When I first heard Tommy Makem and the Clancy's my future it was sealed
I was bitten by the ballad bug and since then the wound has never healed
When I got my first guitar my fingers bled until I learned a chord or two
I pulled on my aran sweater, wrote my Ma a goodbye letter
And started throwing shapes in O'Donoghue's

I played cabaret in Bundoran, marquees for Father Horan
And I once stood in for Johnny McEvoy
From Berlin to San Francisco I've gone on before the disco
Lashing out the four green fields of Athenry
Mountbellew was like purgatory but Tulsk was just like being in hell
I've received my education in the lounges of the nation
After 25 years I am doing well

If I get an encore I go home feeling like a king
It's a two way situation I get a lot of pleasure when I sing

I've played every lounge in Ireland from Dingle right up to Donegal
I've sung Nancy Spain on stages
Where no other ballad singers play at all
From the rising sun in Brownstown to the Blue Lagoon above in Sligo Town
Ballymurphy and the Bogside, Ballinamore
And even once in Ballinasloe

I was playing in the Meeting place when half the Special Branch came in the door
They were looking for an outlaw
He stole their trousers back in 1984
They started listening to my songs and hung around till after the show
If I ever need a taxi plate or a massage at a special rate
They're the boys to tell me where to go