Tell me why must a man be of service

To his lord and the gods seldom high

From the grave sprang the name of our fathers

But there's no glint in a dead man's eye

Tell me why our fields filled with hunger

And fruitless the crop bittered soil

So I say my farewell to a nation

As the leaf waves goodbye to its sun



So it's to youth I sing you this story

And it's of youth I sing it now

Like the train that derailed without warning

I must leave what I left far behind

So goodbye sweet Roisin Dubh

I say goodbye



Tell me why must our peace be this puzzle

That fractures the land splinters war

The last nail sank the shame on our coffin

But in the end we must all die alone



So it's to youth I sing you this story

And it's of youth I sing it now

Like the train that derailed without warning

Some must leave what they left far behind

So goodbye sweet Roisin Dubh

I say goodbye



And the bark fell from tree

To the ground that now bleeds

On the anguish that never learnt to shout

When the clash of the drum will surrender the gun

And of this sadness we shall no longer speak



Until tank and the bomb are but all forgotten songs

That's when I and we will sing again

So goodbye to my love

My sweet Roisin Dubh

Goodbye now until we meet again



Tell me why must our grief still be grieving

For a language that never spoke it's loss

But this tongue spit with fire will tear down the barbwire

And rip the belly from the waxy ghost



So it's to youth I sing you this story

And it's of youth I sing it now

Like the train that derailed without warning

We must leave what we left far behind

So goodbye sweet Roisin Dubh

I say goodbye



Until we meet again

She'll rise to beautify

But slumber now must rest

O' my Roisin Dubh I'll forever love

The youth you once possessed