There Were Roses - Tommy Sands

[00:14.110] So my song for you this evening,
[00:17.048] it's not to make you sad
[00:19.906] Not for adding to the sorrows
[00:22.482] of this troubled northern land
[00:25.801] But lately I've been thinking
[00:28.111] and it just won't leave my mind
[00:31.496] To tell you of two friends one time
[00:33.864] They were both good friends of mine
[00:37.096] Alan Bell from Banagh,
[00:39.351] he lived just across the fields
[00:42.442] A great man for the music,
[00:44.878] and the dancing and the reels
[00:47.816] O'Malley came from South Armagh
[00:50.457] to court young Alice fair
[00:53.228] And we often meet on the Ryan Road
[00:55.962] and laughter filled the air
[00:59.990] There were roses, roses
[01:05.339] There were roses
[01:09.906] And the tears of the people ran together
[01:28.774] Though Alan he was Protestant
[01:31.216] and Sean was Catholic born
[01:33.975] It never made a difference,
[01:36.462] for the friendship it was strong
[01:39.284] And sometimes in the evening
[01:41.858] when we heard the sound of drums
[01:44.781] We said it won't divide us,
[01:47.125] we will always be the one
[01:50.201] For the ground our fathers plowed in,
[01:52.812] the soil it is the same
[01:55.580] And the places where we say our prayers
[01:58.401] have just got different names
[02:01.413] We talked about the friends who'd died
[02:03.670] and we hoped there'd be no more
[02:06.580] It's little then we realized the tragedy in store
[02:13.358] There were roses, roses
[02:19.018] There were roses
[02:23.254] And the tears of the people ran together
[02:41.547] It was on a Sunday morning
[02:44.237] when the awful news came round
[02:47.062] Another killing has been done
[02:49.621] just outside Newry Town
[02:52.318] We knew that Alan danced up there,
[02:55.146] we knew he liked the band
[02:57.983] But when we heard that he was dead
[03:00.603] we just could not understand
[03:03.854] We gathered at the graveside
[03:05.935] on that cold and rainy day
[03:08.622] And the minister he closed his eyes
[03:11.276] and he prayed for no revenge
[03:14.139] And all the ones who knew him
[03:16.462] from along the Ryan Road
[03:19.243] Then bowed our heads and said a prayer
[03:22.055] for the resting of his soul
[03:26.292] There were roses, roses
[03:31.409] There were roses
[03:36.678] And the tears of the people ran together
[03:54.706] Well fear it filled the countryside
[03:57.004] there was fear in every home
[03:59.818] When the car of death came
[04:01.674] prowling round the lonely Ryan Road
[04:05.354] A Catholic would be killed tonight
[04:07.666] to even up the score
[04:10.362] Oh Christ it's young O'Malley
[04:12.964] that they've taken from the door
[04:16.315] Alan was my friend! he cried,
[04:18.661] he begged them with his fear
[04:21.354] But centuries of hatred
[04:23.839] have ears that can not hear
[04:26.632] An eye for an eye, was all that filled their minds
[04:31.941] And another eye for another eye
[04:34.772] till everyone is blind
[04:38.826] There were roses, roses
[04:44.197] There were roses
[04:48.510] And the tears of the people ran together
[05:06.751] So my song for you this evening,
[05:09.550] it's not to make you sad
[05:12.296] Not for adding to the sorrows
[05:14.897] of this troubled northern land
[05:17.684] But lately I've been thinking
[05:20.009] and it just won't leave my mind
[05:23.022] To tell you of two friends one time
[05:25.440] They were both good friends of mine
[05:29.599] I don't know where the moral is
[05:32.129] or where this song should end
[05:34.807] But I wonder just how many wars
[05:37.557] are fought between good friends
[05:40.198] And those who give the orders
[05:42.758] are not the ones to die
[05:45.717] It's Bell and O'Malley
[05:48.104] and the likes of you and I
[05:52.262] There were roses, roses
[05:57.696] There were roses
[06:01.904] And the tears of a people ran together
[06:09.754] There were roses, roses
[06:15.446] There were roses....