The People Have Spoken Lyrics And Chords by Tommy Sands
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The [C]people have [G]spoken, a new day is [C]dawning
The people have [G]spoken, a [F]new day has [G]come With [Am]hearts nearly [Em]broken, a [F]chorus is [C]calling The people have [G]spoken, it’s time to move [C]on I [C]hear the band [G]marching, singing Lilly bu[C]llero ‘Bu linn an [G]la’ says ‘the [F]day will be [G]ours’ In [Am]unison, [Em]bystanders [F]join in the [C]chorus ‘Our day will [G]come’ singing ‘Tiochfaidh ar [C]la’ Chorus [C]Whack fol the da Tiochfaidh ar la Agus Lilly bu[Am]llero is bull in an [G]la –G-G-G Ah wack fol the [C]da –C-C-C I [C]hear people [G]say that if your day is [C]coming Some people [G]fear that [F]their day is [G]done But [Am]I say the [Em]sun shines on [F]all or on [C]no one If darkness is [G]over, a new day will [C]come The [C]people have [G]spoken, a new day is [C]dawning You take a short [G]step on a [F]road that is [G]long To [Am]live and let [Em]live on that [F]journey to[C]gether The people have [G]spoken, there’s work to be [C]done Chorus So [C]lay down your [G]arms and your words of de[C]struction Your tanks and your [G]guns, they have [F]all had their [G]say The [Am]arms we were [Em]given the [F]day we were [C]born Were to love and dis[G]cover, to find a new [C]way And [C]don’t sing the [G]songs of the wrongs we have [C]suffered Till first we can [G]hear of the [F]wrongs we have [G]done And to[Am]gether we’ll [Em]write a new [F]song for to[C]morrow It’s then, only [G]then, that our day will [C]come. Chorus |
Tommy Sands comment on the song from CD-booklet:
This song takes two well-known opposing Ulster catchphrases and celebrates their sameness – ‘The day will be ours’ (from Lillybullero) and ‘Our day it will come’ (Tiochfaidh ar la). The origins of Lillybullero have attracted much speculation down the years. The song, which its author Thomas Wharton (1640-1715) boasted ‘had rhymed James II out of three kingdoms’, was written as a parody, it seems, to an earlier song from the 1641 Rebellion. It is said that the chorus, today understood as only as gibberish by many, is actually a corruption of the Irish ‘Lilly lu leir o bu linn an la’, meaning ‘Lilly will be manifest, the day will be ours’. William Lilly (1602-81) was a famous astrologer of the time. Not long ago in Belfast I listened as a Loyalist Orange band played this tune to the heckling sound of ‘Tiocfaidh ar la’ (Our day will come) from Irish Republicans. Since both slogans mean basically the same thing regardless of their origins, I thought it would be wonderful to celebrate the much awaited ‘Day’ belonging to us all. |
