There were roses, roses, There were roses,
And the tears of the people ran together.
My song for you this evening is not to make you sad,
Nor for adding to the sorrows of my troubled northern land,
But lately I've been thinking,and it just wont leave my mind,
To tell you of two friends one time,who were both good friends of mine.
Alan Bell from Banagh, he lived just across the fields,
A great man for the music and the dancing and the reels,
O'Mally came from South Armagh,to court young Agnus fair,
And we'd often meet on the Ryan Roan and the laughter filled the air.
[Chorus]
There were roses, roses, There were roses,
And the tears of the people ran together.
Though Alan he was Protesant,and Sean was Catholic born,
It never made much difference,for the friendship it was strong,
And sometimes in the evenings when we heard the sound of drums,
We said it wont devide us we always will be one.
For the ground our fathers plowed the soil is just the same,
And the places that we say our prayers have just got different names,
We talked about the friends who died and we hoped there'd be no more,
It's was little then we realized the tragedy in store.
There were roses, roses, There were roses,
And the tears of the people ran together.
It was on a Sunday morning when the awful news came down,
Another killing had been done just outside Newry Town,
We knew that Alan danced up there we knew he liked the band,
But when we heard that he was dead we could not understand.
So we gathered at the grave side on that cold and rainy day,
And the minister he closed his eyes and for no revenge he prayed,
And all of us who knew him from along the Ryan Road,
We bowed our heads and said a prayer for the resting of his soul.
But fear it filled the country side, there was fear in every home,
And late that night a car came prowling around the Ryan Road,
A Catholic would be killed tonight,to even up the score,
Oh Christ it's young O'Mally,that they've taken from the door.
But Alan was my friend he cried,he begged them with his fear,
But centures of hatred have ears that cannot hear,
An eye for an eye it's all they have in mind,
And an eye for another eye till everyone is blind.
There were roses, roses, There were roses,
And the tears of the people ran together.
I dont know where the moral is or where the song should end,
And I wonder just how many wars are fought between good friends,
And those who give the orders are not the ones to die,
It's Bell and O'Mally and the likes of you and I.
There were roses, roses, There were roses,
And the tears of the people ran together.
There were roses, roses, There were roses,
And the tears of the people ran together.
And the tears of the people ran together.
My song for you this evening is not to make you sad,
Nor for adding to the sorrows of my troubled northern land,
But lately I've been thinking,and it just wont leave my mind,
To tell you of two friends one time,who were both good friends of mine.
Alan Bell from Banagh, he lived just across the fields,
A great man for the music and the dancing and the reels,
O'Mally came from South Armagh,to court young Agnus fair,
And we'd often meet on the Ryan Roan and the laughter filled the air.
[Chorus]
There were roses, roses, There were roses,
And the tears of the people ran together.
Though Alan he was Protesant,and Sean was Catholic born,
It never made much difference,for the friendship it was strong,
And sometimes in the evenings when we heard the sound of drums,
We said it wont devide us we always will be one.
For the ground our fathers plowed the soil is just the same,
And the places that we say our prayers have just got different names,
We talked about the friends who died and we hoped there'd be no more,
It's was little then we realized the tragedy in store.
There were roses, roses, There were roses,
And the tears of the people ran together.
It was on a Sunday morning when the awful news came down,
Another killing had been done just outside Newry Town,
We knew that Alan danced up there we knew he liked the band,
But when we heard that he was dead we could not understand.
So we gathered at the grave side on that cold and rainy day,
And the minister he closed his eyes and for no revenge he prayed,
And all of us who knew him from along the Ryan Road,
We bowed our heads and said a prayer for the resting of his soul.
But fear it filled the country side, there was fear in every home,
And late that night a car came prowling around the Ryan Road,
A Catholic would be killed tonight,to even up the score,
Oh Christ it's young O'Mally,that they've taken from the door.
But Alan was my friend he cried,he begged them with his fear,
But centures of hatred have ears that cannot hear,
An eye for an eye it's all they have in mind,
And an eye for another eye till everyone is blind.
There were roses, roses, There were roses,
And the tears of the people ran together.
I dont know where the moral is or where the song should end,
And I wonder just how many wars are fought between good friends,
And those who give the orders are not the ones to die,
It's Bell and O'Mally and the likes of you and I.
There were roses, roses, There were roses,
And the tears of the people ran together.
There were roses, roses, There were roses,
And the tears of the people ran together.