Old Times, Modern Times
Sullivan, Horrigan, Donovan too, O’Brien, O’Neill, O’Connor and you
If they’re Irish bring ‘em all in, that was a song they later would sing
Imagine a house with a hundred or more, come over with nothing, worse than poor
But came with each other, pride at heart, when you’re at the bottom, you can only start
Swept the streets, dug the canals, costermongers, barrow boys and girls
Children born, children died, hurry hurry, get baptised
This went on for forty years, till they cleared the slums from around their ears
Built new homes with water and light, but none of this happened overnight
This is a story of modern times, people on the move
Look after yourself and your fellow man, together we don’t lose
If human kindness comes as milk, just make sure it doesn’t get spilt
There’s only one Sun and only one Moon, and if you’ve never been to Ireland go there soon
Cathy met a boy named Charlie, came in eighteen forty four
Yes they made it worth it, as others have done before
So when you look up at the Moon, wherever you may roam
You know wherever the Moon is, you can call that home
©Richard Rhys O’Brien 2015
