The Ballad Of The Ronnie Drew

Intro: D D G A

 D                         G         A
Here's to the Ronnie, the voice we adore
      D                        G             A
Like coals from a coal bucket scraping the floor
 D                       G         A
Sing out his praises in music and malt
    D                         G           D D G A
And if you're not Irish, that isn't your fault

 D                        G         A
Raise up our voices like dogs in a pack
 D                      G         A
Thankful for honest men we never lack
    D                       G         A
We got 'em by twenties, we got 'em by ones
 D                           G             (D D G A) 2x
Them and their daughters and all of their sons

           G            D
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew
           G            D
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew
         G       F#m              G
Ronnie Drew, we love you, yes we do
           D            A              D
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you

      D                    G         A
And what's it to any man whether or no'
  D                   G           A
Whether I'm easy or whether I'm true
      D                   G          A
As I lifted her petticoat easy and slow
       D                        G           D D G A
And I tied up me sleeve for to buckle her shoe

 D                    G          A
Get up and go at it, five until five
           D                      G           A
When the whistle says budge it we come back alive
       D                          G        A
He'll sing to the heavens, he's stormy as hell
        D                       G           (D D G A) 2x
And wherever he goes, we'll be wishing him well

           G            D
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew
           G            D
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew
         G       F#m              G
Ronnie Drew, we love you, yes we do
           D            A              D
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you

     A
The dawn and the dust, the wise, the unjust
         Em
Kids in gambling games
     A
The unheard, the unseen, the unwashed and unclean
             Em
Where the streets all have names
 A
Baggers, street masons, street wagons to Stevens
      Em
With lovers and loners who can hear all intoners
     A
The goths and the ravers, evil bids and traders
 Em
Sing out Ronnie Drew
   D                    G          A
A life for a life or a hand for a hand
  D                       G           A
Trust in the music and strike up the band
     D                     G            A
The more that we sing the less that we fight
 D                       G           D D G A
Time and again this is proved to be right

 D                          G         A
Build you a statue on St. Stephen's Green
    D              G          A
No fairer monument ere to be seen
      D                    G           A
The statue of Ronnie Drew holding the hand
      D                        G           (D D G A) 2x
Of a girl with her hair in a black velvet band

           G            D
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew
No stranger to devils or angles to tell
           G            D
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew
A friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend to you
         G       F#m              G
Ronnie Drew, we love you, yes we do
           D            A              D
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you
           D            A              D
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you, Ronnie Drew
           D            A              D
Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you, Ronnie Drew

And what's it to any man whether or no'
Whether I'm easy or whether I'm true
As I lifted her petticoat easy and slow
And I rolled up me sleeve for to buckle her shoe


By VoLLen Dung