Clear the Way lyrics

In the cold grey light of morning,

After the deal had gone down,

I awoke and shook all over,

Hoping a dram would bring me round.

Well I stared at the sight all around me,

Dusted blue and faded grey,

Men in heaps were scattered,

Men who fought and died the other day.

Well I lived my youth in Connemara,

Roving from town to town,

I shipped on board of the Amelia,

To New York City I was bound.

Not for honour, nor for country,

We kill for three square meals a day,

Off the boat and pack on shoulder,

Gun in hand, we're here to stay.

At Fredericksburg we rose to meet them,

Though we knew the price we'd pay,

But the Irish Brigade will not surrender,

Faugh a Ballagh! Clear the way!

General Meagher he gave the order,

Up we rise boys, charge away,

The hills were rife with blood and murder,

As we gouged and tore our way.

McMillan’s rebels they fired upon us,

Shot and shell, buck and ball,

Their green flag rose high above them,

As ours fell on the battle wall.

At Fredericksburg we rose to meet them,

Though we knew the price we'd pay,

But the Irish Brigade will not surrender,

Faugh a Ballagh! Clear the way!

Well hand to hand, and face to face there,

A young rebel he charged me in the fray,

I turned around and my blade went through him,

I did the devil’s work that day.

For I saw my face there before me,

in the boy that I hewed down,

He could have been a friend or a brother,

Another exile from my town.

Three thousand strong rose to fight them,

In Antietam’s ripening corn,

But Fredericksburg was our undoing,

Three hundred left to weep and mourn.

At Fredericksburg we rose to meet them,

Though we knew the price we'd pay,

But the Irish Brigade will not surrender,

Faugh a Ballagh! Clear the way!

At Fredericksburg we rose to meet them,

Though we knew the price we'd pay,

But the Irish Brigade will not surrender,

Faugh a Ballagh! Clear the way!

Faugh a Ballagh! Clear the way!

• Artist:John Doyle