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NELSON'S FAREWELL
(The Dubliners)

Oh well, poor aul' Admiral Nelson is no longer in the air
On the eighth day of March, in Dublin city fair
from his stand of stones and mortar
he fell crashing through the quarter
where once he stood so stiff and proud and rude!
So let's sing our celebration
as a service to the nation
so poor aul' admiral Nelson, toodle-oo!

Of fifty pounds of gelignite it sped him on his way
and the lad that laid the charge, we're in debt to him today!
In Trafalgar Square it might be fair
to leave aul' Nelson standing there
but no one tells the Irish what they'll view!
So the Dublin Corporation
can stop deliberations
for the boys of Ireland showed them what to do

A hundred and fifty-seven years it stood up there in state
to mark aul' Nelson's victory o'er the French and Spanish fleet
But 1:30 in the morning
without a bit of warning
aul' Nelson took a powder, and he blew!
So at last the Irish nation
had Parnell in higher station
than good old admiral Nelson, toodle-oo!

Oh the Russians and the Yanks with their lunar probes they play
and I hear the French are trying hard to make up lost headway
But now the Irish join the race
we have an astronaut in space!
Ireland, boys, is now a world power, too!
So let's sing our celebration
as a service to the nation
so poor aul' admiral Nelson, toodle-oo!


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