Dexys Midnight Runners

Released: June 3, 2016

[Verse 1]
I wished I was in Carrickfergus
Only for nights in Ballygrand
I would swim over the deepest ocean
My love to find
But the sea is wide and I can't swim over
And neither have I the wings to fly
I wish I could find me a handy boatman
To ferry me over to my love and die

[Verse 2]
My childhood days bring back sad reflections
Of happy times oh so long ago
My boyhood friends and my own relations
Have all passed on now like the melting snow
So i spend my days in endless roving
Soft is the grass and my bed is free
But oh to be home now in Carrickfergus
On that old road running down to the sea

[Verse 3]
Now in Kilkenny love is recorded
On darkest marble as black as ink
With gold and silver I did support her
Oh but I'll sing no more now untill I get a drink
For i'm drunk today and I'm seldom sober
A handsome rover from town to town
Oh but I am sick now and my days are numbered
Come all you young men and lay me down
Come all you young men and lay me down
Oh!
Come all you young men and lay, me, down
Down
Please

Dexys Midnight Runners (currently officially Dexys, their common nickname; sometimes styled with and sometimes without an apostrophe) are an English pop band with soul influences, who achieved their major success in the early to mid-1980s. They are best known in the UK for their songs “Come On Eileen” and “Geno”, both of which peaked at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, as well as six other top-20 singles.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dexys went through numerous personnel changes over the course of three albums and thirteen singles, with only singer/songwriter/co-founder Kevin Rowland remaining in the band through all of the transitions and only Rowland and “Big” Jim Paterson (trombone) appearing on all of the albums. By 1985, the band consisted only of Rowland and long-standing members Helen O'Hara (violin) and Billy Adams (guitar). The band broke up in 1987, with Rowland becoming a solo artist. After two failed restart attempts, Dexys was reformed by Rowland in 2003 with new members, as well as a few returning members from the band’s original lineup (known as Dexys Mark I). Dexys released their fourth album in 2012 and a fifth followed in 2016.

more tracks from the album

Let the Record Show: Dexys Do Irish and Country Soul

From the album

Let the Record Show: Dexys Do Irish and Country Soul (2016)

Dexys Midnight Runners popular songs

CarrickfergusDexys Midnight Runners

Dexys Midnight Runners

Let the Record Show: Dexys Do Irish and Country Soul