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His eyes they closed and his last breath spoke
He had seen all to be seen
A life once full, now an empty vase
Wilt the blossoms on his early grave
Walk away me boy, walk away me boy
And by mornin' we'll be free
Wipe that golden tear from your mother dear
And raise what's left of the flag for me
Then the rosary beads count them one, two, three
Fell apart as they hit the floor
In our garb of black we must pay respect
To the colour we're born to mourn
Walk away me boys, walk away me boys
And by mornin' we'll be free
Wipe that golden tear from your mother dear
And raise what's left of the flag for me
In his place there grew an angry festered wound
Filled with hatred and remorse
Where I'd pick and scratch till the blood it matched
The silent rage now that fills my lungs
For there are many ways to kill a man they say
With bayonet, axe, or sword
But son a bullet fired from a shapeless guise
Leaves but the shell of a Thompson gun
Walk away me boys, walk away me boys
And by mornin' we'll be free
Wipe that golden tear from your mother dear
And raise what's left of the flag for me
From the East out to the Western shore
Where many men and many more will fall
But no angel flies with me tonight
Till freedom reigns on all
And curse the name for which we slaved our days
Till every man shall his kingdom come
But sure as night turns day
It's the passion play
Oh my god, what have they done
With madman's rage, well they dug our graves
But the dead rise again you fools
Walk away me boys, walk away me boys
And by morning we'll be free
Wipe that golden tear from your mother dear
And raise what's left of the flag for me
Walk away me boys, walk away me boys
And by morning we'll be free
Wipe that golden tear from your mother dear
And raise what's left of the flag for me
He had seen all to be seen
A life once full, now an empty vase
Wilt the blossoms on his early grave
Walk away me boy, walk away me boy
And by mornin' we'll be free
Wipe that golden tear from your mother dear
And raise what's left of the flag for me
Then the rosary beads count them one, two, three
Fell apart as they hit the floor
In our garb of black we must pay respect
To the colour we're born to mourn
Walk away me boys, walk away me boys
And by mornin' we'll be free
Wipe that golden tear from your mother dear
And raise what's left of the flag for me
In his place there grew an angry festered wound
Filled with hatred and remorse
Where I'd pick and scratch till the blood it matched
The silent rage now that fills my lungs
For there are many ways to kill a man they say
With bayonet, axe, or sword
But son a bullet fired from a shapeless guise
Leaves but the shell of a Thompson gun
Walk away me boys, walk away me boys
And by mornin' we'll be free
Wipe that golden tear from your mother dear
And raise what's left of the flag for me
From the East out to the Western shore
Where many men and many more will fall
But no angel flies with me tonight
Till freedom reigns on all
And curse the name for which we slaved our days
Till every man shall his kingdom come
But sure as night turns day
It's the passion play
Oh my god, what have they done
With madman's rage, well they dug our graves
But the dead rise again you fools
Walk away me boys, walk away me boys
And by morning we'll be free
Wipe that golden tear from your mother dear
And raise what's left of the flag for me
Walk away me boys, walk away me boys
And by morning we'll be free
Wipe that golden tear from your mother dear
And raise what's left of the flag for me
Lyrics submitted by myownprison333, edited by NightfallGemini
Track duration: 03:39
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The song makes me think about a group going to the funeral of a friend who was murdered in a 'low way' "But son a bullet fired from a shapeless guise, Leaves but the shell of a Thompson gun" (ie shot in the back in a dark alley w/ a Thompson submachine gun) They know who did it and are going out this very night, after the funeral, to even the score and take care of business. "By morning we'll be free" (of our blood oath)
As for genres... Seriously. Who cares?
In light of the statements Dave apparantly has made, the meaning probably is that the peace/union-colour is the most important one.
Had it not been for that, I could've sworn that the song was about reuniting Northern Ireland with Ireland, that "the colour we're born to mourn" is the orange colour of the flag representing the Unionists of Northern Ireland, and that "till freedom reigns on all" means the uniting of Ireland.
About the "genre" issue this is what i believe. Genres should just be used to classify shit not a source of pointless arguments. And how genres can be damaging is some people say they dont like punk rock so they wont listen to the song. And putting such a rigid line on what this band is will hurt their range of listeners. I think we can all agree that we would like everyone to hear flogging molly's great and unique sound.
P.S. does anyone else get chills when they hear, "Then the rosary beads count them one, two, three Fell apart as they hit the floor" especially with the bass drum hittin at one two three
However, it is worth noting that Flogging Molly consider themselves (and probably most other good music) unclassifiable. If anyone has watched "Whiskey on a Sunday" then they've heard all of Flogging Molly clearly express that, to them, being squeezed into any genre diminishes their music; it imparts a bias. People think about the genre instead of actually just listening to the music.
Funnily enough Nathan Maxwell, the bass player, (I think it was him) said that if he had to label them as anything he would have to say Soul, from the feeling he gets out of it.
So yes, Flogging Molly has Punk influences, and definite Irish influences, and classic rock influences, and even some more eastern musical influences, but those are not what they are. They are not one part of the equation and they are greater than the sum of their parts.