Come on Irishmen both young and old With adventure in your soul There are better ways to spend your days Then by working down a hole [chorus] I was tall and true all of 6 foot 2 Til they broke me across my back By a name I'm known that is not my own For they call me Crooked Jack The ganger's blue-eyed boy was I Big Jack could do no wrong And the reason simply was because I could work hard hours and long And I curse the day I went away To work on those hydro dams All our sweat and tears our hopes and fears Bound up with shuttering jams For I've seen men old before their time Their faces worn and gray But I never thought that I myself Would soon be the self same way They say that honest toil is good For the spirit and the soul But believe me boys it's for sweat and blood That they want you down the hole
John Doyle is very good, really a good guitar player. I first heard the song when Sara Watkins did it with Nickel Creek about 10 years ago. Her version was also very good. But it doesn't hurt when Chile Thile is standing next to you playing the mandolin.
Meander Myself Just different chord voicings and easier to play melodic lines or runs between phrases. The basics of it aren’t terribly difficult, but once you get into it, it gets harder. For me anyways.
