Traditional Irish, arranged Stan Kelly
© 1961 Heathside Music
Hungrily
Oh the praties they are small, over here, [over here],
Oh the praties they are small, over here,
Oh the praties they are small, and we dig them in the fall,
And we eat them roots* and all, over here, [over here].
Oh I wish that we were geese, night and morn, [night and morn],
Oh I wish that we were geese, night and morn,
Oh I wish that we were geese, for they live and die in peace,
Till the day of their decease, stuffin' corn, [stuffin' corn].
Oh we're ground into the dust, over here, [over here],
Oh we're ground into the dust, over here,
Oh we're ground into the dust, but the Party** that we trust,
Will yet give us crumb for crust, over here, [over here].
Notes
[over here] : I personally shun these optional, folksy repetitions
* The bourgeois version has "coats" -- as if eating spud coats
was a hardship.
** The political flavour of "Party" is moot. The Catholic version
has "the God in Whom we trust."
If it hadn't been for the potato famine in the 1840's, when all
the chip shops in Dublin closed, me grandfather might have
stayed there instead of moving to Ireland's capital...
Liverpool! Note that the posher emigrants made it to New York
or Boston.