Lawless lyrics

He was Lawless by name and lawless by nature,

Trouble right from the start.

Hard as nails running wild thru the streets

He was breaking his poor mother’s heart.

Nature played a trick on Lawless

And the humour of nature is cruel.

He grew up as we all had expected

Into a dangerous fool

He was a hard man, a man for all seasons

He was always out for a fight

He could’nt hold drink but still he’d get plastered

In Clarkes every saturday night

He'd strip to his vest and challenge the best

’til the guards they were called to come fast

And they’d lock him away for the rest of the day

Leave him out on the sunday for mass

One night he went down to the Ringsend regatta

Where he met up with the bold Dolly Platts

She was’nt exactly what you’d call beauty

But she was the belle of our flats

A whirlwind romance and Dolly took a flier,

with Lawless she would settle down

'twas pure coincidence 3 months before

There was a Yankee destroyer in town

The couple were blessed with one of Gods miracles

Before 6 months had elapsed

Dolly gave birth to a 9 pound black baby

And Lawless was fit to collapse

She swore she’d never been touched by another

And Lawless took her at her word

And the neighbours exclaimed ”He’s the spit of his father-

And the cuckoo is a wonderful bird"

And now Lawless stays in and looks after the family

While Dolly goes out for the night

The auld gossips all say she's free in her ways

And their evil rumours ran rife

When Lawless heard this he waited for Dolly

On the bridge where the river runs low

And no-one will ever know what happened next

But Dolly drowned in the Dodder below.

And some say he's crazy and most say he’s evil

Everyone says that he’s mad.

No one will defend him, he was no angel,

But I’ll tell you he was’nt all bad.

They locked him away for the rest of his natural

Never again will he see.

Down the back of Ringsend theres a lonely child playin

Where the Liffey flows into the sea.

• Artist:Christy Moore