[Verse 1] Steam on the harbor Cold on the pier Suitcase of letters And someone not here Name on a ledger Scrawled, hard to spell Lucky they stamped it Lucky as hell [Chorus] When Irish eyes are crying In a boarding house at dawn Over tea gone thin and bitter And a coat already torn There’s a dream in every teardrop As the city keeps denying Still the heart keeps on defying When Irish eyes are crying [Verse 2] Stoop full of faces Accent and doubt “Paddy” on their tongues Trying to crowd you out Ten to a doorway Brick dust and rain Laughing at payday Cursing the pain [Chorus] When Irish eyes are crying In a church on Cherry Street Kneeling under plaster saints With blisters on your feet There’s a prayer in every whisper To a God that feels like silence But the soul holds on in quiet When Irish eyes are crying [Bridge] Barroom on Baxter Smoke in your hair (oh, my) Song from the old world Floating in the air You lift your glass higher Toast all you lost Swear you’ll build something Big enough for the cost [Chorus] When Irish eyes are crying On a rooftop, cracked and small Watching all the windows In a city ten miles tall There’s a fire in every raindrop Every “no” that you’re defying Till the skyline shows you mercy When Irish eyes are crying
