Track Notes

1. Ocean Floor (words and music Sonny Condell)
Too late for a telegram
And it's too late for remorse
Too late like Lots wife looking
Over her salt shoulder
Like the Corrib river running out
Thirsting for the sea

One instant she's a baby
Next thing she's a woman with her own child
There's never any stepping stones
Slipping there's no gripping on these river walls
Like the Corrib river running out
Thirsting for the sea

We're all building up the ocean
We're all building up the ocean
We're all building up the ocean floor

Here's another Rose of Tralee
Here's another queen of the sea
It's a one-way train that's coming around
It's a station that will never let me down
Like a western rain clouds rolling in
Thirsting for the clay

We're all building up the ocean
We're all building up the ocean
We're all building up the ocean floor

Rita Connolly - Vocal , harmony vocals.
Shaun Davey - Harmony vocals.
Robbie Brennan - Kit.
Noel Eccles - Percussion.
Eoghan O'Neill - Bass guitar.
Des Moore - Acoustic & electric guitar.
Anthony Drennan - Lead electric guitar.
Paul Drennan - Keyboards.
Michael Buckley - Soprano sax.

2. VALPARAISO (words & music: Rita Connolly)
He was singing about Valparaiso
Singing as though in a dream
White sandy beaches
And warm gentle breeze
Palm trees that reach to
The blue southern seas

And he sang, Valparaiso, Valparaiso
When will the wind blow me down there again
Valparaiso, Valparaiso
Softened the heart of a hard-hearted man

He was singing of the days on the ocean
Of trade winds and rounding the Horn
Fair winds and foul winds
Of hard work and ease
Friends found and lost
On the great southern seas

And he sang Valparaiso, Valparaiso
When will the wind blow me down there again
Valparaiso, Valparaiso
Softened the heart of the hardhearted man

We all sat in that hushed smokey tavern
As winter winds raged 'round the door
Ears keen and listening and eyes far away
Wishing that we could all go there someday

And we sang Valparaiso, Valparaiso
When will the wind blow me down there again
Valparaiso, Valparaiso
Softened the heart of a hardhearted man

Rita Connolly - vocal
Robbie Brennan - Kit
Noel Eccles - Percussion
Eoghan O'Neill - 6-string bass
Des Moore - Acoustic Guitar
Anthony Drennan - Dobro
Paul Drennan - Keyboards
Michael Buckley - Flute
Chorus - Sean Connolly, Patricia Connolly, Enda Connolly, Inez Connolly, Ursula Connolly, Rita Connolly, Clare Kenny, Carla Gallagher, Shaun Davey

3. LIZZIE FINN (words: Sebastian Barry, music: Shaun Davey)
Form cheering burghers of Brighton
Wintry theatres in
Brown seaside streets
Robert Gibson took me through
The lamp-adoring Welsh farms
The inky sea was under us
And on his back lay my long white arms

This is the only true history of Lizzie Finn by herself

To a world of tobacco and billiard tables
Marriage in Christchurch
The lonely vicar,
Lost sparrows in the blueness

Robert heaving
Forever like a sailor
On the rope of my drifting

We had a daughter
And that tang of cut grass
Got into my dreams

At night I went up to the old house tower
Full of the true histories of spiders
There in the best light
With my candle shadows
I hitched my linens
And danced

This is the only true history of Lizzie Finn by herself
The only true history of Lizzie Finn
The only true history of Lizzie Finn
Of Lizzie Finn by herself

Rita Connolly - vocal
Robbie Brennan - Kit
Noel Eccles - Percussion
Eoghan O'Neill - 6-string bass
Des Moore - Acoustic guitar, mandolin
Anthony Drennan - Electric guitar
Paul Drennan - Keyboards
Michael Buckley - Soprano sax, flute
Matthew Manning - Oboe

4. RIPPLES IN THE ROCKPOOLS (words & music: Shaun Davey)
Ripples in the water of the rockpool sun
Ripples in the water of the rockpool sun
Ripples in the water of the rockpool sun
And the boats are in for winter

Donal an Chogaidh will you marry me
Donal an Chogaidh will you marry me
Donal an Chogaidh will you marry me
Will I carry your three children

Chorus:
Ripples in the rockpools, ripples in the sea
Ripples in the sand dunes rolling into Connemara
Ripples in the rockpools, ripples in the sea
Ripples in the sand dunes rolling into Connemara

Donal an Chogaidh will you sail with me
Donal an Chogaidh will you sail with me
Donal an Chogaidh will you sail with me
From here to far Coruna

I can feel the tide falling in the rain
I can feel the tide falling in the rain
I can feel the tide falling in the rain
But the wind is surely rising

Chorus:
I can feel the tide falling in the rain
I can feel the tide falling in the rain
I can feel the tide falling in the rain
But the wind is surely rising

Donal an Chogaidh will you come to no good
Donal an Chogaidh will you come to no good
Donal an Chogaidh will you come to no good
I shall leave you and take my dowry

Rita Connolly - Vocal, harmony vocal
Shaun Davey - Harmony vocal
Paul McAteer - Kit
Noel Eccles - Percussion
Eoghan O'Neill - Bass guitar
Des Moore - Acoustic guitar
Anthony Drennan - Lead electric guitar
Paul Drennan - Keyboards
Michael Buckley - Soprano sax, flute

5. PICCADILLY (words & music : Leo O'Kelly)
I stood in Piccadilly
And I thought I heard the sea
Thought I heard the sea
And a thousand voices laughed at me

I saw an aeroplane up in the sky
I shot it down
Yes I shot it down
And I watched it fall without a sound

Please don't leave me in this lonely, lonely city
Please don't leave me all alone in this town
With every word you say you're breathing sweet air
anew
And I'm bleeding with the scent and with the sound

I saw a boy wave form the bridge
But nobody waved back
Not a soul waved back
But he waved until the day grew black

I know you did oppose it
but you filled my glass again
filled it to the brim
And you're hoping it might ease the pain

Please don't leave me in this lonely city
Please don't leave me all alone in this town
With every word you say you're breathing sweet air anew
And I'm bleeding with the scent and with the sound

Rita Connolly - Vocal, harmony vocal
Iarla O'Lionaird - Harmony vocal
Robbie Brennan - Kit
Noel Eccles - Percussion
Eoghan O'Neill - Fretless bass
Des Moore - Acoustic guitar
Anthony Drennan -Electric Guitar
Paul Drennan - Keyboards
Michael Buckley - Soprano sax

6. HIS NAME IS ELVIS (words: Sebastain Barry, Music Shaun Davey)
The little boys name
His name is Elvis

We have a little boy so we know
The wonder of that
How he clutches at kisses to blow
How he pulls of his hat

The little boys name is Elvis
And I think one of you is an aunt
There's a baby in the old car
This heat makes our black dog pant

The little boys name
His name is Elvis

No cloud was welcome all day
Everyone came to the beach
Elvis will be President I'd say
He's a winner, he's a peach

Tankers shimmer near Howth Head
Dollymount looks like Spain
You are refugees from a war
Now you are laughing again

The little boys name is Elvis
And I think one of you is an aunt
There's a baby in the old car
This heat makes our black dog pant

The little boys name
His name is Elvis

Rita Connolly - vocal
Paul McAteer - Kit
Noel Eccles - Percussion
Eoghan O'Neill - 6-string bass
Des Moore - Acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Anthony Drennan - Lead electric guitar
Shaun Davey - Keyboards, harmony vocal
Michael Buckley - Flute

7. TWO WHITE HORSES (words & music: Sonny Condell)
Two white horses draw the plough
From where I stand I hear no sound
The hours of this creeping day
In polished harness led away

Ploughman's feet in furrows
Walking, walking

Years have bent this ploughman's back
As wind deforms the skyline tree
Two white horses never tire
In all the turnings of the day

Turning, always turning
In this never-ending field

Two white horses draw the plough
From where I stand I never hear a sound
Two white horses never tire
In all the turnings of the day

Walking, always walking
In this never-ending field

Rita Connolly - Vocal, harmony vocals
Robbie Brennan - Kit
Noel Eccles - Percussion
Eoghan O'Neill - Fretless bass
Des Moore - Acoustic guitar
Anthony Drennan - Lead electric guitar
Paul Drennan - Keyboards
Michael Buckley - Flute

8. SHAKIN' THE BLUES AWAY (words & music: Irving Berlin)
There's an old superstition
Way down south
Everybody believes that trouble won't stay
If you shake it away

When they hold a revival
Way down south
Everybody with care and trouble that day
Tries to shake it away

Shakin' the blues away
Unhappy news away
If you are blue it's easy to
Shake off your cares and troubles

Telling the blues to go
They may refuse to go
But as a rule they'll go if you'll
Shake'em away

Do like the voodoos do
Listenin' to a voodoo melody
They shake their body so
To and fro
With every shake
A lucky break

Provin' that there's a way
To chase your cares away
If you would lose you weary blues
Shake'em away, shake 'em away

Rita Connolly - vocal
Robbie Brennan - Kit
Noel Eccles - Percussion
Eoghan O'Neill - Bass guitar
Des Moore - Acoustic guitar
Anthony Drennan - Dobro
Jimmy Smith - Lead electric guitar
Paul Drennan - Keyboards, piano
Michael Buckley - Tenor sax

9. SUN SONG (words : Rita Connolly, Music: Shaun Davey)
Blue skies, blue skies
Nothing but blue skies
The sun is here again
Your eyes, your eyes
Looking into your eyes
The sun is here again

Let's go to the seaside
Let's go to the seaside
And lie on golden sand
Let's go to the seaside
Let's go to the seaside
Holding lovers hand

Chorus:
My sun song
This is my sun song
My sun song sing song
Just for you

You go in the water
You go in the water
I'll be watching from the shore
you go in the water
you go in the water
No clouds today for sure

Stretching out on sandy bed
Stretching out on sandy bed
Soaking up the sun
Feeling such a sleepy head
Feeling such a sleepy head
And Summer's just begun

Chorus :
Homeward bound in evening sun
Happy, weary, warm
Homeward bound in evening sun
Homeward bound and joyful
Joyful sunny day
Blueskies for everyone
Open hearts, open eyes
Blue skies, blue blue skies

Rita Connolly - Vocal, harmony vocals
Paul McAteer - Kit
Noel Eccles - Percussion
Eoghan O'Neill - Bass guitar
Des Moore - Electric guitar
Shaun Davey - Keyboards, harmony vocals
Michael Buckley - Tenor sax, flute

10. RIO (words & music: Mike Nesmith)
I'm hearing the light from the window
I'm seeing the sound of sea
My feet have come loose form their moorings
And I'm feeling quiet wonderfully free

And I think I will travel to Rio
Using the music for flight
There's nothing I know of in Rio
But it's something to do with the night
And it's only a whimsical notion
To fly down to Rio tonight
I probably won't fly down to Rio
But then again I just might

There's wings to the thought behind fancy
There's wings to the thought behind play
And dancing to rhythm of laughter
Makes laughter the rhythm of rain

And I think I will travel to Rio etc.,

I feel such a sense of well-being
The problems have come to be solved
And what I thought was proper in battle
I see now was proper for love

And I think I will travel to Rio etc.,

Rita Connolly - Vocal
Paul McAteer - Kit
Noel Eccles - Percussion
Eoghan O'Neill - Bass guitar
Des Moore - Acoustic guitar
Anthony Drennan - Acoustic Guitar
Gerry O'Beirne - Acoustic guitar
Paul Drennan - Synthesizer
Michael Buckley - Tenor sax
Valerie Armstrong, Steve Cooney, Shaun Davey,
Rita Connolly - backing vocals

11. THE GREAT GUNS ROAR (words & music: Shaun Davey)
I heard the great guns roar
Though I was upon dry land
They will echo all-my-life
Oh the great guns roar

Murder in the sky
Deep towers of water rise
Oh the great guns roar

Malta, Gibraltar
Alexandria
Kaso, Sirte
Kithira

A bedside game of drafts
Decorations spread like toys

Thunder overhead
A small frightened boy

Oh the great guns roar
Oh the great guns roar
Oh the great guns roar….

Rita Connolly - Vocal
Paul Mc Ateer - Kit
Noel Eccles - Percussion
Eoghan O'Neill - Electric bass
Des Moore - Electric guitar, high string guitar
Anthony Drennan - Lead electric guitar
Shaun Davey - Keyboards
Matthew Manning - Oboe, cor anglais

12. THE QUIET LAND OF ERIN (words : Joan O'Hara, music: trad. arr. Davey/Connolly)

By myself I'd be in Ard Ti Cuan
Where the mountain stands away
And it's I would let the Sundays go
In the cuckoo's glen above the bay

Chorus:
Agus ach, ach Eireann 'lig is oh
Eire lonn dubh is oh
Ah the quiet land of Eireann

Ah my heart is weary all alone
And it sends a lonely cry
To the land that sings beyond my dreams
And the lonely Sundays pass my by

Chorus:
I would ravel back the twisted years
In the bitter wasted winds
If the God above would let me lie
In a quiet place above the whins

Chorus:

Rita Connolly - Vocal
Iarla O'Lionaird - Vocal
Paul McAteer - Kit
Eoghan O'Neill - Fretless bass
Des Moore - Acoustic guitar
Anthony Drennan - E-bow electric, electric guitar
Paul Drennan- Keyboards
Eddie Lynch - Keyboards
Michael Buckley - Flute

Special Thanks:
Shaun Davey, Bill Somerville -Large, Conan Doyle and to all the musicians who worked on this album for their generous and inspired contributions to the songs, and also to John Cook, Deirdre Costello, Helen Connaughton, Karen Connolly, Dennis Suttil, Sebastian Barry, Philip Melly, Carla Gallagher, Sadhbh at the Traditional Music Archive, Dublin, Michael O'Gorman, Joyce Roe, John Mc Donagh, Orla Cronin, Gerry Savage, Patricia Connolly and Judy Quaintance.