The Fields Of Athenry Lyrics And Chords
Irish song lyrics and chords, Written by Pete St. John Recorded by Danny Doyle, Paddy Reilly, Ronan Tynan, The Dropkick Murphy's And James Galyay. Pete has written many great song including :The Rare Old Times,The Ferryman,Luke Kelly's Land,Ringsend Rose,Ann Devlin,Danny Farrell to name but a few. this is in the key of D Major, change the chords to suit your own voice. Recently recorded by Foster And Allen [ 2014 ]
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alternative Chords = D=G, G=C And A =D
By[D] a lonely prison wall,I[G] heard a young man[D] call[A]ing, [D]Michael they are[G] taken you a[A]way, For you[D] stole trevelyne[G] corn,so the[D] young might see the[A] morn, Now a prison ship lies waiting in the[D] bay. [Chorus] [D]Low[G] lie the[D] fields of athenry,where once we watched the small free birds[A] fly, Our[D] love was on the[G] wing,we had[D] dreams and songs to[A] sing, It's so lonely round the fields of Athen[D]ry. [2] By a lonely prison wall,I heard a young man calling, Nothing matters Mary when your free, Against the famine and the crown,I rebelled they put me down, Now you must rase our child with dignity. [3] By a lonely harbour wall,she watched the last star falling, As the prison ship sailed out against the sky, For she waits and hopes and prayes,for her love in Botany bay, It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry Interview By Joe Duffy With Pete St John The Writer Of The Fields Of Athenry
Joe Duffy - When did you write the fields of Athenry ?. Pete St John - That was back in 79' I belive, I though I had just written another lovely ballad and Danny Doyle picked up on it one night in the old Embankment and I said ''Off Ye Go Danny'' , Danny can be very fussy as all the lads here know and it took him a while to get his head around the story, we went to America with it and established it there. Then one day I had Paddy Reilly coming out to do some gigs with us in The States. So I had Paddy Reilly, Danny Doyle and a group called Celtic Folk and while we were there doing the gig Paddy said when I go home, well he was thinking at the time of packing in the business and opening a pub with Mick McCarthy from Embankment fame and Paddy said I'm going to sing The Fields Of Athenry as my final song. 'Reilly did and how many years ago is that. Joe Duffy - And Paddy Reilly was in the charts for something like 72 weeks. Pete St John - I called the record company to say we should take it out as a single because I couldn't compeat with myself. So we were to stick it on an album and maybe write another one. So thanks be to God it took of and we have it today as a kind of peranual. Joe Duffy - How did it become this anthem in Scotland and the anthem for the Munster Final [rugby] Pete St. John - Well we were one night in a gig in London with Patsy Watchorn and The Dublin City Ramblers and Packie Bonner [Ireland And Celtic former Goalkeeper'] stood up and sang the song, so we backed him for it then he took it up to Celtic and Celtic invited me up and I was invited over to Park Head [Celtic Football Ground] to sing it acapella out in the middle of the pitch. So I went out and invited the 60,000 audience to sing it with me. So I thanked them for looking after the 15,000 that we sent them in the famine times cause they all had fever. Then I said I'd like to sing it with you, all I had to do was sing the first note and the audience sang the rest. It was quiet a moment. Joe Duffy - And how long did it take you to write it ? Pete St. John, well I was always interested in that period of the famine times in Ireland, I thought it was the most horrific event in the 19th century so I decided I'd write a song about it.So in travelling down there and reading some of the old scripts in the university in Galway in As Gaelige and I thought I'd have a look at the area and Athenry was the place I choose. I don't think too many people had heard of Athenry at the time but now there are bus tours. Joe Duffy - When was the last time you were in the fields of Athenry ?. Pete St John - About a year ago they invited me down to give me the mace and chain. There's a lovely interpritive centre in the town now so I went along and met the people and we sang the song again. Joe Duffy - Apart from going to Galway University and looking up the history you had no connection with Athenry, you just picked it because you saw it on the way back. Pete St John. Yes I felt the fields do look lovely and we would call that town a ''Wiper Blade'' because when we're out gigging with the lads on a rainy night we'd be going that fast we pass the place with one wipe of the screen. |
Key Of G Major
By[G] a lonely prison wall,I[C] heard a young man[G] call[D]ing, [G]Michael they are[C] taken you a[D]way, For you[G] stole trevelyne[C] corn,so the[G] young might see the[D] morn, Now a prison ship lies waiting in the[G] bay. [Chorus] [G]Low[C] lie the[G] fields of athenry,where once we watched the small free birds[D] fly, Our[G] love was on the[C] wing,we had[G] dreams and songs to[D] sing, It's so lonely round the fields of Athen[G]ry. These are the basic chords and the strumming pattern to play the song in the key of D Major.
Chords In The Key Of C Major
By[C] a lonely prison wall,I[F] heard a young man[C] call[G]ing, [C]Michael they are[F] taken you a[G]way, For you[C] stole trevelyne[F] corn,so the[C] young might see the[G] morn, Now a prison ship lies waiting in the[C] bay. [C]Low[F] lie the[C] fields of athenry,where once we watched the small free birds[G] fly, Our[C] love was on the[F] wing,we had[C] dreams and songs to[G] sing, It's so lonely round the fields of Athen[C]ry 
Here are the guitar chords as played by The High Kings on their live version.
Intro. F Bb C7 F Bb C7 [F]By a lonely prison wall I [Bb]heard a young girl [F]cal[Am]l[F]ing Micheal [Bb]they are taking [F]you away For you stole Trevelyn's [Bb]corn So the [Gm]young might [F]see the morn. Now a [Bb]prison ship lies [F]waiting in the bay. [F]Low [Bb]lie the [F]Fields of Athen[Dm]ry Where [F]once we watched the small free birds fly. Our love was on the [Bb]wing we had [F]dreams and songs to sing It's so [Bb]lonely 'round the [F]Fields of Athenry. F Bb F Here's the chords in the key that The Dropkick Murphy's play the song in.
[Bb]By a [Eb]lonely prison wall I [Ab]heard a young girl [Eb]call[Bb]ing [Eb]Micheal they are [Ab]taking you a[Bb]way For you [Eb]stole Trevelyn's [Ab]corn So the [Eb]young might see the [Bb]morn. Now a prison ship lies waiting in the [Eb]bay. [Eb]]Low [ab]lie the [Eb]Fields of Athen[Cm]ry Where [Eb]once we watched the [Cm]small free birds [Bb]fly. Our [Eb]love was on the [Ab]wing we had [Eb]dreams and songs to [Bb]sing It's so lonely 'round the Fields of Athen[Eb]ry. Bb Eb Ab Eb |
