Mary Clare Malloy American Wake

   Am                               G              Am
My name is Mary Clare Malloy, I was born in County Cork
                                    Em                Am
At 18 years of age I sailed for the shores of old New York
                                   Em                   Am
With seven hundred picture brides, torn 'tween hope and fear
                       F           G              Am
At last we spied Manhattan and the famous Isle of Tears

[Verse]

                                          G          Am
My first taste of the New World turned to ashes very fast
                                      Em               Am
The ones who entered freely were from first and second class
                                       Em           Am
We steerage folk remained on board, as if we were exiles
                       F               G               Am
The captain turned the ship around and sailed to Ellis Isle

[Verse]

                                      G                  Am
We disembarked and stood in line with chalk marks on our coats
                         Em             Am
X for mental illness, if E, back on the boat
                                     Em               Am
They asked us what our breeding was, could we read or write?
                       F          G              Am
The sound of women weeping at the dormitories at night

[Verse]

                                      G           Am
My best friend was deported back to a poor Killea home
                                        Em        Am
Another sent to Swinburne Isle, died of cholera, alone
                                       Em                Am
The rest of us were shipped to trains, bound for Midwest states
                           F         G               Am
To wild and stormy prairie lands and our prospective mates

[Verse]

              G         Am
He's American primitive man
               G         Am
In an American primitive land
C     G        F         Am
Irish eyes and calloused hands
         G         Am
American primitive man