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Arthur McBride

from Crash Chords EP by Painless Parker

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about

A lovely anti-recruiting song from Ireland. I first got it fom Planxty, though other excellent versions exist.

lyrics

I had a first cousin, one Arthur McBride
He and I took a stroll down by the seaside
A-seeking good fortune and what might betide
It was just as the day was dawning
Then after we rested we went for a tramp
We met Sergeant Harper and Corporal Cramp
Besides a wee drummer, who beat up for camp
With his roudy-dou-dou in the morning

He said "My young fellows, if you'd but enlist
It's a guinea I quickly shall press in your fist
Besides which a crown for to kick up the dust
And drink the King's health in the morning!"
Had we been such fools as to take the advance
for the wee bit of money we'd have to run chance
You you'd think it no scruple to send us to France
Where we would be killed in the morning

He said "My young fellows, if I hear one more word
I instantly now will out with my sword
And into your bodies as strength might afford
So now, my gay devils, take warning!"
But Arthur and I, we took in the odds
And we gave 'em no chance for to launch out their swords
Our whacking Shillelaghs came over their heads
And paid them right smart in the morning

As for the wee drummer, we rifled his pouch
And we made a football of his roudy dou-dou
And in to the ocean to rock and to roll
And bade it a tedious returning
As for the old rapiers that hung by their sides
We flung them as far as we could in the tide
"To the Devil I pitch you," Says Arthur McBride,
"To temper your steel in the morning"

credits

from Crash Chords EP, released January 12, 2016

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Painless Parker Brooklyn, New York

Born under a barstool and raised by a pack of wild koalas, Painless Parker plays a mixed bag of country laments, sea shanties, murder ballads and classic rockers, filtered through a grimy, whiskey-stained punk lens. He's fluent in two languages, and can cuss in at least seventeen. He enjoys rabble-rousing, shindigging, booze drinking and merrymaking. ... more

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