Johnny Casey
v4
@Winifred Casey
Johnny Casey
v4
@Winifred Casey
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Johnny Casey
Born by the quay
Hands like anchors
Eyes like the sea
Learned his prayers
On the back of a bus
"Hold your ground
Boy"
That was enough
[Chorus]
Johnny Casey
Stand your line
Raise your voice
Don’t bow
Don’t hide
From the cobblestone cold
To the breaking tide
Johnny Casey
We walk at your side
[Verse 2]
War came whispering
Soft at the door
He kissed his mother
Once more
Once more
Said
"If I don’t
See the sun tonight
Tell them I went
With my shoulders high"
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
They tried to write him small in the margins
Just a name on a faded stone
But a roar rolls over the harbor
Every time we bring him home
Singing
[low vocal register] Johnny [crowd chant] CASEY!
[low vocal register] Johnny [crowd chant] CASEY!
[Chorus]
Johnny Casey
Born by the quay
Hands like anchors
Eyes like the sea
Learned his prayers
On the back of a bus
"Hold your ground
Boy"
That was enough
[Chorus]
Johnny Casey
Stand your line
Raise your voice
Don’t bow
Don’t hide
From the cobblestone cold
To the breaking tide
Johnny Casey
We walk at your side
[Verse 2]
War came whispering
Soft at the door
He kissed his mother
Once more
Once more
Said
"If I don’t
See the sun tonight
Tell them I went
With my shoulders high"
[Chorus]
[Bridge]
They tried to write him small in the margins
Just a name on a faded stone
But a roar rolls over the harbor
Every time we bring him home
Singing
[low vocal register] Johnny [crowd chant] CASEY!
[low vocal register] Johnny [crowd chant] CASEY!
[Chorus]
Style of Music
Stomping Irish folk-rock with bodhrán, low whistle, and driving acoustic guitar. Male vocals start in a storytelling hush, then rise to a roar on the chorus with gang shouts and tin whistle answering lines. Fiddle carves out a soaring counter-melody; last chorus modulates up with big floor-tom hits and crowd-style chants.
