FIELDS OF ATHENRY
Anno: 1970
Gruppo:
Testo e musica: Pete St. John |Menu
By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young girl calling,
"Michael, they have taken you away.
For you stole Trevelyn's corn
So the young might see the morn,
Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay."
Low lie the fields of Athenry,
Where once we watched the small free birds fly.
Our love was on the wing,
We had dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry.
By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young man calling,
"Nothing matters, Mary, when you're free
‘gainst the famine and the Crown
I rebelled, they cut me down.
Now you must raise our child with dignity."
By a lonely harbor wall, she watched the last star falling
As the prison ship sailed out against the sky,
But she lived to hope and pray
For her love in Botany Bay
It's so lonely around the fields of Athenry
"Michael, they have taken you away.
For you stole Trevelyn's corn
So the young might see the morn,
Now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay."
Low lie the fields of Athenry,
Where once we watched the small free birds fly.
Our love was on the wing,
We had dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry.
By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young man calling,
"Nothing matters, Mary, when you're free
‘gainst the famine and the Crown
I rebelled, they cut me down.
Now you must raise our child with dignity."
By a lonely harbor wall, she watched the last star falling
As the prison ship sailed out against the sky,
But she lived to hope and pray
For her love in Botany Bay
It's so lonely around the fields of Athenry
Note
Canzone popolare irlandese. Composta negli anni ‘70 da Pete St. John.Ambientata ai tempi della Grande carestia irlandese (1845/1849), narra di un ipotetico prigioniero irlandese che attraverso le mura di una prigione ascolta la conversazione di un giovane uomo con la sua compagna, al di là delle mura. Il giovane reo di aver rubato del cibo per mantenere la sua famiglia ridotta in povertà dalla carestia dev’essere trasferito al penitenziario australiano di Botany Bay. L'uomo probabilmente viene da Athenry, come suggeriscono il titolo ed il ritornello della canzone, un villaggio della Contea di Galway che in quel periodo soffrì terribilmente la carestia. L'ultimo verso narra la dipartita della nave-prigione, che scompare all'orizzonte sotto gli occhi della donna, proprio mentre l'ultima stella della notte scompare.
Molto conosciuta in Irlanda è stata ricantata da moltissimi artisti successivamente, come Paddy Reilly, Frank Patterson, Ronan Tynan, Brush Shiels , James Galway e Dropkick Murphys. Molto usata in ambito sportivo, è stata ripresa anche dai militanti del movimento repubblicano irlandese che la cantano con il testo modificato
"Where once we watched the small free birds fly - oh baby, let the free birds fly
Our love was on the wing - Sinn Féin
We had dreams and songs to sing - IRA
It's so lonely round the Fields of Athenry”