[[Intro: low whistle, soft guitar; fiddle answers; bodhrán enters]
[Verse 1: restrained, intimate]
The boreen curled between the walls,
Through fields still shining from the day,
With hawthorn crowding either side
And miles enough to lose my way.
Then grey came rolling off the hills,
The green went dark beneath its stain,
I pulled my collar to the wind
And walked straight on into the rain.
[Verse 2: fiddle joins; pub ambience opens]
A yellow window caught my eye,
Just past the turning in the lane,
I pushed the heavy doorway wide
And stepped inside half-made of rain.
A dozen faces turned my way,
The barman eyed my muddy feet:
“You’ve brought the bloody road with you.
Come dry yourself and take a seat.”
[Pre-Chorus: pull back; locals join]
Leave your wet coat by the fire,
And set your wandering down awhile,
We’ll want to know where you came from,
And how you missed by half a mile.
[Chorus: lively pub session; group vocals]
Come on in and shake the rain,
There’s room enough for one more here,
Catch the chorus when it comes,
And fake the words you cannot hear.
Stamp your heel and clap along,
We’ll get you somewhere near the tune,
You’ve wandered half the day away,
Go on, waste the evening too.
[Verse 3: conversational; instruments duck for last 2 lines]
They asked me where I’d started from,
And where I’d meant to end the day,
Three men agreed I’d missed the turn,
Then argued where I’d gone astray.
One pushed a pint across the bar,
Another swore the fault was mine,
I said, “Your bloody signs are shit.”
He raised his pint. “You’ll do fine.”
[Chorus: fuller, rowdier; group vocals]
Come on in and shake the rain,
There’s room enough for one more here,
Catch the chorus when it comes,
And fake the words you cannot hear.
Stamp your heel and clap along,
We’ll get you somewhere near the tune,
You’ve wandered half the day away,
Go on, waste the evening too.
[Bridge: fiddle, guitar, light bodhrán; intimate; pause after line 4]
Somewhere between the third and fourth,
Someone finally asked my name,
I told them once, they got it wrong,
Then every bastard did the same.
By closing time they’d nearly learned,
Though some were nowhere bloody near,
I’d stopped correcting anyone.
No one asked what brought me here.
[Final Chorus: full pub session; strong group vocals; lively fiddle]
Come on in and shake the rain,
There’s room enough for one more here,
Catch the chorus when it comes,
And fake the words you cannot hear.
Stamp your heel and clap along,
We’re all somewhere near the tune,
You’ve wandered half the day away,
Go on, waste the evening too.
[Outro: low whistle, soft guitar; close vocal]
By morning, rain had cleared away,
My coat was dry, the road was bright,
I thanked the barman for the chair,
“Mind that turn.” I said, “I might.”
I stepped outside and found the lane,
Then heard a voice behind me call,
“See you tonight!” I turned around.
They’d shut the bloody door. That’s all.
[Tag: cheeky fiddle phrase; bodhrán hit; clean end]