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Galway Bay (The Horse Race)
I first heard this done by Celi's Muse. It is a really good group performance song, with a buildup of both voices and instruments. They used drum (bodhran), whistle, fiddle and guitar, and a rythm that sounded like horses running.
Melody #1 (slow)
Am
I worked my days on a Galway farm
G Am
In the sun and rain, wind and storm
Am
But once a year I’ll chance my arm
G D
And cross the sea to England
Am
I’ll scrimp and save two thousand pounds
G Am
Spend a week in Cheldnam town
Am
But the racing over, always down
G D
I come back poor from England.Melody #2 (a little faster)
Am
I dreamed one night before I left
F
A coal black mare with a white star chest
G
Crossed the line and beat the rest
Dm Am
I came back rich to Galway.
Am
I rose at dawn and drove all day
F
Thinking wondering all the way
G
Lady Luck have you come to stay
Dm Am
Or steal away my morning?Instrumental...
Melody #1 (a little faster)
When I got to Cheldnam town
Irish faces all around
No bed or mattress to be found
I slept on the hillside.
I spent three days in the viewing ring
Saw the horses they led in
Just as I was giving in
I stood and stared in wonder.Melody #2 (stronger)
With stamping hooves and steaming breath
A coal black mare with a white star chest
I ran my finger down the list
And matched the name and the number
Lady Luck had come half way
The horse’s name was “Galway Bay”
Twenty to one the odds that day
I went to make my wager.Melody #1 (about the same)
I counted out two thousand pounds
Held it high – slapped it down
The bookie smiled but made no sound
I knew what he was thinking
The biggest loser in the land
A pounding heart – a shaking hand
I made my way up to the stand.
The horses came to order.(pause)Melody #2
(Slowly) But at the first, she nearly fell
I cursed my farmer’s luck to hell
The second and third took wide well
Way behind the leader (faster)
Then moving sweetly from the back
She found the rails and caught the pack
Ten to go and from the track
The hooves were drumming thunder.(Instrumental - This is the race.... faster and faster)
She’s catching horses one by one
Bridle flashing in the sun
Eight to go a mile to run
Two were up before her.
On the straight, down they sped
Left one at the last for dead
Caught the next and by a head (small pause - slow and triumphant)
She came home the winner!Melody#1 (slowly)
So I came back to my Galway farm
A wiser and a richer man
Never again I’ll chance my arm
Or cross the sea to England.Melody #2 (a little faster - lilting)
‘Cause Lady Luck was mine that day
I held her close – I went my way.
Now I raise my glass to “Galway Bay”
And the dream of a Galway farmer!
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