BEAU KNOWS…Galway Bay
According to Wikipedia (a very reliable source):
Galway Bay (Irish: Loch Lurgan or Cuan na Gaillimhe) is a large bay (or sea lough) on the west coast of Ireland, between County Galway in the province of Connacht to the north and the Burren in County Clare in the province of Munster to the south. Galway city is located on the northeast side of the bay. It is about 50 kilometres (31 mi) long and from 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to 30 kilometres (19 mi) in breadth. The Aran Islands (Oileáin Árann) are to the west across the entrance and there are numerous small islands within the bay.
There is also a traditional song of the same name about this beautiful place in Ireland that one day I will see and cross off my bucket list. The traditional song is a ballad that was written back in the 1800s.
“If you ever go across the sea to Ireland,
Then maybe at the closing of your day,
You will sit and watch the moon rise over Claddagh,
And see the sun go down on Galway Bay.”
Many years ago, I was downloading some Irish drinking songs so I could come up with some ideas of tracks to add to our pub sets. Randomly, I came across this alternate version of “Galway Bay” by the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. It was fucking hilarious. I couldn’t stop laughing. They had changed the words up to make a song about the worst wife in the world. This was the perfect song to play in a pub filled with guys drinking away their livers to numb the despair of married life. Of course, this is just a cliche, married life is awesome (I love you, Amy!)
Here are the alternate lyrics Tommy Makem and The Clancy Brothers:
Maybe someday, i’ll go back again to Ireland
If my dear old wife would pass away
She nearly has my heart broke with all her naggin
she’s got a mouth as big as Galway Bay
See her drinkin 16 pints of Pabst Blue Ribbon
And then she can walk home without a sway
If the sea were beer instead of salty water
She would live and die in galway bay
See her drinkin 16 pints of Padgo Murphy’s
When the barman says “I think its time to go”
She doesn’t try to speak to him in gaelic
But a language that the clergy do not know
On her back she has tattooed a map of Ireland
And when she takes her bath on Saturday
She rubs the sunlight soap around by Claddaugh
Just to watch the suds roll down by Galway Bay
What did I tell you? Hilarious! It wasn’t just the lyrics that caught my attention, it was their infectious delivery too. So, back in myFiffin Market days we started playing the song live. It was a slow one but people seemed to like it a lot. As the years went on, and life brought me to Lexington Field, we decided to take another crack at this funny version of a classic but punk rock it out. We loved it so much that we recorded it and put it on our New Folk Records EP, Poor Troubled Life. It still makes the rounds in our pub sets today! Thanks to the legendary Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem for making a fun song and letting us share it to all the public socialites of Southern California!
