The Ballad of Ronnie Drew

Here's to the Ronnie, the voice we adore

Like coals from a coal-bucket, scraping the floor

Sing out his praises in music and march

And if you are not Irish, that isn't your fault

Raise up our voices like dogs in a pack

Thankful for honest man, we never lack

We got them by twenties, we got them by ones

Them and their daughters, and all of their sons

(Hey! Hey!)

Here's to you (Hey!), Ronnie Drew (Hey!)

Here's to you (Hey!), Ronnie Drew (Hey!)

Ronnie Drew (Hey! Hey!), we love you, yes we do

Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you

I watched them plenty, through right and 'er wrong

Whether I'm easy or whether I'm true

But as she lifted her petticoat easy and slow

I rolled up my sleeves for to buckle her shoe

Get up and work from five until five

When the whistle says better, we'll come back alive

He'll sing to the heavens, he's stormy as hell

And wherever he goes, we'll be wishing him well

(Hey! Hey!)

Here's to you (Hey!), Ronnie Drew (Hey!)

(Hey!) Here's to you (Hey!), Ronnie Drew (Hey!)

Ronnie Drew (Hey!), we love you, yes we do

Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you

The dawn and the dusk, the unwise, the unjust gives and gets him gaze

The unheard, the unseen, the unwashed, and the clean where the streets all have names

Baggot Street, meets the street right on St. Stephen's Street lovers and loners who can peer on your shoulders

The gods and the rapers, immigrants and traders, sing about him

A man for a man and a hand for a hand

Trust in the music, strike up the band

The more that we sing, the less that we find

Time and again, this is brood to be right

Build you a statue on St. Stephen's Green

No fairer monument there to be seen

A statue of Ronnie Drew, holding the hand

Of a girl with her hair in a black velvet band

(Hey! Hey!)

Here's to you (No stranger to dare), Ronnie Drew (Or angels to devil)

Here's to you (A friend of a friend of a friend of a), Ronnie Drew (A friend to you)

Ronnie Drew (Ronnie Drew), we love you, yes we do

Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you

Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you (Ronnie Drew)

I watched them plenty, through right and 'er wrong

Whether I'm easy or whether I'm true

But as she lifted her petticoat easy and slow

I rolled up my sleeves for to buckle her shoe