Posted by John Boy
on 11/2/2009, 7:26 am
Some may not be aware that Nick purposely left out two stanzas (would-be 2nd and 3rd) in his version of Mountains of Mourne:
__________
I’ve seen England’s king from the top of a bus
And I’ve never known him, but he means to know us.
And tho’ by the Saxon we once were oppressed,
Still I cheered, God forgive me, I cheered with the rest.
And now that he’s visited Erin’s green shore
We’ll be much better friends than we’ve been heretofore
When we’ve got all we want, we’re as quiet as can be
Where the mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea.
You remember young Peter O’Laughlin, of course?
Well, now he is here at the head of the force.
I met him today while crossing the Strand,
And he stopped the whole street with one wave of his hand!
And as we stood talking of days that are gone,
The whole population of London looked on!
But for all his great powers, he’s wishful like me
To be back where the dark Mourne sweeps down to the sea.
__________
On the other hand, maybe everybody knows this! (As a relative newbie around here, I certainly don't want to appear to be preaching to the choir. I like that Nick did it that way -- leaving out the ugly, forever, Ireland vs. Britain stuff and sticking with just a sweet, innocent, incredibly naive Irish lad observing the big city for the first time. I love this song. Each year I either sing it or poem it in class, keeping my fingers crossed that none of my 9th-graders (I'm a substitute teacher) go home and say, "Mom, Dad! Mr. Breen sang a song about topless women in class today!!" (Parents call Principal, who then hangs me in Effigy -- a small suburb outside of Austin.) ;-)
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