An Irish Lullaby (Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ra)
from: Gullible's Travels
words and music J.R. Shannon

Over in Killarney
Many years ago,
Me Mither sang a song to me
In tones so sweet and low.
Just a simple little ditty,
In her good ould Irish way,
And l'd give the world if she could sing
That song to me this day.

"Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, hush now, don't you cry!
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li,
Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, that's an Irish lullaby."
Oft in dreams I wander
To that cot again,
I feel her arms a-huggin' me
As when she held me then.
And I hear her voice a -hummin'
To me as in days of yore,
When she used to rock me fast asleep
Outside the cabin door.

KEY C

verse/chorus:
C F C
C F G7
C F C
C F G7

Background:
Originally recorded by Bing Crosby, the words are by J.R. Shannon in the 1890s though I suspect the melody is much much older...perhaps as old as the days of Yore?)

Also found this background on another site:
This song was first a hit for Chauncey Olcott in 1914. It was included in Bing's movie Going My Way, where he sang it to a weary Father Fitzgibbon. Bing recorded the song for Decca on July 7, 1944. It quickly became another million-seller for Bing and spent 12 weeks on the Billboard charts in 1944, reaching as high as No. 4. For reasons unknown to me, Bing re-recorded the song on July 17, 1945. Both versions appear on the MCA CD "Top O' the Morning: Bing Crosby's Irish Collection."



And you can listen to it on this Celtic Music site:
http://thebards.net/music/lyrics/An_Irish_Lullaby.shtml

OH, wonderful W'ON! Thank you so much for posting the lyric(s?) to this wonderful song. I had only known the "Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral, Too-ra-loo-ra-li..." part for all these many years. I sang this to my daughter, Erin, since the moment she was born. And now I sing it to my darling granddaughter, Mandy.

My grandfather did not live long enough to have great-grandchildren, and none were ever named after him. But he did write a publish a song, "Carry Me Back to Little Ole Erin" when he was a young man in the 20's. I named my daughter for his song.

My grandfather did not live long enough to have great-grandchildren, and none were ever named after him. But he did write a publish a song, "Carry Me Back to Little Ole Erin" when he was a young man in the 20's. I named my daughter for his song.

What a great St. Patrick's Day story, Angel! I'm sure your grandfather's spirit, and the spirit of his music, lives on in Erin's heart!

I can't open the link WOn. It keeps saying "page can't be displayed"

You have a daughter named Carry?

You have a daughter named Carry?

one of the oldest irish melodies is "rosin the bow"

the original words? who knows. the music that has been adapted to many words over the years.

our west coast friends might know the song about oregon..
"surrounded by acres of trees,ee ease
surround by acres of trees"

the best known version is the one used as a campaigne song for abraham lincoln
(i forget the verses... something like..
Come vote for the man of our nation
(a man brave (something?) and true?))
the refrain..
For lincoln and liberty, too, me boys
for lincoln and liberty too,
We'll toast the health of our nation,
For lincoln and libery too!

(home now, and on a slow, slow computer, so i am not off to google up more info)

I can't open the link WOn. It keeps saying "page can't be displayed"

Sorry...two too many slashes in the url. It's clickable now, bel. Thank's for pointing it out to me.

Also cross-threading this with the Irish music post I just added to the St. Patrick's Day thread...only one seasonal shot at this, so what the hey! (although I can discuss Irish music at any time!). Here's the post url:

http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=miscellany&Number=60614

Oh, man, are you making me feel my age! One of my earliest recollections is of my mother singing that song - in the late nineteen forties!

1/4 Irish Geoff, whose hair was black, whose beard was red, whose hair has gone away, and, alas, the flaming barb has turned an ashen grey. New lines for the song, perhaps?

Here is a site with what appears to be a good article about Irish music.

http://www.winged-horse.com/lostmus.htm

A great, informative site about the history of Celtic music! Thanks, Dr. Bill!