Faithful Departed - Christy Moore

This graveyard hides a million secrets

And the trees know more than they can tell

The ghosts of the saints and the scholars will haunt you

In heaven and in hell

Rattled by the glimmer man, the boogie man, the holy man

And livin' in the shadows, in the shadows of a gunman

Rattled like the coppers in your greasy till

Rattled until time stood still

Look over your shoulder, hear the school bell ring

Another day of made-to-measure history

I don’t care if your heroes have wings

Your terrible beauty has been torn

Faithful departed, we fickle hearted

As you are now so once were we

Faithful departed, we the meek hearted

With graces imparting bring flowers to thee

The girls in the kips proclaim their love for you

When you stumbled in they knew you had a shilling or two

They cursed you on Sundays and holy days of abstinence

When you all stayed away

When you slept there a naked bulb hid your shame

Your shadows on the wall, they took all the blame

The Sacred Heart’s picture, compassion in his eyes

Drowned out the river of sighs

Let the grass grow green over the brewery tonight

It’ll never come between the darkness and the light

There is no pain that can’t be eased

By the devil’s holy water and the rosary beads

You’re a history book I never could write

Poetry in paralysis, too deep to recite

Dress yourself, bless yourself, you’ve won the fight

We’re gonna celebrate the night

We’ll even climb the pillar like you always meant to

Watch the sun rise over the strand

Close your eyes and we’ll pretend

It could somehow be the same again

I’ll bury you upright so the sun doesn’t blind you

You won’t have to gaze at the rain and the stars

Sleep and dream of chapels and bars

And whiskey in the jar

FINAL CHORUS

Faithful departed, look what you’ve started;

An underdog’s wounds aren’t so easy to mend

Faithful departed, there’s no broken hearted

And no more tristesse in your world without end