School Days Over lyrics and chords

Written by singer / songwriter Ewan McColl and recorded by The Dubliners with Luke Kelly doing the singing. A folksong about working down the coal mines just as a boy finishes his schooling. Included is a basic sheet music. Also included are the tin whistle letter notes. The song was also recorded by Irish singer and songwriter Damien Dempsey, Mary Black along with The Chieftains and Finbar Furey. Recently recorded by ballad group ''The High Kings'' on their album Grace And Glory. in 2019 The Whistlin' Donkeys recorded the song at The Forge Sessions. Back to The Dubliners Songs

School[G7] day's[C] over come on then[Am] John,
[Dm]Time to be[F] getting your pit boots[G] on,
On[C] with your sark and[Am] moleskin[Em] trousers,
[Am]Time you were on your[F] way,
[C]Time you were learning the[Am] pit man's job,
And[Dm] earning the pit man's[G] pay.
[2]
Come on then Jim it's time to go,
Time you were working down below
Time to be handling a pick and shovel,
You start at the pits today,
Time you were learning the collier's job,
And earning the colliers pay.
[3]
Come on then Dai,it's almost light,
Time you were off to the anthracite,
The morning mist is on the vally,
It's time you were on your way,
Time you were learning the miners job
And earning the miners pay

Key of D
School[A7] day's[D] over come on then[Bm] John,
[Em]Time to be[G] getting your pit boots[A] on,
On[D] with your sark and[Bm] moleskin[F#m] trousers,
[Bm]Time you were on your[G] way,
[D]Time you were learning the[Bm] pit man's job,
And[Em] earning the pit man's[A]

Dubliner's Version Of The Chords
​Intro. chords on banjo as played by Luke Kelly C Bb Am Gm C Gm Am C
[C]Schoolday's[F] over come on then John,
[Gm]Time to be getting your [Bb]pit boots[F] o[C]n,
[F]On with your sark and[Bb] moleskin[F] trousers,
[Bb]Time you were [Am]on your[Gm] way[Bb],
[F]Time you were learning the pit man's job,
And[Gm] earning the pit man's[C] pay[Gm][Am][C][Gm][Am].

Here are the chords that Luke Kelly plays on his banjo.
Intro banjo chords
C Bb Am Gm C Gm Am C
School[G7] day's[F] over come on then John,
[Gm]Time to be getting your [Bb]pit boots[F] on[C],
[F]On with your sark and[Bb] moleskin[F] trousers,
[Bb]Time you were [Am]on your[Gm] wa[Bb]y,
[F]Time you were learning the[Am] pit man's job,
And[Gm] earning the pit man's[C] pay[Gm][Am][C].
[Gm] [Am]

[Gm]Come on then [F]Jim it's time to [Am]g[F]o,
[Gm]Time you were working [Bb]down be[F]lo[C]w
[F]Time to be handling a [Bb]pick and [Am]shovel,
You [Bb]start at the [Am]pits to[Gm]da[Bb]y,
[C]Time you were learning the [F]collier's job,
And [Gm]earning the colliers [C]pay.

School days over sheet music for tin whistle

The sheet music above is slightly different than the notes below.
If your looking to play along with the Luke Kelly version in the key of C then here's the notes as written out by Jean-Baptiste Meynard below. Jean put the lower notes in lower case letters and the high ones in 


CAPITAL LETTERS.
Luke Kelly version :
d e g g a b b b

a b a g e d g g e d

g g a b D E G F E D E D b D E

D E D b a b D b a g a g f e d (d e g g -> at the end)


Noel McLoughlin version :
a b D D E F F F
E F E D b a D D b a
D D E F A B D (high D) C B A B A F A B [or d d e f a b D c b a b a f a b]
A B A F E F A F E D E F E D B A (a b D D -> at the end)


And the following notes are the one's I play.

​D      E      G G    A       B  A      B
Schooldays over, come on then John,
A     A   B  A  G     E    G   G      D
Time to be gettin' your pit boots on
G   G     A     B     d     e    g      f#    e
On with your sark and moleskin trousers,
d    e     e     d      B   d      e
It's time you were on your way
d      d    e       d          B   A   B  d     B
Time you were learning the pitman's job
G    A    A   B     A  E      D 
And earning the pitman's pay

Below is a slightly different version of the sheet music that I made up.