Tale of the Ballydowse - Lyrics - Ballydowse

Ballydowse was a celtic punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois with a rare mix of anarchist and religious ideas infused into their music. Many of the group's members were from the Jesus People USA commune. In addition to the group's Mekons Pogues-style Celtic punk influences, the group also draws from world musics such as klezmer and Tibetan throat singing. Ballydowse released two albums both engineered by Steve Albini. The debut was entitled The Land, the Bread, and the People and was a home place for many who found common cause with certain elements of Christianity while rejecting the American right wing bias so prominent in the church at the time. Their second album Fertile Crescent continued this trajectory with a growing Eastern European flavor. The group's political activism over the economic sanctions on Iraq in the 2000s, prison reform, death penalty and the short-comings of capitalism was unique among Christian bands of the time. The group disbanded in 2003.

Open your ears and up a seat for the tale of the ballydowse. just what they are might well be you when the tell reaches your house between way past plenty and a need no one should know they were born and raised unsettled within sight of high and low equal blessings, hardhsips, toes, and fingers, opened eyes returned and lingered to the ones who got picked last to the dancers never asked to the darkened half of the heart of man that leaves his brother trapped underbred and under way we are leaping to the fray throwing for the lovely underdogs underbrush and underbelly flags flying willy-nilly we'll undermine the greedy and the cruel. come along all are welcome let man's barriers be broken, from silver spoons to empty pockets all raise your glass and raise your voices ain't against then be for us no paradise we'll reap but we'll go down plowing just the same so you sat and heard the tell, if you're leaving just as well too many living on the fences as it is but if your heart volunteers to the crying and the cheers let the dead bury the dead and come along equal blessing, hardships, crying, and singing you'll get back just like you're giving to the ones who got picked last to the dancers never asked if you got ears then hear if you don't forget we asked