Let The People Sing lyrics

The Wolfe Tones

For those who are in love
There's a song that's warm and tender.
For those who are oppressed
In song you can protest.
So liberate your mind
And give your soul expression.
Open up your hearts,
I'll sing for you this song.

Let the people sing their stories and their songs
And the music of their native land
Their lullabies and battle cries and songs of hope and joy
So join us hand in hand
All across this ancient land
Throughout the test of time
It was music that kept their spirits free
Those songs of yours and of mine

It was back in ancient times,
The bard would tell his stories
Of the heroes, of the villain,
Of the chieftain in the glen.
Through Elizabethan times
And Cromwellian war and fury
Put our pipers to the sword,
Killed our harpers and our bards.

Ireland, land of song,
Your music lives forever
In its valleys, in its mountains,
In its hills and in its glens.
Our music did survive
Through famine and oppression.
To the generations gone,
I'll sing for you this song.

Song Details

Writer: Brian Warfield from the Irish Rebel Folk Band - The Wolfe Tones

Brief: The song was written in dedication to those Irish ballad singers who were banned from singing Irish songs. Throughout Elizabethan and Cromwellian times, Irish pipers, harpers and bards were put to the sword for telling their stories. Through famine and oppression the voices of the Irish remained strong, because it was their music and their voices that kept their spirits free.

References:
bard - a person who composes and recites epic or heroic poems, often while playing the harp, lyre, or the like. One of an ancient Celtic order of composers and reciters of poetry.
Elizabethan - of or relating to the reign of Elizabeth I, queen of England, or to her times.
Cromwellian - relating to the practises of Oliver Cromwell - an English military commander and fierce leader responsible for many atrocities during the Irish Invasion of 1649.

The following is an excerpt from the website: History In Numbers:

Following a Catholic uprising in 1641, most of Ireland was under the control of the Irish Catholic Confederation. This position was strengthened further in early 1649, when the Confederates joined forces with English Royalists against the parliamentary army. Later the same year, Cromwell and the New Model Army set sail to Ireland to defeat this coalition and reclaim Ireland for parliament. This proved to be a bloody and brutal affair, forever remembered for a series of controversial massacres... learn more

Category: Rebel Song

Covers: Charlie and the Bhoys, The Malleys.

Back to Irish Lyrics - L
Back To Top Back to The WOLFE TONES