My Mother (Black Dog Island 2017)
This is one of the first serious songs I ever wrote. My Mother was born on the 19th August 1917. Her name is Lilly Fitzgerald Nee Ellis. At 99 years old she is still going strong and she will celebrate her 100 birthday this year Aug 2017.
I wrote this song for her for Mother's Day a long time ago and I've sang it at home more than a few times. I would like to dedicate this song to every hard working Mother out there who knows what it takes to raise a Family sacrificing themselves totally in order for their children to grow up Happy to be the best they can be in life. She never knew her Father as he was killed in Flanders in WW1 Mar 23 1917 and she was born 5 months later and raised by her step Father Paddy Malone.
She carried 15 children in total and in her early life and lost 2 sets of twins plus 3 others along the way in miscarriages. I witnessed her cooking 3 dinners a day. One for me and my three sisters coming home from school, Two for all the boys coming in from work and Three for my father who worked 12hrs on the docks in north wall Dublin daily.
Lyrics:
KEY: [G]
VERSE 1:
AS I ROVED OUT ON A MORNING SO FARE TO WALK FOR A WHILE IN THE CLEAR MORNING AIR.
I WAS THINKING OF MAM WHOM I LEFT YEARS AGO, I MISS HER SO DEARLY SHE’S MY HEART SHE MY SOUL.
IN THE DAYS OF MY CHILDHOOD WITH LAUGHTER AND SONG, SHE RAISED ME UP A PROUD MAN I'VE BECOME.
SHE’S A DAMSEL MY QUEEN OF EIREANN’S GREEN ISLE, SHE’S MY MOTHER AND I’VE LOVED HER ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE.
MY THOUGHTS NOW THEY WONDER MY MEMORIES HAVE STRAYED AS FAR BACK IN TIME TO WHEN I LEFT ON THAT TRAIN AND THE TRIALS OF HOME LIFE ARE NOW VAGUE IN MY MIND THAT SWEET SEASONED WOMAN GAVE ME ALL OF HER TIME.
TARNISHED AND RARE WERE HER GEMS FROM THE SHORE AND A BRIGHT RING OF GOLD ON HER HAND THAT SHE WORE.
SHE’S A DAMSEL MY QUEEN OF EIREANN’S GREEN ISLE, SHE’S MY MOTHER AND I’VE LOVED HER ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE.
I REMEMBER THROUGH SICKNESS SHE ALWAYS WAS THERE, JUST LIKE MOTHER NATURE SHE TENDERED WITH CARE.
THERE WERE TIMES WHEN I WONDERED HOW SHE MANAGED SO WELL THROUGH DIFFICULT TIMES AND SHE NEVER WOULD TELL.
OH MOTHER YOU’VE THE HEART OF THE SWEET IRISH ROSE, YOU’RE A LEGEND IN MY MIND WHERE EVER I GO,
YOU’RE A DAMSEL MY QUEEN OF EIREANN’S GREEN ISLE, SHE’S MY MOTHER AND I’VE LOVE HER ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE.
OH MOTHER YOU’VE THE HEART OF THE SWEET IRISH ROSE YOU’RE A LEGEND IN M Y MIND WHERE EVER I GO,
YOU’RE A DAMSEL MY QUEEN OF EIREANN’S GREEN ISLE, SHE’S MY MOTHER AND I’VE LOVE HER ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE.
DEDICTED TO MY BEAUTIFUL MOTHER
‘’LOVE YOU MUM’’
GABBY
