G                    Am         Bm            C
I was eighteen years old when I went down to Dublin
       G          Em          Am          D
With a fistful of money and a cartload of dreams.
         G                Am            Bm            C
"Take your time," said my father, "stop rushing like hell,
     G             Em           D7       G
And remember all's not what it seems to be.

            D                            C            G
For there's fellas who'd cut you for the coat on your back,
        C              Em            D
Or that watch that you got from your mother.
        G              Am         Bm             C
So take care, my young bucko, and mind yourself well.
              G             D7         G
And would you give this wee note to my brother."

       D                       C            G
At the time, Uncle Benjy was a policeman in Brooklyn,
       C           Em               D
And my father, the youngest, looked after the farm.
      G               Am            Bm            C
Til a phone call from America said "Send the lad over."
       G         Em                      D      G
And my old fella said, "Sure, t'wouldn't do any harm.

         D             C            G
For I've spent my life working this dirty old ground
      C              Em             D
For a few pints of porter and the smell of a pound.
            G           Am               Bm               C
And sure, maybe there's something you'll learn or you'll see,
            G             Em            D7         G
And you can bring it back home, make it easier on me."


[Verse 2]

G               Am             Bm          C
So, I landed at Kennedy, and a big yellow taxi
        G         Em               Am              D
Carried me and my bags through the streets and the rain.
         G              Am        Bm          C
Well, my poor heart was thumping around with excitement,
      G           Em              D7         G
And I hardly even heard what the driver was saying.

        D                                C            G
We came in the Shore Parkway through the flatlands in Brooklyn,
      C        Em               D
To my uncle's apartment on East 53rd.
      G          Am           Bm         C
I was feeling so happy, I was humming a song,
      G               D7        G
And I sang "You're as free as a bird."

         D                         C              G
Well, to shorten the story, what I found out that day
C              Em                  D
Was that Benjy got shot down in an uptown foray.
    G           Am        Bm         C
And while I was flying my way to New York,
     G         Em         D         G
Poor Benjy was lying in a cold city morgue.

        D            C            G
Well, I called up my old fella, told him the news.
        C           Em              D
I could tell he could hardly stand up in his shoes.
       G          Am          Bm             C
And he wept as he told me go ahead with the plan,
    G       Em          D           G
And not to forget, be a proud Irish man.


[Verse 3]

G                Am        Bm             C
So, I went up to Nellie's beside Fordham Road,
      G          Em           Am        D
And I started to learn about lifting my load.
       G         Am           Bm            C
But the heaviest thing that I carried that year
        G           Em             D7          C
Was the bittersweet thoughts of my hometown so dear.

       D                         C         G
I went home that December cause my old fella died.
         C          Em                        D
I had to borrow the money from a fella on the side.
    G              Am           Bm             C
And all the bright flowers and brass couldn't hide
    G            D7         G
The poor, wasted face of me father.

       D          C            G
I sold up the old farmyard for what it was worth,
     C                  Em          D
And into my bag stuck a handful of earth.
       G         Am          Bm           C
Then I boarded a train and I caught me a plane,
      G            Em          D    G
And I found myself back in the U.S. again.

          D                   C          G
It's been twenty-two years since I set foot in Dublin.
   Em                                D
My kids know to use the correct knife and fork.
         G     Am               Bm             C
But I'll never forget the green grass and the rivers,
     G            Em           D             G
As I keep law and order in the streets of New York