Ben Glover

THE PARTING GLASS  
(Traditional/Arrangement Ben Glover) 

Of all the money that e'er I spent 
I've spent it in good company 
And all the harm that ever I did 
Alas it was to none but me 
And all I've done for want of wit 
To memory now I can't recall 
So fill to me the parting glass 
Good night and joy be with you all 

If I had money enough to spend 
And leisure to sit awhile 
There is a fair maid in the town 
That sorely has my heart beguiled 
Her rosy cheeks and ruby lips 
I own she has my heart enthralled 
So fill to me the parting glass 
Good night and joy be with you all 

Oh, all the comrades that e'er I had 
They're sorry for my going away 
And all the sweethearts that e'er I had 
They'd wish me one more day to stay 
But since it falls unto my lot 
That I should rise and you should not 
I'll gently rise and softly call 
Good night and joy be with you all

A SONG OF HOME
(Words and music by Ben Glover/Tony Kerr)

See the mountains fall and the rivers rise
Where the winter snow burns the strongest eye
The siren winds stirs me to the bone
I'll sing, I'll sing, I'll sing, I'll sing a song of home

Feel a northern rage crashing on the shore
Where the loved and lost yearn forever more
And the falling star will lead us all to our own
Then we'll sing, we'll sing, we'll sing, we'll sing a song of home

There's a lullaby don't cry, baby don't cry, don't cry
Some ancient chord will find us, bind us, you and I
 
See the mountains fall and the rivers rise
Where the winter snow burns the strongest eye
There's a siren wind stirring me to the bone
We'll sing, we'll sing, we'll sing, we'll sing a song of home

THE EMIGRANT 
(Words and music by Ben Glover/Gretchen Peters) 

The lonliness of the emigrant 
Is like nothing else I've ever felt 
To be cut loose from all you knew 
Beyond the pale, beyond the blue 

Home's a long unanswered prayer  
Out of reach but always there   
The restlessness, the discontent  
That's the curse of the emigrant 

The winding road, the open door 
The constant pull of another shore  
Sometimes I fear I'll find no peace 
Til my wayward soul finds its release  

It's in my bones it's my blood 
This dream of home as it never was 
Where the hills fall upon the coast 
My heart wanders there the most 

The lonliness of the emigrant 
Is like nothing else I've ever felt 
The restlessness, the discontent  
That's the curse of the emigrant

 

MOONSHINER 
(Traditional/Arrangement by Ben Glover) 

I've been a moonshiner 
For seventeen long years 
And I spent all my money 
On whiskey and beer 
And I go to some hollow 
And set up my still 
If the whiskey won't kill me 
I don't know what will 

I go to some bar room 
And drink with my friends 
Where the women they can't follow 
To see what I spend 
God bless those pretty women 
I wish they was mine 
Their breaths as sweet as 
The dew on the vine 

Let me eat when I'm hungry 
Let me drink when I'm dry 
Give me a dollar when I'm hard up 
Religion when I die 
Cause the whole world is a bottle 
And life is but a dram 
When the bottle gets empty 
It sure ain't worth a damn

FROM CLARE TO HERE 
(Words and music by Ralph McTell) 

There's four who share this room as we work hard for the craic 
And getting up late on Sundays I never get to Mass 
It's a long long way from Clare to here 
It’s a long long way from Clare to here 

When Friday comes around we’re only into fighting 
My mother would like a letter home but I'm too tired for writing 
It's a long long way from Clare to here 
It’s a long long way from Clare to here 

It almost breaks my heart when I think of Josephine 
I told her I'd be coming back with my pockets full of green 
It's a long long way from Clare to here 
It’s a long long way from Clare to here 
Oh it’s a long long way it’s gets further by the day 
It’s a long long way from Clare to here 

The only time I feel alright is when I'm into drinking 
It sort of eases the pain a bit and levels out my thinking 
It's a long long way from Clare to here 
It’s a long long way from Clare to here 
Oh it’s a long long way it’s gets further by the day 
It’s a long long way from Clare to here 

I sometimes hear a piper play, maybe it's a notion  
I dream I see white horses dance out on the ocean

HEART IN MY HAND 
(Words and music by Ben Glover/Mary Gauthier) 

Heart in my hand, untethered and free 
Wind at my back, sky at my feet 
Harbour lights fade into dark waters deep 
I'm somewhere between awake and asleep 

Chorus: 
Sacred the crossing, sacred the fear 
Heart in my hand, heart in my hand 
Sacred the longing, sacred the tears 
Heart in my hand, heart in my hand 
Heart in my hand 

White horses dance ahead and behind 
Galleons of ghosts drift outside of time 
Out on the edge of all that I know 
Leaving is nothing but letting go 

Chorus: 
Sacred the crossing, sacred the fear 
Heart in my hand, heart in my hand 
Sacred the longing, sacred the tears 
Heart in my hand, heart in my hand 
Sacred the sailor who gives his heart to the sea 
Heart in my hand, Heart in my hand

THE AULD TRIANGLE  
(Brendan Behan) 

A hungry feeling  
Came o'er me stealing  
And the mice were squealing  
In my prison cell  
And the auld triangle went jingle-jangle  
All along the banks of the Royal Canal  

To begin the morning  
The warden howling  
"Get up out of bed, you! And clean up your cell!"  
And the auld triangle went jingle-jangle  
All along the banks of the Royal Canal  

On a fine Spring evening  
The lag lay dreaming  
And the sea-gulls were squealing 
High above the wall  
And the auld triangle went jingle-jangle  
All along the banks of the Royal Canal  

Oh the day was dying 
And the wind was sighing  
As I lay crying  
In my prison cell  
And the auld triangle went jingle jangle  
All along the banks of the Royal Canal  

Oh the screw was peeping  
As the lag lay sleeping  
And he was dreaming 
Of his girl Sal  
And the auld triangle went jingle-jangle  
All along the banks of the Royal Canal  

In the female prison  
There are seventy two women  
And I wish it was with them  
That I did dwell  
And the auld triangle went jingle-jangle  
All along the banks of the Royal Canal 
All along the banks of the Royal Canal

DREAMERS, STRANGERS, PILGRIMS 
(Words and music by Ben Glover) 

For the dreamers, for the strangers, for the pilgrims know the cost 
May they wander, may they ramble, may they never be lost

AND THE BAND PLAYED WALTZING MATILDA 
(Words and music by Eric Bogle) 

When I was a young man I carried my pack 
And I lived the free life of a rover 
From the Murrays green basin to the dusty outback 
I waltzed my Matilda all over 
Then in nineteen fifteen my country said Son 
It's time to stop rambling 'cause there's work to be done 
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun 
And they sent me away to the war 

And the band played Waltzing Matilda 
As we sailed away from the quay 
And amidst all the tears and the shouts and the cheers 
We sailed off to Gallipoli 

How well I remember that terrible day 
How the blood stained the sand and the water 
And how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay 
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter 
Johnny Turk he was ready, he primed himself well 
He chased us with bullets, he rained us with shells 
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell 
Nearly blew us right back to Australia 

But the band played Waltzing Matilda 
As we stopped to bury our slain 
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs 
Then we started all over again 

Now those that were left, well we tried to survive 
In a mad world of blood, death and fire 
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive 
But around me the corpses piled higher 
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head 
And when I woke up in my hospital bed 
And saw what it had done, I wished I was dead 
Never knew there were worse things than dying 

For no more I'll go waltzing Matilda 
All around the green bush far and near 
For to hump tent and pegs, a man needs two legs 
No more waltzing Matilda for me 

So they collected the cripples, the wounded, the maimed 
And they shipped us back home to Australia 
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane 
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla 
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay 
I looked at the place where my legs used to be 
And thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me 
To grieve and to mourn and to pity 

And the band played Waltzing Matilda 
As they carried us down the gangway 
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared 
Then turned all their faces away 

And now every April I sit on my porch 
And I watch the parade pass before me 
And I watch my old comrades, how proudly they march 
Reliving old dreams of past glory 
And the old men march slowly, all bent, stiff and sore 
The forgotten heroes from a forgotten war 
And the young people ask, "What are they marching for?" 
And I ask myself the same question 

And the band plays Waltzing Matilda 
And the old men answer to the call 
But year after year their numbers get fewer 
Some day no one will march there at all 
Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda 
Who'll come a waltzing Matilda with me 
And their ghosts may be heard as you pass the Billabong 
Who'll come-a-waltzing Matilda with me?

THE GREEN GLENS OF ANTRIM 
(Traditional/Arrangement by Ben Glover) 

Far across yonder blue lies a true fairy land 
With the sea rippling over the shingle and sand 
Where the gay honeysuckle is luring the bee 
And the green glens of Antrim are calling to me 

Soon I hope to return to my sweet Glenarm 
It’s the one place for me that still has its charm 
I know every stone, I recall every tree 
Where the green glens of Antrim are welcoming me 

Sure if only you knew how the lamp of the moon 
Turns a blue Irish bay to a silver lagoon 
You'd imagine the picture of heaven to be 
Where the green glens of Antrim are calling to me 

I would halt at a cabin close down by the shore 
And I’d knock with my heart on that wee cabin 
While the sun showered gold on the lap of the sea 
And the green glens of Antrim are calling to me 

Sure if only you knew how the lamp of the moon 
Turns a blue Irish bay to a silver lagoon 
You'd imagine the picture of heaven it would be 
Where the green glens of Antrim are calling to me 

Now I’d be where the people are so warm and so kind 
And among them the one who has been on my mind 
And I'd pray that the world would in peace let me be 
Where the green glens of Antrim are heaven to me 
Where the green glens of Antrim are heaven to me