Day of My Return

My name is John O'Reilly and my father works the fields In the hills of old Killarney, where I helped him turn the wheels My arms grew hard as iron for a boy of 17 And I used my fists for gamblin' in those wet Killarney streets Fare thee well, fair Dover Fare thee well, your seasons turn My pockets will be jinglin' on the day of my return On the day of my return Well, the ship left for America and I took my pack aboard Said goodbye to my dear Ireland Said a prayer to my dear Lord Well, I fought those sorry guineas In the kitchen they called hell And I fought them for their dollars And those guineas paid me well Fare thee well, fair Dover Fare thee well, your seasons turn My pockets will be jinglin' on the day of my return On the day of my return Well, I fought in New York City and I fought the Jersey shores My gut stayed full of whiskey And my bed stayed full of whores They called my right a cannon-ball They called me left the same And I left them all a-lyin' half in blood and half in shame Fare thee well, fair Dover Fare thee well, your seasons turn My pockets will be jinglin' on the day of my return On the day of my return Well, I met a man on '32 and he stuck out his hand And he offered me a thousand if I'd fall before his man I said it could be done, but only for another two And he smiled at me and nodded as I stuck it in my shoe Fare thee well, fair Dover Fare thee well, your seasons turn My pockets will be jinglin' on the day of my return On the day of my return Well, they rang the bell two times before I let him have my nose And I let him work myeleft until my eye was swollen closed Then I let loose a right that they still talk about today For that guinea didn't know that I had bet the other way Fare thee well, fair Dover Fare thee well, your seasons turn My pockets will be jinglin' on the day of my return On the day of my return Well, they covered every dock and every port there on the coast Looking for a double-crosser who had turned into a ghost But I was on a train my friend that rode the other way And I'll sail from California back to Dublin one fine day Fare thee well, fair Dover Fare thee well, your seasons turn My pockets will be jinglin' on the day of my return On the day of my return Fare thee well, fair Dover Fare thee well, your seasons turn My pockets will be jinglin' My pockets will be jinglin', my pockets will be jinglin' on the day of my return On the day of my return