Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Tim Sullivan: King Of The Bowery 2


Since Tim always made sure everyone had shoes in his Bowery ward I thought this song might fit. The singer, Maria Dunn is deserving of a wider audience
the lyrics
I walked as a soldier, they carried me home
Then I walked to the factory, they gave me the dole
So I read 'til my head spinned to know of this world
That I shared with a pretty young girl
I came across the water from County Tyrone
And I took my first steps at the century's turn
I walked as a schoolboy, no shoes to my name
Learning my pleasure and poverty's pride my shame
I walked as a soldier, they carried me home
My chest with a bullet and a wallet now torn
Every snapshot was pierced, faces young and serene
Just the friends of a soldier in 1917
It's the shoes of a man tell a life the way words never can
I walked with my Kate as the twenties roared on
Now here was a woman both canny and strong
A fine crop of children the blessings she bore
And we taught them the riches of even the poor
Yes I walked with the unions to ring in some change
That our labour be valued and ours a fair wage
And I walked with my ballot to vote out the means
And I stood with the people on Glasgow Green
Now I walk as an old man, they carry me home
My mind sometimes faulty, belaboured and slow
But I still tell my stories, songs and my dreams
To those with the patience for old memories

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