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DE VALERA

I remember the day De Valera he died
My father he just broke down and he cried
He wept like a baby for Dev was his pride
But I shed no tears it held me no fear
For a man of our time

Now dev was a hero at Easter '16
He held Boland's mill for the orange and green
He was sentenced to die with Pearse and McBride
But his birth far away let him fight another day
Lucky man of our times

Chorus:
He was loved he was hated he was cherished despised
There were rivers of tears when the chieftain he died
But love him or hate him I cannot decide
What to make of old Dev this man of our times

When I was in school Christian brothers were cruel
To live off the land to be scarce was the rule
And we fled in our droves to the emigrant boats
We weren't free yet and we questioned respect
For a man of our time

My parents were poor and the cupboard was bare
You can't feed a child on a dream or a prayer
But the boys in Dail Eirean got rich as we pined
They were led by the chief and we had no relief
from a man of our times

Now Spain had it's Franco and France it's De Gaulle
We had our Dev and god rest his soul
But history will judge on the man form Bruree
De Valera's lost dream a nation unfree
It's the shame of our time


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