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Paddy on the railway lyrics
Paddy on the railway lyrics














You can hear a version of it by The Wolfe Tones here. In a vastly abridged form, I present “Paddy on the Railway”. So many Irish worked on the railway that, in the Eastern States in the 19th century, there was a popular saying: “an Irishman was buried under every tie.” This song is actually very long, with at least one original verse for each year between 18, and many in between.

paddy on the railway lyrics

National Park Service).A crisp, easy-to sing tune about an Irishman who comes to the US to work on the railroads. ( "Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site (U.S. Return when it's time to get up", which would make an interesting inference This chorus would usually be interpreted as "I'll Means “I’ll go back, time to get up.” In fact, The American Songbag version includes the lyricsīetween each verse. This version is one of the foremost publishing  On the contrary, there is other proof that draws forth credibility that the chanty was sung as early as the 1850s. National Park Service).") This version quotes "Paddy, Come Work on the Railway": Sandburg Home National Historic Site (U.S. Adams's documentation, a captain described journeys in American ships near the east coast in the 1860s.("Carl Poor Paddy was thinking of going to Heaven It can also represent a more general meaning that the Irish worker felt that such arduous labor would greatly reduce his life span and die of over-work. Sometimes disable laborers from proper functions (Lapp 19). Usually due to the same trite meals, meat stew and whiskey, that Thinking of going to Heaven" signals possible dysentery most white workers Proved too demanding, workers were expected to complete."Poor Paddy was "I made my trade to carryingīricks" explains the daily schedule of the 10 mile policy, which later Overflowing with racism and abysmal economic opportunity, the paddy decided to Towards the end, the laborer was probablyĮnlisted in the Union Pacific for railway construction. We can also make a vague guess that in tough conditions, O'Connell inspired hope and courage to railway workers.

#Paddy on the railway lyrics series#

As of a series of success in such campaigns, O'Connell was a central figure who many immigrants saw as their leader. There are subliminal inferences we can make in regards to O'Connell's Catholic Emancipation, in which O'Connell promoted reform of the Church of Ireland, Irish Catholics and tenants' rights. O’Connell was an Irish politician and nationalist campaigner he was known as the liberator. In the fifth verse, there is a reference to Daniel O’Connell being alive in 1845. He was most likely tagged through long lines for medical inspections to confirm entry. After the sea journey, the paddy had his first glimpse of New Jersey, while he carried his luggage onto barges that would take them to Ellis Island. Immigrants from the western hemisphere passed through the port. As a federal immigration station, the island served for more than 60 years.

paddy on the railway lyrics

However, it is mostly implied that the port was Ellis Island. "I landed on Columbia's shore", the Irishmen landed near America. Filled with anxiety and excitement, he departs on his voyage. As he bid farewell from his homeland, the job seeker pondered about his uncertain future. So in search of better railroad jobs, he wound up the courage for exploration overseas. "My corduroy breeches I put on", the paddy is confronted by poverty in Europe. In eighteen hundred and forty one Me corduroy breeches I put on Me corduroy breeches I put on To work upon the railway. Thus we pity the "poor" paddy of being eternally stuck in an unfortunate fate. The chanty seems to lament the fact that nothing has changed since the paddy traversed across the Atlantic in search of a better life. "Weary" signifies the mentally and physically exhausting demands that were similar in both English and American railways. Although workers thought America had better railway conditions than in England, the reality is just as harsh. The most significant repetition of the song is the use of "weary" and "poor paddy". Because this is a chanty, the original song was sung with pure vocals.














Paddy on the railway lyrics