Bruce Springsteen

Songwriter: Traditional

"Mrs. McGrath," the sergeant said
"Would you like a soldier of your son Ted?
With a scarlet coat and a big cocked hat
Mrs. McGrath, would you like that?"

With your too-ri-aa fol-did-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa
With your too-ri-aa fol-did-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa

Now Mrs. McGrath lived on the shore
And after seven years or more
She spied a ship come into the bay
With her son from far away

"O captain dear, where have ya been?
You been sailing the Mediterranean
Have you news of my son Ted?
Is he living or is he dead?"

With your too-ri-aa fol-did-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa
With a too-ri-aa fol-did-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa

Then came Ted without any legs
And in their place two wooden pegs
She kissed him a dozen times or two
And said, "My God, Ted, is it you?

Were ya drunk or were ya blind
When ya left your two fine legs behind?
Or was it walking upon the sea
That wore your two fine legs away?"

With a too-ri-aa fol-ded-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa
With a too-ri-aa fol-did-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa
With a too-ri-aa fol-ded-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa
With a too-ri-aa fol-did-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa

"Now I wasn't drunk, and I wasn't blind
When I left my two fine legs behind
A cannonball on the fifth of May
Tore my two fine legs away"

"My Teddy boy," the widow cried
"Your two fine legs were yer mother's pride
Stumps of a tree won't do at all
Why didn't ya run from the cannonball?"

With a too-ri-aa fol-ded-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa
With a too-ri-aa fol-did-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa
With a too-ri-aa fol-ded-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa
With a too-ri-aa fol-did-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa

"All foreign wars I do proclaim
Live on blood and a mother's pain
I'd rather have my son as he used to be
Than the King of America and his whole Navy"

With a too-ri-aa fol-ded-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa
With a too-ri-aa fol-did-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa
With a too-ri-aa fol-ded-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa
With a too-ri-aa fol-did-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa
With a too-ri-aa fol-ded-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa
A too-ri-aa fol-did-dle-di-aa too-ri-oo-ri-oo-ri-aa

Bruce Springsteen is a rock ‘n’ roll icon from the great state of New Jersey. Nicknamed “The Boss,” he’s known for spirited sax-powered anthems about working-class people making their way in the world. Backed by the trusty E Street Band, he’s sold more than 120 million records, won numerous awards (including 20 Grammys and an Oscar), sold out stadiums around the globe, and earned a place alongside his teenage heroes in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Although he’s a living legend who ranks among the most important artists in rock history, Springsteen wasn’t an overnight success. Around the time of his first album, 1973’s Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., he was dismissed as just another “new Dylan"—some scruffy folk singer with a decent vocabulary looking to follow in Bob’s footsteps. In the decade that followed, Springsteen proved himself to be much more.

His breakthrough came with his third album, 1975’s Born to Run. The record hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and landed the singer-songwriter on the cover of both Time and Newsweek. Bruce nabbed his first chart-topping album five years later with The River, and in 1984, he went global with Born in the U.S.A., a critical and commercial smash that produced seven Top 10 singles.

more tracks from the album

Live in Dublin

From the album

Live in Dublin (2007)

Bruce Springsteen popular songs

Mrs. McGrath (Live in Dublin)Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen

Live in Dublin