Clear the Way

In the cold grey light of morning
 After the deal had gone down
 I awoke and shook all over
 Hoping a dram would bring me round
 Well I stared at the sight all around me
 Dusted blue and faded grey
 Men in heaps were scattered
 Men who fought and died the other day
 Well I lived my youth in Connemara
 Roving from town to town
 I shipped on board of the Amelia
 To New York City I was bound
 Not for honour, nor for country
 We kill for three square meals a day
 Off the boat and pack on shoulder
 Gun in hand, we're here to stay
 At Fredericksburg we rose to meet them
 Though we knew the price we'd pay
 But the Irish Brigade will not surrender
 Faugh a Ballagh! Clear the way!
 General Meagher he gave the order
 Up we rise boys, charge away
 The hills were rife with blood and murder
 As we gouged and tore our way
 McMillan's rebels they fired upon us
 Shot and shell, buck and ball
 Their green flag rose high above them
 As ours fell on the battle wall
 At Fredericksburg we rose to meet them
 Though we knew the price we'd pay
 But the Irish Brigade will not surrender
 Faugh a Ballagh! Clear the way!
 Well hand to hand, and face to face there
 A young rebel he charged me in the fray
 I turned around and my blade went through him
 I did the devil's work that day
 For I saw my face there before me
 In the boy that I hewed down
 He could have been a friend or a brother
 Another exile from my town
 Three thousand strong rose to fight them
 In Antietam's ripening corn
 But Fredericksburg was our undoing
 Three hundred left to weep and mourn
 At Fredericksburg we rose to meet them
 Though we knew the price we'd pay
 But the Irish Brigade will not surrender
 Faugh a Ballagh! Clear the way!
 At Fredericksburg we rose to meet them
 Though we knew the price we'd pay
 But the Irish Brigade will not surrender
 Faugh a Ballagh! Clear the way!
 Faugh a Ballagh! Clear the way!