If you had the luck of the Irish
You'd be sorry and wish you were dead
You should have the luck of the Irish
And you'd wish you was English instead!

A thousand years of torture and hunger
Drove the people away from their land
A land full of beauty and wonder
Was raped by the British brigands! Goddamn! Goddamn!

If you could keep voices like flowers
There'd be shamrock all over the world
If you could drink dreams like Irish streams
Then the world would be high as the mountain of morn

In the 'Pool they told us the story
How the English divided the land
Of the pain, the death and the glory
And the poets of Auld Ireland

If we could make chains with the morning dew
The world would be like Galway Bay
Let's walk over rainbows like leprechauns
The world would be one big Blarney stone

Why the hell are the English there anyway?
As they kill with God on their side
Blame it all on the kids the IRA
As the bastards commit genocide! Aye! Aye! Genocide!

If you had the luck of the Irish
You'd be sorry and wish you was dead
You should have the luck of the Irish
And you'd wish you was English instead!
Yes you'd wish you was English instead!


Lyrics submitted by planetearth

The Luck of the Irish Lyrics as written by Yoko Ono John Lennon

Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing

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The Luck of the Irish song meanings
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6 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment

    wonderful, powerful lyrics. i'm glad there were huge figures who had the guts to scream and shout about the atrocities that went on here in northern ireland in the 70s. lennon's asking the english to put themselves in OUR shoes.

    "If you had the luck of the Irish You'd be sorry and wish you were dead"

    you couldn't get a more poignant opening line than that. thanks lennon, shame you weren't my era... but i respect you endlessly for this.

    mgirlon September 20, 2009   Link

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