IRISH GIRL, THE   

Ralph McTell

What will he do now he's a man
And he should be settling down?
If only he'd marry a local girl
And stay right here in town
Now he's living the artist's life
And he's taken the poet's role,
He's fallen in love with an Irish girl
And she's captured his heart and soul.

What will they do when they are wed?
A poet's pay is poor.
Sleeping at night in a borrowed bed
and traipsing from door to door.
I don't know and it worries me so,
But they've gone and taken their vows
And he has married his Irish girl
So they'll have to manage somehow.

What will he do when the children come
As the children surely will?
How will she cope when he drinks 'till he's numb
To forget all his debts and bills
She's not much more than a girl herself,
Now a lover, mother and nurse
But he has married his Irish girl
For better or for worse.

For a handsome man she would be a gift
But for him she is a prize
With her high complexion and her corn-blonde hair
And her blue and knowing eyes.
Now they wake in each other's arms
And she is the poet's wife
And though he may wander from his Irish girl
He will love her all his life,
And though he may wander from his Irish girl
He will love her all his life.