This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
The cadillac stood by the house
And the yanks they were within
And the tinker boys they hissed advice
'Hot-wire her with a pin'
Then we turned and shook as we had a look
In the room where the dead men lay
So big Jim Dwyer made his last trip
To the shores where his father's laid
But fifteen minutes later
We had our first taste of whiskey
There was uncles giving lectures
On ancient Irish history
The men all started telling jokes
And the women they got frisky
By five o'clock in the evening
Every bastard there was piskey
Fare thee well, going away
There's nothing left to say
Farewell to New York City boys, to Boston and PA
He took them out with a well-aimed clout
And we often heard him say
I'm a free-born man of the USA
He fought the champ in Pittsburgh
And he slashed him to the ground
He took on Tiny Tartanella
And it only went one round
He never had no time for reds
For drink or dice or whores
And he never threw a fight until the fight was right
So they sent him to the war
Fare the well, gone away
There's nothing left to say
With a slainte Joe and Erin go
My love's in Ameri-kay
The calling of the rosary
Spanish wine from far away
I'm a free born man of the USA
This morning on the harbour
When I said goodbye to you
I remember how I swore
That I'd come back to you one day
And as the sunset came to meet the evening on the hill
I told you I'd always love you
I always did and I always will
Fare thee well gone away
There's nothing left to say
'But to say adieu to your eyes as blue as the water in the bay
And to big Jim Dwyer the man of war
Who was often heard to say
I'm a free born man of the USA
I'm a free born man of the USA
I'm a free born man of the USA
And the yanks they were within
And the tinker boys they hissed advice
'Hot-wire her with a pin'
Then we turned and shook as we had a look
In the room where the dead men lay
So big Jim Dwyer made his last trip
To the shores where his father's laid
But fifteen minutes later
We had our first taste of whiskey
There was uncles giving lectures
On ancient Irish history
The men all started telling jokes
And the women they got frisky
By five o'clock in the evening
Every bastard there was piskey
Fare thee well, going away
There's nothing left to say
Farewell to New York City boys, to Boston and PA
He took them out with a well-aimed clout
And we often heard him say
I'm a free-born man of the USA
He fought the champ in Pittsburgh
And he slashed him to the ground
He took on Tiny Tartanella
And it only went one round
He never had no time for reds
For drink or dice or whores
And he never threw a fight until the fight was right
So they sent him to the war
Fare the well, gone away
There's nothing left to say
With a slainte Joe and Erin go
My love's in Ameri-kay
The calling of the rosary
Spanish wine from far away
I'm a free born man of the USA
This morning on the harbour
When I said goodbye to you
I remember how I swore
That I'd come back to you one day
And as the sunset came to meet the evening on the hill
I told you I'd always love you
I always did and I always will
Fare thee well gone away
There's nothing left to say
'But to say adieu to your eyes as blue as the water in the bay
And to big Jim Dwyer the man of war
Who was often heard to say
I'm a free born man of the USA
I'm a free born man of the USA
I'm a free born man of the USA
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings, edited by epiwoosh, maybeanonymous, rayliam, EpicVlad
The Body of An American Lyrics as written by Shane Patrick Lysaght Macgowan
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think it's about a young Irish-American who goes to Ireland for the first time to bury his relative, Jim Dwyer. Either that or he's still home getting Irish history lessons from older immigrants but I think they went to Ireland cuz of "the shores where his fathers laid" As for being "a character, getting into fights" he is clearly a boxer. i.e. (He fought the champ in Pittsburgh)(it only went one round) I'm guessing the war refers to one of the World Wars and "they sent him" means he was drafted. Great song.
@Bender is great bang on
@Bender is great
@Bender is great Thanks for the recap. Now how about tackling the actual MEANING?!?
Unlike most of the other comments, I never imagined the narrator as "Irish American". I think of him as a 12/13 year old boy who is living in and grew up in Ireland. A relative of his who left for America before he was born has died, and his body has been sent back to Ireland for the funeral.
In the first verse, it's him and a group of other boys looking in on the coffin and Jim Dwyer's American friends who have come over for the funeral. None of them knew the man, so they're more bothered about trying to nick the fancy car without any of the "yanks" noticing.
"Fifteen minutes later" the whole family is together and having one of those drunken family gatherings where everyone reminisces, gets drunk, then starts playing stupid games. People start talking about Jim Dwyer, and telling stories about him.
It seems he emigrated to America. Once there, he found people were kind of dicks about immigrants, so he tried to be as "American" as possible. As part of this (or possibly due to conscription) he joins the army and "they sent him to the war", where he dies, hence causing the funeral described at the beginning.
I'm not so sure about the last two verses, though it's possibly the narrator, who becomes enamoured with America after the funeral, leaving to go to America himself, not realising that it was not all that great and in fact the cause of Jim Dwyer's death.
@maybeanonymous interesting, but im going to disagree a little<br /> <br /> "the cadillac outside the house" - an american car<br /> im thinking this is in America and the Irish family came to America for the funeral/wake<br /> <br /> its an irish wake they're going to party. agreed.<br /> <br /> people were dicks? no. i disagree. Jim Dwyer was successful in America. <br /> c'mon, dude he slashed the champ to the ground. he loved the USA. period.<br /> <br /> there is definitely irony in "the free born man" and "being sent to war"<br /> im thinking vietnam war and the military draft. Cadillac was founded back to 1902 so it could possibly be an earlier war.<br /> <br /> "This morning on the harbour, When I said goodbye to you"<br /> he's saying goodbye to his love, America (Lady Liberty).<br /> his love is not a wife (as others suggested).... its his country as he leaves on a ship to fight for her.<br /> <br /> "I remember how I swore. That I'd come back to you one day"<br /> (he did. in a casket. back to America he came)<br /> <br /> perhaps the meaning behind the song is....<br /> if you love something so much, it can kill you. (or you'll die for it)<br /> Jim perspective may be he died for keeping America free.<br /> but, perhaps you are right that the narrator may see Jim as a fool for the hypocrisy of the "free" term by being "forced" to war.
I think this song is about American-born (or raised in America at the least) Irishman Jim Dwyer whose corpse is getting sent back to Ireland to be buried with his family and ancestors. A young man is describing Jim and the procession of his funeral, saying how all the Irish uncles and relatives were recounting why he and his family left the clan and why Ireland was so great.
The first chorus seems to be the goodbye of dead Jim Dwyer to his home, America. Although his relatives claim he's an Irishman, he always loved America and is sad to leave (metaphorically, of course; he's dead).
In America, the narrator recounts, Jim Dwyer was a boxer who got in to many fights. (I possibly considered him being a cop too, bc that was a common profession of Irish immigrants at the time.) because he wasn't involved in drugs and trouble and the such, the IRA thought he would be a great soldier and asked him to fight the Brits in the war, where he met his untimely death. He became very patriotic for Ireland (hence "slainte joe and a Erin go") but he still knew his home was America, despite all his deep rooted traditions ("calling of the rosary"). But he'll never reach America again bc he died which is his tragedy.
To me the last verse takes a huge turn. The narrator now leaves his homeland of Ireland to finish Jim Dwyer's Irish legacy. In the same way Jim loved America, the narrator loves Ireland and bids it goodbye. He swears that he'll come back to his homeland after he leaves, compared to how Jim Dwyer never did. He says his goodbyes to his family and to Jim, who he's going back to America for because he wants to experience the freedom of the USA that Jim Dwyer so often talked about.
I Like it. To me it sounds though the father dies in first part of song, and the rest of the song is about the fathers life, until the end where the son is at dads grave (buried at sea?) saying he will always love him
A great song! Amazed theres only one comment! I think its, obviously a sort of ode to a dead man, probably at his wake.
The man (Jim Dwyer) is obviously an Irish immigrant or of Irish immigrant stock, the song mentioning Boston PA, a town with a famously large Irish immigrant community, and New York. He also seems to be a bit of a character, getting into fights and so on.
Now I think the man has gone off to fight either in Ireland against the British or in the First World War (probably the first one). I can't explain why but the years around 1916 were turbulent times in Ireland what with the Easter Rising and so on - also I think this might be referenced in the line "made one last trip to the shores where his father's laid" - as his father probably died back in Ireland, the old country.
This is given credence in the last few verses, perhaps Jim saying goodbye to a wife "my loves in amerikay", or friends - which I think is at the same time the narrator's farewell to his good friend Jim. Finally the "call of the rosary" its well known that Ireland is a strongly catholic country, so that might be further evidence.
I could be totally wrong, but there you go!
Just going to be that guy and tell you that Boston is in Massachusettes (the abbreviation being MA).
It is clearly a eulogy for someone named Jim Dwyer, as to his actual relationship with the narrator id say probably a close friend just something about the line "his fathers" also perhaps the narrator himself is american and his friend (Jim) was an irish immigrant, just my thoughts. Also this was the song that first got me into the pogues admitedly because of the wire, brilliant show and a brilliant wake song.
I looked it up and I guess tinker boys is the name used for Irish Travellers, kinda like gypsies. Just FYI.
Exactly. Although technically not Romani Gypsies the travelling community members are often referred to as tinkers
Heres what I pulled from the song.
Jim Dwyer was an Irishman, some rich people pulled him from Erin, brought him to the states, and made him a boxer. He fell in love with his wife, and with America. He excelled at this for many years until they asked him to throw a fight. He didn't want to do this, as he was an honorable man. This is the time period that men were being drafted to fight during WWI, and the only reason he didn't get drafted was because of his fame as a boxer. So, when he pissed off his boss, he got drafted.
Oh, lighten up. You missed the entire point of the song...the women got frisky:) Sorry, just one my my moods and I LOVE this band !
in the irish belife when your dead every one is going to see each other again in the after life so the way i see it is he is dead ye but they are clerbrating because you will see him again
@Ril3y
@Ril3y
@Ril3y
@Ril3y
In case anyone was interested, the 2 lines that are said to be "incomprehensible" are as such...
So to big Jim Dwyer, the man of wire Who was often heard to say, I'm a free born man of the USA