The Pictures Ronnie Drew

With a voice like gravel and barbed wire

Put beauty in its place

A thousand years of stories

Were etched upon that face

Of joy and love and struggles

That all his people knew

And all the sounds of Dublin town

In the pictures Ronnie drew

Of Spancil Hill, The Parting Glass,

Mc Alpine’s Fusiliers

Songs of streets and history

Still echo in our ears

The Drunken Nights on Holy Ground

Rise from the Foggy Dew

And all the sounds of Dublin town

In the pictures Ronnie drew

The sinners in the pulpit

The same as in the pew

The captain hears the harmonies

That rise up from the crew

And as the city comes alive

We hear the songs anew

And all the sounds of Dublin town

In the pictures Ronnie drew

So tell your sons and daughters

And the people that you meet

The old ones drinking porter

The young ones on the street

Goodnight my friends God bless you all

I’ll bid you all adieu

Go see the sounds of Dublin town

Hear the pictures Ronnie drew

Go see the sounds of Dublin town

Hear the pictures Ronnie drew

(lyrics by Vin Murtagh ©2015)