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about

based on Ancestry from Northern Ireland to eventually, Iowa Territory. Life is messy

lyrics

Based on an Ancestry chart
Family History

1. We sailed away from Ireland
We were troubled by the wars
The Catholics hated Protestants
And I know well what for
They watched us farm on stolen ground
While they got hedge and rocks
Then the king’s men filled those fields with flax
And robbed us at the docks
2. You beg to feed your family
It’s none but tater stew
You canna find a loaf of bread, nor
Grab a pint ‘ o brew
To board a ship was priceless
And we not worth a damn
We give ten years of service for the
Promise of some land
Like my father’s father’s father
And the father before him
Are we cursed to build our homes upon the souls that might have been
The green seas are so restless
The windy waves are cruel
The ocean never gave a care
As we were sailing through
3. The voyage gave us agony
We stuck down in the hold
The water tasted black.
And there was slime upon the mold
I’ve never been so sick of sea
And dreaming of hard ground
And someone yells Virginia
And we dropped that anchor down
4. Then ten years of tobacco
We were doe with servitude
And we took a stand on slavery
The laws of man exclude
We rode to Indiana
Declaring ourselves free
And thanks to those old Quakers
They was thou and I was thee

Like my father’s father’s father
And the father before him
We have struck out for a foreign land
To build our lives again
The green fields are so restless
The rocky slopes are cruel
The mountains never gave a care
As we were passing through
5. The settlers struck for Iowa
In 1844
The French had sold the lot of it
I know well what for
We’d run off all the Indians
And some were just struck down
And once again we found ourselves
A farming stolen ground
Like my father’s father’s father
And the father before him
Are we cursed to build our homes upon the souls that might have been
The green fields are so restless
The rocky slopes are cruel
The mountains never a damn
As we were passing through

credits

from Family History, released March 9, 2023
Songwriter: J.W. McClure on guitar and vocals; Thaddeus Spae on melodica, arrangements, guitarron; Harmonies by Kristi and Steve Nebel

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J.W. McClure Seattle, Washington

J.W. McClure lives in Stanwood, Washington. This is a career restarted for me. In the 1970’s I was often an opening act at the Washington D.C. clubs, The Cellar Door and The Childe Harold for Tom Paxton, Dave Van Ronk, Tom Rush and many well known bands. In the 1980’s I returned to Washington to do folk music, satire and stand-up comedy before getting swamped by family and other work. ... more

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