The Boys From The County Hell lyrics and chords
Ebook of tin whistle tabs for The Pogues
The tin whistle sheet music for The Boys From The County Hell is in the ebook.
By The Pogues. Written by Shane MacGowan.
List Of Pogues Songs On The Site .
[Em]On the first day of March it was raining
It was raining worse than anything that [Am]I have ever seen
I drank ten pints of beer and I [G]cursed all the people there
And I wish that all this raining would stop falling down on [Em]me
And it's [G]lend me ten pounds and I'll buy you a[D] drink
And [G]mother wake me [D]early in the [Em]morning
At the time I was working for a landlord
And he was the meanest bastard that you have ever seen
And to lose a single penny would grieve him awful sore
And he was a miserable bollocks and a bitch's bastard's whore
I recall we took care of him one Sunday
We got him out the back and we broke his fucking balls
And maybe that was dreaming and maybe that was real
But all I know is I left that place without a penny or fuck all
And now I've the most charming of verandas
I sit and watch the junkies, the drunks and pimps and whores
Five green bottles sitting on the floor
And I wish to Christ, I wish to Christ
That I had fifteen more
The boys and me are drunk and looking for you
We'll eat your frigging entrails and we won't give a damn
Me daddy was a blue shirt and my mother a madam
And my brother earned his medals raping gooks in Vietnam
On the first day of March it was raining
It was raining worse than anything that I have ever seen
Stay on the other side of the road
'Cause you can never tell
We've a thirst like a gang of devils
We're the boys of the county hell
List Of Pogues Songs On The Site .
[Em]On the first day of March it was raining
It was raining worse than anything that [Am]I have ever seen
I drank ten pints of beer and I [G]cursed all the people there
And I wish that all this raining would stop falling down on [Em]me
And it's [G]lend me ten pounds and I'll buy you a[D] drink
And [G]mother wake me [D]early in the [Em]morning
At the time I was working for a landlord
And he was the meanest bastard that you have ever seen
And to lose a single penny would grieve him awful sore
And he was a miserable bollocks and a bitch's bastard's whore
I recall we took care of him one Sunday
We got him out the back and we broke his fucking balls
And maybe that was dreaming and maybe that was real
But all I know is I left that place without a penny or fuck all
And now I've the most charming of verandas
I sit and watch the junkies, the drunks and pimps and whores
Five green bottles sitting on the floor
And I wish to Christ, I wish to Christ
That I had fifteen more
The boys and me are drunk and looking for you
We'll eat your frigging entrails and we won't give a damn
Me daddy was a blue shirt and my mother a madam
And my brother earned his medals raping gooks in Vietnam
On the first day of March it was raining
It was raining worse than anything that I have ever seen
Stay on the other side of the road
'Cause you can never tell
We've a thirst like a gang of devils
We're the boys of the county hell
All chords added (for all verses)
✅ Strumming pattern in 6/8
✅ Fingerpicking tab (first verse + chorus)
🎶 Full Lyrics with Chords (Key: E Minor, 6/8)
Verse 1
[Em]On the first day of March it was raining
It was raining worse than anything that [Am]I have ever seen
I drank ten pints of beer and I [G]cursed all the people there
And I wish that all this raining would stop [D]falling down on [Em]me
Chorus
And it's [G]lend me ten pounds and I'll buy you a [D]drink
And [G]mother wake me [D]early in the [Em]morning
Verse 2
At the [Em]time I was working for a landlord
And he was the meanest bastard that you’ve [Am]ever seen
To lose a single penny would [G]grieve him awful sore
He was a miserable bollocks and a [D]bitch’s bastard’s [Em]whore
Verse 3
I re[Em]call we took care of him one Sunday
We got him out the back and we [Am]broke his balls
And maybe that was dreaming or [G]maybe that was real
But all I know is I left that [D]place with fuck-all [Em]at all
Verse 4
And [Em]now I’ve the most charming of verandas
I sit and watch the junkies, the [Am]drunks and pimps and whores
Five green bottles sitting [G]broken on the floor
And I wish to God, I wish to [D]God I had fifteen [Em]more
Verse 5
The [Em]boys and me are drunk and looking for you
We’ll eat your friggin’ entrails and we [Am]won’t give a damn
Me daddy was a blue shirt, me [G]mother was a madam
And me brother earned his medals [D]r''''' gooks in [Em]Vietnam
🎸 6/8 Strumming Pattern
Count: 1-2-3-4-5-6 (two pulses per bar)
Pattern:
↓ (bass) ↓↑ ↓ (bass) ↓↑
Feel:
Hit the bass string (lowest note of the chord) on beats 1 and 4.
Light down–up on 2–3 and 5–6 for a rolling feel.
Accent beat 1 slightly.
Example:
“ONE two three FOUR five six”
Bass–chord–chord, Bass–chord–chord
This is the Irish 6/8 roll used in most Pogues and Dubliners ballads.
🪕 Fingerpicking Tab (Verse + Chorus)
This uses a rolling 6/8 fingerstyle:
P (thumb) = bass (E, A, D)
I (index) = G string
M (middle) = B string
A (ring) = high E
Pattern: P–I–M–P–M–A
🎵 Verse Fingerpicking
Em Am G D
e|--------0-----------0-|--------0-----------0-|--------3-----------3-|--------2-----------2-|
B|------0---0-------0---|------1---1-------1---|------0---0-------0---|------3---3-------3---|
G|----0-------0---0-----|----2-------2---2-----|----0-------0---0-----|----2-------2---2-----|
D|--2-----------2-------|--2-----------2-------|--0-----------0-------|--0-----------0-------|
A|2-----------2---------|0-----------0---------|2-----------2---------|----------------------|
E|0-----------0---------|----------------------|3-----------3---------|----------------------|
(repeat for each line of verse)
🎶 Chorus Fingerpicking
G D G D Em
e|--------3-----------3-|--------2-----------2-|--------3-----------3-|--------2-----------2-|--------0-----------0-|
B|------0---0-------0---|------3---3-------3---|------0---0-------0---|------3---3-------3---|------0---0-------0---|
G|----0-------0---0-----|----2-------2---2-----|----0-------0---0-----|----2-------2---2-----|----0-------0---0-----|
D|--0-----------0-------|--0-----------0-------|--0-----------0-------|--0-----------0-------|--2-----------2-------|
A|2-----------2---------|----------------------|2-----------2---------|----------------------|2-----------2---------|
E|3-----------3---------|----------------------|3-----------3---------|----------------------|0-----------0---------|
💡 Playing Notes
Let chords ring through each bar; avoid muting unless for dynamic contrast.
On D, alternate bass between open D (4th) and A (5th).
You can subtly hammer-on on Em’s D string (0–2) at the start of bars for a Pogues-like ornament.
Use the strumming for energy on later verses and the fingerpicking for the intro/first verse.
✅ Strumming pattern in 6/8
✅ Fingerpicking tab (first verse + chorus)
🎶 Full Lyrics with Chords (Key: E Minor, 6/8)
Verse 1
[Em]On the first day of March it was raining
It was raining worse than anything that [Am]I have ever seen
I drank ten pints of beer and I [G]cursed all the people there
And I wish that all this raining would stop [D]falling down on [Em]me
Chorus
And it's [G]lend me ten pounds and I'll buy you a [D]drink
And [G]mother wake me [D]early in the [Em]morning
Verse 2
At the [Em]time I was working for a landlord
And he was the meanest bastard that you’ve [Am]ever seen
To lose a single penny would [G]grieve him awful sore
He was a miserable bollocks and a [D]bitch’s bastard’s [Em]whore
Verse 3
I re[Em]call we took care of him one Sunday
We got him out the back and we [Am]broke his balls
And maybe that was dreaming or [G]maybe that was real
But all I know is I left that [D]place with fuck-all [Em]at all
Verse 4
And [Em]now I’ve the most charming of verandas
I sit and watch the junkies, the [Am]drunks and pimps and whores
Five green bottles sitting [G]broken on the floor
And I wish to God, I wish to [D]God I had fifteen [Em]more
Verse 5
The [Em]boys and me are drunk and looking for you
We’ll eat your friggin’ entrails and we [Am]won’t give a damn
Me daddy was a blue shirt, me [G]mother was a madam
And me brother earned his medals [D]r''''' gooks in [Em]Vietnam
🎸 6/8 Strumming Pattern
Count: 1-2-3-4-5-6 (two pulses per bar)
Pattern:
↓ (bass) ↓↑ ↓ (bass) ↓↑
Feel:
Hit the bass string (lowest note of the chord) on beats 1 and 4.
Light down–up on 2–3 and 5–6 for a rolling feel.
Accent beat 1 slightly.
Example:
“ONE two three FOUR five six”
Bass–chord–chord, Bass–chord–chord
This is the Irish 6/8 roll used in most Pogues and Dubliners ballads.
🪕 Fingerpicking Tab (Verse + Chorus)
This uses a rolling 6/8 fingerstyle:
P (thumb) = bass (E, A, D)
I (index) = G string
M (middle) = B string
A (ring) = high E
Pattern: P–I–M–P–M–A
🎵 Verse Fingerpicking
Em Am G D
e|--------0-----------0-|--------0-----------0-|--------3-----------3-|--------2-----------2-|
B|------0---0-------0---|------1---1-------1---|------0---0-------0---|------3---3-------3---|
G|----0-------0---0-----|----2-------2---2-----|----0-------0---0-----|----2-------2---2-----|
D|--2-----------2-------|--2-----------2-------|--0-----------0-------|--0-----------0-------|
A|2-----------2---------|0-----------0---------|2-----------2---------|----------------------|
E|0-----------0---------|----------------------|3-----------3---------|----------------------|
(repeat for each line of verse)
🎶 Chorus Fingerpicking
G D G D Em
e|--------3-----------3-|--------2-----------2-|--------3-----------3-|--------2-----------2-|--------0-----------0-|
B|------0---0-------0---|------3---3-------3---|------0---0-------0---|------3---3-------3---|------0---0-------0---|
G|----0-------0---0-----|----2-------2---2-----|----0-------0---0-----|----2-------2---2-----|----0-------0---0-----|
D|--0-----------0-------|--0-----------0-------|--0-----------0-------|--0-----------0-------|--2-----------2-------|
A|2-----------2---------|----------------------|2-----------2---------|----------------------|2-----------2---------|
E|3-----------3---------|----------------------|3-----------3---------|----------------------|0-----------0---------|
💡 Playing Notes
Let chords ring through each bar; avoid muting unless for dynamic contrast.
On D, alternate bass between open D (4th) and A (5th).
You can subtly hammer-on on Em’s D string (0–2) at the start of bars for a Pogues-like ornament.
Use the strumming for energy on later verses and the fingerpicking for the intro/first verse.
A Woman playing the Pogues songs on the tin whistle
Guitar Chords In Key Of Am
[Am]On the first day of March it was raining
It was raining worse than anything that [Dm]I have ever seen
I drank ten pints of beer and I [C]cursed all the people there
And I wish that all this raining would stop falling down on [Am]me
And it's [C]lend me ten pounds and I'll buy you a[G] drink
And [C]mother wake me [G]early in the [Am]morning
It was raining worse than anything that [Dm]I have ever seen
I drank ten pints of beer and I [C]cursed all the people there
And I wish that all this raining would stop falling down on [Am]me
And it's [C]lend me ten pounds and I'll buy you a[G] drink
And [C]mother wake me [G]early in the [Am]morning
Andrew Rankin The Pogues Drummer
