Raglan Road - Van Morrison & Chieftains

"On Raglan Road" is a well-known Irish song from a poem written by Irish poet Patrick Kavanagh named after Raglan Road in Ballsbridge, Dublin. It was first published as a poem on 3 October 1946 under the title "Dark Haired Miriam Ran Away." The poem was put to music when the poet met Luke Kelly of the well-known Irish band The Dubliners in a pub in Dublin called The Bailey.

The Chieftains were formed in 1962 by Paddy Moloney, from the ranks of the top folk musicians in Ireland. It wasn't until 1975 that The Chieftains began playing together full time. Although their early following was purely a folk audience, the range and variation of their music very quickly captured a much broader public, making them today the best known Irish band in the world.

Van Morrison is acclaimed as one of music's truly innovative artists, collaborating a popular blend of R&B, jazz, blues, and Celtic folk styles. He was born in Belfast, Ireland in 1945.

http://www.thechieftains.com/

http://vanmorrison.com/

On Raglan Road on an autumn day
I saw her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare
That I might one day rue
I saw the danger and I passed
Along the enchanted way
And said let grief be a fallen leaf
At the dawning of the day

On Grafton Street in November
We tripped lightly along the ledge
Of a deep ravine where can be seen
The worth of passion's pledge
The Queen of Hearts still making tarts
And I not making hay
Oh I loved too much and by such by such
Is happiness thrown away

I gave her gifts of the mind
I gave her the secret signs
Known to the artists who have known
The true gods of sound and stone
And word and tint I did not stint
I gave her poems to say
With her own name there
And her own dark hair
Like clouds over fields of May

On a quiet street where old ghosts meet
I see her walking now
Away from me so hurriedly my reason must allow
That I had loved not as I should
A creature made of clay
When the angel woos the clay
He'll lose his wings at the dawn of day