THERE WERE ROSES
by: The Crossing
recording: _Dancing at the Crossroads_
xcribed by: d.baderman

INTRO: D A G

   D                              G      A        D
My song for you this evenin, it's not to make you sad
   Bm                A              G
Or for adding to the sorrows of our troubled northern land
D                               G          A        D
Lately I've been thinkin and it just won't leave my mind
      Bm              A                         G                    D
And I tell you of two friends one time, they're both good friends of mine

D                                 G    A          D
Isaac Scott from Banagh, he lived just across the fields
           Bm                A             G
And he's a great man for the music and the dancing and the reels
  D                                G           A     D
McDonald came from South Armagh to court young Alice fair
         Bm                A             G                   D
And we'd often meet on the Ryan Road and laughter filled the air


CH:             G D    G D
     There were roses, roses
                G D
     There were roses
             Bm           A          G          D A G
     And the tears of the people ran togeather

    D                            G        A        D
Now Isaac he was Protestant, And Sean was Catholic born
       Bm           A                  G
But it never made a difference for the friendship it was strong
    D                                 G         A        D
And sometimes in the evenings when we heard the sound of drums
   Bm              A                  G             D
We said it won't divide us, for we'll always be the one

D                                         G       A      D
For the ground our fathers plowed in, the soil it is the same
        Bm              A                    G
And the places where we say our prayers they just got different names
   D                                       G             A     D
We talked about the friends who'd died, we hoped there'd be no more
         Bm             A            G          D
But it's little then we realized the tragedy in store


CH:

            D                            G     A         D
Well it was on a Sunday morning when the awful news came round
  Bm             A                  G
Another killing had been done just outside Newry town
   D                                   G       A         D
We knew that Isaac danced up there, we knew he liked the bands

    Bm                 A                   G              D
But when we heard that he was dead we just could not understand

D                                G        A     D
Gathered at the graveside on one cold and rainy day
    Bm           A                       G
The minister, he closed his eyes and for no revenge he prayed
    D                             G         A    D
And those of us who knew him from along the Ryan Road
   Bm                  A                     G              D
We bowed our heads and said a prayer for the resting of his soul

CH:

    D                                         G       A     D
Now fear it filled the countryside, there was fear in every home
    Bm              A                 G
And late at night a car came prowling round the Ryan Road
D                                     G    A      D
A Catholic would be killed tonight to even up the score
       Bm                A                   G              D
But oh God, it's young McDonald that they've taken from the door

D                                           G           A        D
"But Isaac was my friend," he cried, and he begged them with his tears
        Bm           A           G
But the centuries of hatred have ears that cannot hear
   D                      G        A            D
An eye for an eye, it was all that filled their minds
     Bm              A              G           D
And another eye for another eye til everyone is blind

CH:

        D                             G      A        D
Well my song for you this evenin it's not to make you sad
       Bm            A              G
Or for adding to the sorrows of our troubled northern land
    D                               G          A        D
But lately I've been thinkin and it just won't leave my mind
         Bm              A                           G                    D
And I'll tell you of two friends one time, they were both good friends of
mine

D                                      G          A           D
Now I don't know where the moral is or where this song should end
      Bm              A             G
But I wonder just how many wars are fought between good friends
    D                                   G       A       D
And those who give the orders, they are not the ones to die
         Bm           A               G                D
 But it's Scott, and McDonald, and the likes of you and I
                 G  D   G D              G D
CH: + there were roses, roses there were roses.




[From: dan@hwcae.az.honeywell.com (Dan Baderman)]

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..all our superstars are suicidal casualties
and our heros die in motel rooms and motorcades..
	R. Stonehill "Through the Glass Darkly"
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