
characteristic jibe. But he continues in a more serious vein: “The
chief thing is to believe in what you are singing. If it’s a fun
song you must be in a fun mood. If it’s a fighting song, a fighting
mood is needed. It’s like acting. Don’t try to imitate anybody.
Just because Joe Doaks has a bad voice, but is a traditional
singer, you don’t have to sound like him. If you have a better
voice than those you learned from, use it, it enhances the song.”
Tommy Makem has much more to say with a mood of fun, a
mood of love, a mood of rebellion—on this record. You will not
forget the voice, the manner or the name of Tommy Makem
once you’ve heard it.
night clubs and elsewhere with the Clancy Brothers. But that
uncommon quartet—each member a strong individualist, each
with a different bent of talent—has also left room for each of its
members to be known as a person. The final word on the subject
by the only one who could get away with saying it, was offered
by Mrs. Joan Clancy, mother of the brothers, when she heard the
Tradition album, “Come Fill Your Glass With Us.” Said Mrs.
Clancy: “You're all great singers, but Tommy Makem is a greater
singer than any of you.”
She is not the only one to have recognized Tommy Makem’s
outstanding skill. After his appearance at the Newport Folk
Festival of 1959, The New York Times singled out Tommy
Makem and Joan Baez as the best younger artists that Newport
was bringing to a national audience. Pete Seeger recognized it,
as well, and right after the Newport Folk Festival of 1960,
Tommy was asked to join Pete in two concerts, at Sterling
Forest, N.Y., and at the Music Inn, Lenox, Mass.
Who, then is Tommy Makem, if you haven’t had the pleasure
of hearing him yet? He is an actor and a traditional singer
from the town of Keady, County Armagh, three miles north of
the border that separates Northern Ireland from Eire. Music has
been fact, fiber and fun throughout his 27 years. His father,
Peter, is a scutcher by trade (the scutching of flax is a process
in the making of linen, an almost moribund industry) but a
musician through and through. Peter Makem has been a fiddler
and piper who played the bass drum for some forty-five years
in the doughty local band named for Oliver Plunkett, a martyr
of the Cromwell age.
And from the other side, his mother, Sarah, was a Boyle, and
‘they were as singing a family as one could find. There were
aunts and uncles who sang, and it is from Mrs. Makem that
Tommy learned most of his songs he knows today. (His brother
and sister are folk musicians also.)
Young Tommy toddled off to the local school run by the De
la Salle Christian Brothers, and the musical thread was carried
on. In first grade, he recalls learning his first two American
folk songs: “Shenandoah” and “Bound for the Rio Grande.”
But the real musical riches were to come from Tommy’s fifteen
years in the choir of St. Patrick’s church. There, beginning at
the age of 8 under the tutelage of a “brilliant musician,” Canon
Pentony, Tommy sang Gregorian chant and motets. He didn’t
learn to read music, but learned to make it in his “own way.”
He first sang in public at the age of 5 the song that opens this
record, “The Little Beggarman.”
Although Tommy started to work at 14, as a clerk-bookkeeper
in a garage, those teen-age years were filled with study. Recalling
his schedule recently, Tommy spent Monday night at pipe band
practice, Tuesdays at play practice, Wednesdays at the choir and
more play practice with the Keady Dramatic Society, Thursday
it was back with the pipe band, Fridays the choir and Sundays
he would play at dances.
When he turned 19, Tommy left his garage job for a while to
become a barman at Mone’s Bar, a local pub. His post behind
the old mahogany was particularly advantageous for another job
of his. As the local correspondent for The Armagh Observer,
under a nom de plume he would report on local gossip, and
news of the hurling games and football matches.
Acting continued to consume much of his interest, and some
of his stage work began to win attention. When he was 20, a
director of the Old Vic invited Tommy to join that noted troupe,
but he declined. As he did when Michéal MacLiammoir invited
him to join his company in Dublin. In 1955 Tommy decided to
come to the United States to pursue his acting career. He settled
for a time with his relatives, the Boyles, in Dover, N.H.
A bad accident occurred in March 1956, while Tommy was working
in Dover. A piece of a printing press fell on his left hand,
and necessitated five or six operations over a period of the next
two years.
Tommy had met two of the Clancy brothers, Liam and Bobby,
when they and Diane Hamilton visited Keady to record “Lark
in the Morning.” He was to meet the other two, Patrick and Tom,
at a party in New York early in 1956. They all hit if off beautifully,
and Pat simply said to him: “Let’s make a record.” and
the group was on its way. The four did a concert that winter at
the Circle in the Square. Then Tommy had two appearances at
the Gate of Horn in Chicago, one solo opposite Josh White, and
another stint with Robin Roberts. The acting continued, and he
had roles in “Shadow and Substance” and “Playboy of the
Western World” with the Irish Players, “Guests of the Nation”
at the Theatre de Lys. A. whole summer of stock with the Shelley
Players followed in New Scotland, N.Y. in which he played
“everything.”
There were television appearances with the Clancys on the
Du Pont Show of the Month—“Treasure Island,” and with Liam
Clancy on “Camera 3.” With Liam, or all three Clancy brothers,
Makem then appeared at the Village Gate, the Fifth Peg, One
Sheridan Square, the Blue Angel, Gerde’s Folk City, the Second
Fret in Philadelphia, the Playboy Club in Chicago, and made a
television appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Now that the group is hell-bent for national fame—they have
sung at Town Hall, Carnegie Hall and the Lexington Avenue
Young Men’s and Women’s Hebrew Association—there seems
to be no limit to the places where Tommy Makem’s rich voice
and jaunty manner are going to be seen and heard. He still feels
acting is his first love, and wants to combine acting and singing
in the rosy future ahead.
What advice does he have for the young city enthusiast who is
learning folk songs? “Buy my records,’ he answers with a
characteristic jibe. But he continues in a more serious vein: “The
chief thing is to believe in what you are singing. If it’s a fun
song you must be in a fun mood. If it’s a fighting song, a fighting
mood is needed. It’s like acting. Don’t try to imitate anybody.
Just because Joe Doaks has a bad voice, but is a traditional
singer, you don’t have to sound like him. If you have a better
voice than those you learned from, use it, it enhances the song.”
Tommy Makem has much more to say with a mood of fun, a
mood of love, a mood of rebellion—on this record. You will not
forget the voice, the manner or the name of Tommy Makem
once you’ve heard it.
