“The Big Fellah” Sheet Music (pdf).
“The Big Fellah” Karaoke (midi with lyrics).
Lyrics: Larry Kirwan.
Tune: Larry Kirwan.
Mo chara is mo lao thu! [My friend and my calf!]
Is aisling trí néallaibh [A vision in dream]
Do deineadh aréir dom [Was revealed to me last night]
IgCorcaigh go déanach [In Cork of a late hour]
Ar leaba im aonar. [In my solitary bed.]
I remember you back in the GPO with Connolly and Clarke,
Laughin’ with McDermott through the bullets and the sparks,
Always with a smart remark, your eyes blazin’ and blue.
Oh, when we needed confidence, we always turned to you.
And when they shot our leaders up against Kilmainham wall,
You were there beside us in that awful Easter dawn.
Hey, Big Fellah, where the hell are you now when we need you the most?
Hey, Big Fellah, c’mon,
Tabhair dom do lámh. [Give me your hand.]
Back on the streets of Dublin, when we fought the Black and Tans,
You were there beside us, a towerin’, mighty man.
And God help the informer or the hated English spy.
By Jaysus, Mick, you’d crucify them without the blinkin’ of an eye.
Still, you had a heart as soft as the early mornin’ dew.
Every widow, whore, and orphan could always turn to you.
Hey, Big Fellah, where the hell are you now when we need you the most?
Hey, Big Fellah, c’mon,
Tabhair dom do lámh. [Give me your hand.]
Hey, we beat them in the cities, and we whipped them in the streets.
And the world hailed Michael Collins, our commander and our chief.
And they sent you off to London to negotiate a deal.
And to gain us a republic, united, boys, and real.
But the women and the drink, Mick, they must have got to you
’Cause you came back with a country divided up in two.
Hey, Big Fellah, where the hell are you now when we need you the most?
Hey, Big Fellah, c’mon,
Tabhair dom do lámh. [Give me your hand.]
We had to turn against you, Mick. There was nothin’ we could do
’Cause we couldn’t betray the republic like Arthur Griffith and you.
We fought against each other, two brothers steeped in blood.
But I never doubted that your heart was broken in the flood.
And though we had to shoot you down in golden Béal na Bláth,
I always knew that Ireland lost her greatest son of all.
Hey, Big Fellah, where the hell are you now when we need you the most?
Big Fellah, c’mon,
Tabhair dom do—Tabhair dom do—lámh. [Give me your—give me your—hand.]
Hey, Big Fellah, where the hell are you now when we need you—need you—the most?
Big Fellah, Big Fellah, c’mon,
Tabhair dom—Tabhair dom—do lámh. [Give me—give me—your hand.]
Big Fellah, where the hell are you now when we need you—need you—the most?
Big Fellah, Big Fellah, c’mon,
Tabhair dom—Tabhair dom—do lámh. [Give me—give me—your hand.]