Christy Moore - Lawless

[ verse 1 ]

G C G
he was lawless by name , lawless by nature
G D G G
he was trouble right from the start
Am D
hard as nails , runnin’ wild through the streets
G D
he was breakin’ his poor mother’s heart
Am D
nature played a trick on lawless
G D
and the humour of nature is cruel
G C G
and he grew up as we all had expected him
G D G
into a dangerous fool
[ verse 2 ]

G C G
he was a hard man , a man for all seasons
G D G G
he was always out for a fight
Am D
he couldn’t hold drink but still he’d get plastered
G D
in clark’s every saturday night
Am D
strip to the vest and challenge the best
G D
until the guards they were called to come fast
G C G
and they’d lock him away for the rest of the day
G D G
and let him out on the sunday for mass
[ verse 3 ]

G C G
oh one night he went down to the ringsend regatta
G D G G
where he met up with the bould dolly platts
Am D
she wasn’t exactly what you’d call beauty
G D
but she was the belle of her flats
Am D
a whirlwind romance and dolly took a flier
G D
with lawless she would settle down
G C G
and it was pure coincidence three months before
G D G
there was a yankee destroyer in town
[ verse 4 ]

G C G
and the couple were blessed with one of god’s miracles
G D G G
before six months had elapsed
Am D
dolly gave birth to a nine – pound black baby
G D
and lawless was fit to collapse
Am D
she swore she’d never been touched by another
G D
and lawless took her at her word
G C G
and the neighbours all say , she’s the spit of her father
G D G
and the cuckoo is a wonderful bird . ’
[ verse 5 ]

G C G
oh now lawless stays in and looks after the family
G D G G
while dolly goes out for the night
Am D
the old gossips all say she’s free in her ways
G D
and its there evil rumours run rife
Am D
when lawless heard this he waited for dolly
G D
in the bridge where the river runs low
G C G
noone will ever know what happened next
G D G
but dolly drowned in the dodder below
[ verse 6 ]

G C G
some say he’s crazy and more say he’s evil
G D G G
everyone says that he’s mad
Am D
noone will defend him , he was no angel
G D
but i’ll tell you he wasn’t all bad
Am D
they’ve locked him away for the rest of his natural
G D
never again will he see
G
down the back of ring’s end
C G
there’s a lonely child playing
G D G
where the liffey flows into the sea
{outro}

G
down the back of ring’s end
C G
there’s a lonely child playing
G D C C C C C G
where the liffey flows into the sea