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Oh those who died for liberty
Have heard the eagle scream
All the ones who died for liberty
Have died but for a dream
Oh rise, rise, rise, Dark horse on the wind
For in no nation on the earth
More broken hearts you'll find.
The flames leaped high, reached to the sky
And seared a nation’s soul
In the ashes of our broken dreams
We’ve lost sight of our goal
O rise, rise, rise, Dark horse on the wind
And help our hearts seek Róisín (Ro-sheen)*
Our soul again to find
Now charlatans wear dead men’s shoes
Aye and rattle dead men’s bones
‘Ere the dust has settled on their tombs
They’ve sold the very stones
O rise, rise, rise, Dark horse on the wind
For in no nation on the earth
More Pharisees you’ll find
In grief and hate our motherland
Her dragon’s teeth has sown
Now the warriors spring from the earth
To maim and kill their own
O rise, rise, rise, Dark horse on the wind
For the one-eyed Balor still reigns king (Bah-lor)*
In our nation of the blind.
*Róisín (Ro-sheen): "Black Róisín (Rose), a code name used by the Irish when referring to Ireland during the invasion, when natives were forbidden to practise their Catholic religion, speak their own language, or speak of an "Ireland". Hence writings were disguised as love songs, and poet's names usually concealed."
*Balor (Bah-lor): "Balor was the Celtic god of darkness and leader of the Formorians, an evil race who plagued Ireland from their stronghold on Tory Island."
As sung by Susan McKeown on "Lowlands" (Green Linnet, 2000). "Written by Liam Weldon, it is both an ode to and a lament against the battle for Ireland's freedom. McKeown tackles this one a cappella with stunning results. Her powerful voice is clear yet wavers with the raw emotion this song demands, and she delivers it with such a grace and passion that the listener can be moved at once to tears over the horrors of war and a patriotic rage -- no matter where your place of birth – against those who seek to use and twist that battle for their own purposes."
Also sung by Liam Weldon on his CD, "Dark Horse on the Wind," Mulligan Records (LUN CD 006), Dublin, Ireland, 1999. "This song is really the crystallization of my thoughts and feelings of Ireland: the anguish and the dread, the guilt and the cowardice of us all -- not just the politicians or the bombers -- the ambivalence of saying one thing, doing another; our continuing failure as humans in a situation where the triad dogs of all breads shoot the people."
Liam Weldon (1933-95) Singer and songwriter from Ballyfermot in Dublin, had a lifelong interest in the music of the travelling people. He is best known for his songs "Dark Horse on the Wind" and "The Blue Tar Road." See Mudcat Forum discussion.
"And were you then the last wild leaf, on the autumn bough,
I the wind, a wanton thief, to blow as I blow now,
And when you'd fall, as fall you must, I to be the waiting dust,
Beyond sorrow, pain or lust,
And to live forever, truly one..." (Liam Weldon)