1. RUN, RUN AWAY

I like black and white, dream in black and white
You like black and white, run, run away
See chameleon lying there in the sun
All things to everyone run, run away

If you’re in the swing, fun and everything
If you’re in the swing run, run away
See chameleon lying there in the sun
All things to everyone run, run away

If you’ve got a crush, don’t beat ‘round the bush
If you’ve got a crush, run, run away
See chameleon lying there in the sun
All things to everyone run, run away


2. DANNY BOY

Danny Boy, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen and down the mountain side
Summer’s gone and all the roses dying
‘tis you, ‘tis you must go and I must pine

But come ye back when Summer’s in the meadow
Or when the valley’s hushed and white with snow
‘tis I’ll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Danny Boy, I love you so.

And when ye come and all the flowers are dying
And I’m as dead, as dead as I can be
You will come and find where I am lying, yeah
You’ll kneel down and say a prayer for me

And I shall hear though soft you tread above me
And all my grave will warmer sweeter be
If you’ll bend down and tell me that you love me
Then I shall sleep in peace until you come to me


3. BACK HOME IN DERRY

In 1803 we sailed out to sea,
Out from the sweet town of Derry.
For Australia bound if we didn’t all drown
And the marks of our fetters we carried.

In the rusty iron chains we sighed for our wains
As our good wives we left in sorrow.
As the mainsails unfurled our curses we hurled
On the English and thoughts of tomorrow.

Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry.

I cursed them to hell as our bow fought the swell.
Our ship danced like a moth in the firelight.
White horses rode high as the devil passed by
Taking souls to Hades by twilight.

Five weeks out to sea we were now forty-three.
Our comrades we buried each morning.
In our own slime we were lost in time
Endless night without dawning.

[Chorus:]
Van Dieman’s land in hell for a man
To live our his life in slavery
When the climate is raw and the gun makes the law.
Neither wind nor rain cares for bravery.

Twenty years have gone by and I’ve ended me bond
And comrade’s ghosts are behind me
A rebel I came and I’ll die the same
On the cold winds of night you will find me.

[Chorus]


4. RAP

Sit back and relax to the new creation
Of Off Kilter we’re the best in the nation.
All you would’ve been, could’ve beens whoever you are
You want to be a bagpiper want to be a star.

Re-educate and duplicate a well-known dictator
Cool, calm collected moving upward like an elevator
Too hot to hold to rock to control
A little bit of wit and a lot of soul

Make some noise, we’re the Off Kilter boys
Make some noise, we’re the Off Kilter boys

Like the warriors from old, freshly carved and strung
We march to the beat of a double-kick drum
We speak our language through our axes
The only thing final is death and taxes

We’re an equal temper of heroic heart
And every man here really slays their part
Illusion of life we take our stand
From superficial stress we’re a Celtic Rock band.

Make some noise, we’re the Off Kilter boys
Make some noise, we’re the Off Kilter boys


5. A WALK IN THE IRISH RAIN

When the sun goes down on Dublin town
Colors that last for hours you know.
Lights come on, the night’s a song
And the streets all turn to gold.

A simple mist all Heaven kissed
Like tear drops off an angel’s wing
Don’t you know you can cleanse your soul
With a walk in the Irish Rain.

[Chorus:]
Oh, Katherine take my hand
I’ve got three pounds and change
I’ll sing you songs of love again
And when we get too drunk to sing
We’ll walk in the Irish Rain.

Forever more I’ve stepped ashore
My sailing days are over, oh
Through time and tide, by your side
Together we’ll grow old.

I threw my sea bag in the bin, yeah
Brought these pretty flowers home
Kiss me Kate, we’ll celebrate
Before the bloom is gone.

A tinker and a tailor and a drunken old sailor
All get together and start to play
Time stands still while they sing their fill
They’ll shout to the break of day.

Sweet little lady with a glass of stout
Drinking it down till the foam runs out.
She’ll help her old man home again
With a walk in the Irish Rain.


6. MARI MAC

Sweet little lass and her name is Mari Mac
Make no mistake she’s the girl I’m gonna track
Lot of other fellas try to get her on her back
But I’m thinking that they’ll have to get up early

Mari and her mother look an awful lot together
In fact you hardly see the one without the other
And people often wonder if it’s Mari or her mother
Or both of them together I am courting.

[Chorus:]
Mari Mac’s mother’s making Mari Mac marry me
My mother’s making me marry Mari Mac
Well I’m gonna marry Mari for Mari’s taking care of me
We’ll all be merry when I marry Mari Mac

Well up among the heather in the hills of Benifee
I had a bonny lass sitting on me knee
Bumble bee stung me right above me knee
Up among the heather in the hills of Benifee

Well a certain bonnie lass and me,
We’re going to spend the day
Sittin among the heather in the hills of Benifee
Where all the boys and girls are making out so free
Up among the heather in the hills of Benifee

[Chorus]

The wedding’s on Wednesday, everything’s arranged
Soon her name will be changed to unless her mind be changed
And making the arrangements I feel I must arrange
Marriage is an awful undertaking

Sure to be a grand affair, grander than a fair
Going to be a fork and plate for every man that’s there
And I’ll be a bugger if I don’t get me share
If I don’t I’ll be very much mistaken.

[Chorus]


7. THE ROVIN' DIES HARD

My name’s John McKenzie, I’m a master at arms
I carry my sword and my shield on my shoulder
I’ve fought every fight from the Don to the Danube
None braver, none better, none bolder
I’ve stood with Montrose and against him
I’ve battled with Swedes and with Danes
And I’ve carried the standard of many’s the army
Through many’s the bloody campaign
But now as I sit in the firelight it seems
There’s a distant horizon to the sword buckle’s gleam
Till a pull at the wine brings
An old soldier’s dream from afar
For the rovin’ dies hard

I’m Callum McLean, I’m a trapper by trade
And it’s forty long years since I saw Tobermory
Through Canada’s forests I’ve carried my blade
And it’s pine trees could tell you my story
Now my wandering days they are over
But I’m thankful to still be alive
For I’ve many’s the kinsman who died in the hulks
At the end of the bold forty-five
I’ve an Indian lass and I’ll never deceive her
But there’s nights with my gun when I’d up and I’d leave her
For the land where the bear
And the fox and the beaver are lord
For the rovin’ dies hard

My name’s Willie Campbell, I’m a ship’s engineer
And I know every berth between Lisbon and Largo
I’ve sweated more diesel in thirty-five years
Than a big tanker takes for a cargo
Of the good times I’ve always had plenty
When the whiskey and the women were wild
And there’s many’s the wean wi’
The red lock o’ the Campbells
Who’s never seen the coast of Argyll
But now as the freighters unload on the quay
The sound of the engines is calling to me
And it sings me a song of the sun and the sea and the stars
For the rovin’ dies hard

I’ve tuned up my fiddle, rosined my bow
And I’ve sung of the clans and the clear crystal fountains
I can tell you the road and the miles to Dundee
To the back of Alaska’s wild mountains
And my traveling days they are over
And the next of the rovers has come
He’ll take all my songs and he’ll sing them again
To the beat of a different drum
And if ever I’m asked why the Scots are beguiled
I’ll lift up my glass in a health, and I’ll smile
And I’ll tell them that fortune’s
Dealt Scotland the wildest of cards
For the rovin’ dies hard