Danny Cooley always told me
That the Irish could change the world
Said he'd come back one day to show me
Never heard another word
Some say he joined the army
KIA Afghanistan
Last seen alive in San Diego
In the company of a Fenian band
The demon rum is on the table
The bedpost queen is in my hand
Now the tiger's just a fable
The saints are dying out in the sand
Back in '23, they landed on the docks
Nearly two hundred years only made it twelve blocks
Or went up that Harlem line into the heart of the Bronx
You're free as a bird New York
It was, Vinegar Hill down to Baltimore
We hit every joint, pissed in every bar
In that black sedan with the plates expired
Singin' Homeward Bound until the rising sun
I hear the cold rain lash the window
Drowning sorrows in the square
I think I'll head on down to Pittsburgh
I heard a rumour Danny's there
Back in '23, they landed on the docks
Nearly two hundred years only made it twelve blocks
Or went up that Harlem line into the heart of the Bronx
Were buried with the rosary when the big canals were dug
Or fought hard on the fields with Meagher to the Argonne
Shouting "Clear the Way", our time will come
You're free as a bird New York