When New York Was Irish

Words and music by Terence Winch
A bonus to the Rise Up Singing Project. This isn't in Rise Up Singing, but it's a nice one to sing nevertheless.

Erratum: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was not set 150 years ago. I may have implied that. It's set in the first 20 years of the 20th century. Whatevs.

Verses: G - - D / G Em C D D7 / 1st / G Em CD7 G
Chorus: G - C D / G Em C Am D7 / G Em C D / G Em CD7 G

I'll sing you a song of days long ago
when the people from Galway and the County Mayo
And all over Ireland came over to stay
And take up a new life in Americay

CHORUS:
They were ever so happy, they were ever so sad
To grow old in the new world through good times and bad
All the parties and weddings, the ceilis and wakes
When New York was Irish, full of joys and heartbreaks / heartaches

We worked on the subways, we ran the saloons
We built all the bridges, we played all the tunes
We put out the fires and controlled City Hall
We started with nothing and wound up with it all

You could travel from Kingsbridge to Queens or midtown
from Highbridge to Bay Ridge, from uptown to down
from the East Side to the seaside those sweet summer scenes
We made New York City our island of dreams

I look at the photos now brittle with time
Of the people I cherished when the city was mine
Oh, how I loved all those radiant smiles
How I long for the days when we danced in the aisles

The Hills of West Virginia

This song was written by Phil Ochs
A Rise Up Singing Project bonus

D G D G / D G A - / G D G D / - G A D

From the flat plains of Ohio we drifted out one day
For the southern part of the journey
And underneath the bridge the Ohio river sang
As we headed for the hills of West Virginia

And the red sun of the morning was smiling through the trees
As the darkness of the night was quickly fading
And the fog hugged the road like a cloudy, cloudy sea
As we drove though the hills of West Virginia

We smoked the tobacco and drank of the wine
And we spoke of the forest we were passing
And the road would wind and wind and wind
When we drove through the hills of West Virginia

Among all the wealth of the beauty that we passed
There were many old shacks a-growing older
And we saw the broken bottles laying on the grass
When we drove though the hills of West Virginia

The Virginia people watched as we went riding by
Oh, proud as a boulder they were standing
And we wondered at each other with a meeting of the eye
When we drove thought the hills of West Virginia

And once in a while we would stop by the road
And gaze at the womb of the valley
Almost wishing for a path down below
Where we stopped in the hills of West Virginia

Up and down and all around we took our restless ride
And the rocks they were staring cold and jagged
Where explosions of the powder had torn away the side
Where we drove through the hills of West Virginia

And the orange sun was falling on the southern border line
As the shadows of the night were now returning
And we knew the mountains followed us and watched us from behind
When we drove from the hills of West Virginia

Gallo del cielo

By Tom Russel
Also done by Joe Ely

Great song
Chords D - Em - A - D something like that, then, uh, some other stuff, I'll write them down later. There's also a G at the end of verse and chorus where you go G - A - D .

Carlos Saragosa left his home in Casas Grandes when the moon was full
He had no money in his pocket, just a locket of his sister framed in Gold
He headed for el Sueco, stole a rooster named Gallo Del Cielo
Then he crossed the Rio Grande with that roosted nestled deep within his arm

Galllo del Cielo was a warrior born in heaven so the legends say
His wings they had been broken, he had one eye rollin crazy in his head
He'd fought a hundred fights and the legends say that one night near El Sueco
He fought Cielo seven times, seven times he left brave roosters dead

Hola my Teresa I'm thinkin of you now in San Antonio
I have 27 dollars and the good luck of your good luck of your picture framed in gold
Tonight I'll put it all on the fighting spurs of Gallo Del Cielo
Then I'll return to buy the land Pancho Villa stole from father long ago

Outside of San Diego in the Onion fields of Paco Monte Verde
The Pride of San Diego lay sleeping on a fancy bed of silk
Adn they laughed when Saragosa pulled the one-eyed Del Cielo from beneath his shirt
But they cried when Saragosa waked away with a thousand dollar bill

Hola my Teresa I'm thinkin of you now in Santa Barbara
I have 15 hundred dollars and the good luck of your good luck of your picture framed in gold
Tonight I'll put it all on the fighting spurs of Gallo Del Cielo
Then I'll return to buy the land Pancho Villa stole from father long ago

Now the moon has gone to hiding and the lantern light spills shadows on the fighting sand
A wicked black named Zorro faces Del Cielo in the sand
And Carlos Saragosa fears the tiny crack that runs across his roosters beak
And he fears that he has lost the 50,000 dollars riding on the fight

Hola my Teresa I'm thinkin of you now in Santa Clara
The money's on the table, I'm holding now your good luck framed in gold
Everything we dream of is riding on the spurs of Del Cielo
Then I'll return to buy the land Pancho Villa stole from father long ago

The signal it was given and the roosters rose together far above the sand
Gallo Del Cielo sunk a gaff into Zorro's shiny breast
They were separated quickly but they rose and fought each other time and time again
And the legends all agreed that Gallo Del Cielo fought the best

But then the screams of Saragosa filled the night outside the town of Santa Clara
As the beak of Del Cielo lay broken like a shell within his hand
And they say that Saragosa screamed a curse upon the bones of Pancho Villa
As Zorro rose up one more time and drove Del Cielo in the sand

Hola my Teresa I'm thinkin of you now in San Francisco
I have no money in my pocket I no longer have your good luck framed in gold
I buried it last evening with the bones of my beloved Del Cielo
I will not return to buy the land that Villa stole long ago

Do the rivers still run muddy outside of my beloved Casas Grandes?
Does the scar upon my brother's face turn red when he hears mention of my name?
And do the people of El Sueco still curse the theft of Gallo Del Cielo?
Tell my family not to worry, I will not return to cause them shame