[INTRO – mandolin and tin whistle, boots stomping, pub noise] One, two, three, four! [VERSE 1] I got Belfast ink beneath my sleeve, A broken harp and a heart that won’t leave, My father’s county, my mother’s name, And an old IRA mark from another man’s flame. We crossed the water with twenty quid, A borrowed coat and the things we hid, Now Boston rain falls cold and hard, On Irish ghosts in a Southie yard. [PRE-CHORUS] We work all week, we drink all night, Still carry home in black and white, From Falls Road walls to Boston bars, We wear our history in our scars. [CHORUS – full band, gang vocals] Oh, Belfast girls and Boston nights! Raise your glass beneath the lights! Tattooed arms and immigrant hearts, A thousand miles but never apart! Sing it loud till the morning comes, Mandolins, whiskey, battered drums! From Belfast streets to Boston town, We crossed the sea but never backed down! [VERSE 2] There was Maggie with the raven hair, Green eyes burning like she didn’t care, She kissed me once behind Crown Bar, Then laughed and said, “You won’t get far.” There was Rosie down on Sandy Row, She stole my jacket before I could go, Said Boston boys would ruin my head, I told her, “Darlin’, I’m Irish instead.” [PRE-CHORUS] We had rebel songs on cassette tapes, Old family grudges and cheap mistakes, But Boston taught us what survives: Not flags or guns, but stubborn lives. [CHORUS – gang vocals] Oh, Belfast girls and Boston nights! Raise your glass beneath the lights! Tattooed arms and immigrant hearts, A thousand miles but never apart! Sing it loud till the morning comes, Mandolins, whiskey, battered drums! From Belfast streets to Boston town, We crossed the sea but never backed down! [VERSE 3 – rougher, faster] Now I unload trucks at half past five, Six days a week just staying alive, My hands are split, my back is shot, But Friday night, I forget the lot. There’s County Down across my chest, A ship, a cross, the year we left, Names of the dead, names of the gone, Every damn one keeps marching on. [BRIDGE – half-time, accordion and snare] My uncle talked about the IRA, My father told him, “Put the past away.” One man called it freedom, one called it pain, Both buried friends beneath Belfast rain. I learned in Boston, far from home, You choose which ghosts you make your own. So I kept the songs, the jokes, the names, And left the bullets to yesterday. [BREAKDOWN – gang chant] BELFAST! BOSTON! INK IN THE SKIN! BELFAST! BOSTON! LET THE NIGHT BEGIN! [FINAL CHORUS – faster, huge gang vocals] Oh, Belfast girls and Boston nights! Raise your glass beneath the lights! Tattooed arms and immigrant hearts, A thousand miles but never apart! Sing it loud till the morning comes, Mandolins, whiskey, battered drums! From Belfast streets to Boston town, We crossed the sea but never backed down! [OUTRO – drunken gang vocals] Boston took our sweat and pay, Belfast never went away! Raise one more before we go: BELFAST BLOOD! AND BOSTON SOUL!
