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Finnegan's Wake

"Finnegan's Wake" is a ballad that arose in the 1850s in the vaudeville tradition of comical Irish songs. It is famous for being the basis of James Joyce's masterwork, Finnegans Wake, where the comic resurrection becomes symbolic of a universal cycle of life. Whiskey, which brought both Finnegan's fall and his resurrection, is derived from Irish uisce beatha (IPA: [ˈiʃkʲə ˈbʲahə]), meaning "water of life." So too, the word "wake" is both of a passing and of a new rising. Joyce removed the apostrophe in the title to assert an active process in which a multiplicity of "Finnegans," that is, all of us, wake, i.e., arise after falling. It also featured as the climax of the primary storyline in Philip José Farmer's award-winning novella, Riders of the Purple Wage. The song is a staple of the Irish folk-music group, The Dubliners, who have played it on many occasions and included it on several albums.

• Brigid's Cross on their album Coolin' Out.
• The Clancy Brothers on their album Come Fill Your Glass with Us.
• The Dubliners on several live-albums.
• Dropkick Murphys on their albums Do or Die and Live on St. Patrick's Day From Boston, MA.
• Shilelagh Law on their album Good Intentions.
• Brobdingnagian Bards on their album Songs of Ireland.
• Cliudan on their album Whiskey on Sunday.
• The Tossers on their album Communication & Conviction: Last Seven Years.
• Orthodox Celts on their album The Celts Strike Again.
• The Bloody Irish Boys on their album Drunk Rock.
• Darby O'Gill on their album Waitin' for a Ride

Tim Finnegan lived in Walkin Street^[1]
A gentle Irishman, mighty odd;
He'd a beautiful brogue so rich and sweet
And to rise in the world he carried a hod.
Now, Tim had a bit of the tipplin' way
With a love for the liquor poor Tim was born
And to help him on with his work each day
He'd a "drop of the Craythur every morn.

Chorus: Whack fol the dah O, dance to your partner
Welt the floor, your trotters shake;
Wasn't it the truth I told you
Lots of fun at Finnegan's wake!

One mornin' Tim was rather full
His head felt heavy which made him shake;
He fell from the ladder and broke his skull
And they carried him home his corpse to wake.
They rolled him up in a nice clean sheet
And laid him out upon the bed,
A gallon of whiskey at his feet
And a barrel of porter at his head.

Chorus

His friends assembled at the wake
And Mrs. Finnegan called for lunch,
First she brought in tay and a cake
Then pipes, tobacca' and whiskey punch.
Biddy O'Brien began to cry
"Such a nice clean corpse, did you ever see?
"O Tim, mavourneen^[2], why did you die?"
"Arragh, hold your gob^[3]" cried Paddy McGee!

Chorus

Then Maggie O'Connor took up the job
"O Biddy," says she, "You're wrong, I'm sure"
Biddy she gave her a belt in the gob
And left her sprawlin' on the floor.
And then the war did soon engage
'Twas woman to woman and man to man,
Shillelagh law was all the rage
And a row and a ruction soon began.

Chorus

Then Mickey Maloney ducked his head
When a noggin of whiskey flew at him,
It missed, and falling on the bed
The liquor scattered over Tim!
Tim revives! See how he rises!
Tim he rises from the dead,
Says, "Whirl your whiskey around like blazes"
"Thanum an Dhul^[4], do you thunk I'm dead?"

Chorus