Some lyrics (updated)

Here is a picture I took while on vacation:

I love these words. I have heard them sung by Maura O’Connell, who seems to sing songs with some of my favorite words. The song was written by Jimmy MacCarthy. I couldn’t find these lyrics online anywhere, so we are depending on my ears and brain here; hopefully I got at least most of them right. The Gaelic is really a rough guess … but I just had a brain wave, so I am changing a couple of words to match my brain wave.

Mystic Lipstick

She wears mystic lipstick
She wears stones and gold
She tells myth and legend
She sings rock and roll
She wears chains of bondage
She wears rings of gold
She wears the gown of plenty
And still it’s hard to cope

Chri o machri your heart is aching
Your eyes are red, your song is blue
Her poets underneath the willow in despair
They have been lovers of your sad tune
Lovers of your slow air

And though they feed on what hurts you
To feel the pulse of your heart
(or … To feed the bulb of your heart …)
Oh sweet black rose, how they love you
And it’s hard to
But they do Éirann, they do Éirann

She keeps fools for counsel
She keeps the wig and gown
The cloth and the bloody warfare
The stars and stripes and crown
Still I pray for a better day now
God willing it’s for the best
But I’ve just seen the harp on a penny
And a dollar on her naked breast

Chri o machri your heart is aching
Your eyes are red, your song is blue
Your poets underneath the willow in despair
They have been lovers of your sad tune
Lovers oh ….

Chri o machri your heart is aching
Your eyes are red, your song is blue
Her poets underneath the willow in despair
They have been lovers of your sad tune
Lovers of your slow air
Lovers in sweet despair

(Fade on “Chri o machri” repeated …)