Lyrics and Chords

Wearing of the Green

The lyrics to The Wearing of the Green are traditional and were adapted by Irish playwright Don Boucicault for his play Arragh na Pogue, meaning Wicklow Wedding, in 1864.

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The melody is traditional and is also used in the Irish rebel song, The Rising of the Moon. The chords are quite straightforward and are presented here in the key of D Major.

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John McCormack sang the song in G major. The Wolfe Tones play The Wearing of the Green in D Major.

The Orthodox Celts play it in C Major. The Wakes play the superfast version in E Flat.

The Molloy Sisters sing it in A Major.

The Wearing of the Green lyrics and chords

 

Oh  

D 

Paddy dear, and did you hear

 

The  

A 

news that’s going round?

 

The  

G 

Shamrock is for

D 

bid, by law,

 

To  

A 

grow on Irish  

D 

ground!

 

No  

D 

more St. Patrick’s day we’ll keep

 

His  

A 

colour can’t be seen;

 

For there’s a  

G 

cruel 

 

 

D 

law 

 

against

 

The  

A 

Wearing 

 

 

A7 

of the  

D 

Green!

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Chorus

D 

For the Wearing of the Green

 

For the  

A 

Wearing of the Green,

 

They’re  

G 

hanging men and  

D 

women

 

For the  

A 

Wearing of the  

D 

Green.

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Oh I met with Napper Tandy

And he took me by the hand.

He said:”How is poor old Ireland

And does she stand?”

She’s the most distressful country

That ever yet was seen,

They’re hanging men and women

For the Wearing of the Green!

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Chorus

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And since the colour we must wear

Is England’s cruel red,

Let it remind us of the blood

That Ireland’s sons have shed.

Then take the Shamrock from your hat

And cast it on the sod.

It will take root, and flourish still,

Though under foot it’s trod.

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Chorus

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My father loved his country

And sleeps within its breast,

While I that would have died for her

Must never so be blessed.

Those tears my mother shed for me

How bitter they had been

If I proved a traitor to

The Wearing of the Green.

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Chorus

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When the law can stop the blades of grass

From growing where they grow,

And when the leaves in summer time

Their colours dare not show,

Then, I will change the colour

I wear in my caibin*

But till that day please God I’ll stick to

The Wearing of the Green!

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Chorus

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But if sometime the colour should

Be torn from Ireland’s heart,

Her sons with shame and sorrow

From the dear old land will part;

I’ve heard whispers of a country

That lies far beyond sea,

Where rich and poor stand equal,

In the light of liberty!

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Chorus

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So Erin must we leave you

Driven by the tyrant’s hand!

Must we ask a mother’s blessing,

In a strange and distant land,

Where England’s cruel and vicious hand

Is never to be seen:

But where, thank God we’ll live and die

Still Wearing of the Green!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chorus

A cap (pronounced cawbeen)

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