There Were Roses - Tommy Sands [1] My [C] song for you this evening is [F] not to [G] make you [C] sad, Nor for [C] adding to the [G] sorrows of our [F] troubled northern [C] land, But [C] lately I've been thinking, and it [F] just wont [G] leave my [C] mind, To [C] tell you of two [G] friends of mine, who were [F] both good friends of [C] mine. [2] [C] Alan Bell from Benagh, [F] he lived just [G] across the [C] fields, A [C] great man for the [G] music and the [F] dancing and the [C] reels, [C] O'Malley came from South Armagh, to [F] court young [G] Alice [C] fair, And [C] we'd often meet on the [G] Ryan Road and the [F] laughter filled the [C] air. [Chorus] [C]There were [F] ros[C]es,[F] ros[C]es,There were [F] ros[C]es, And the [C] tears of the [G] people [F] ran to[C]gether. [3] Though [C] Alan he was Protestant, and [F] Sean was [G] Catholic [C] born, It [C] never made much [G] difference, for the [F] friendship it was [C] strong, And [C] sometimes in the evenings when we [F] heard the [G] sound of [C] drums, We [C] said it wont [G] divide us, we [F] always will be as [C] one. [4] For the [C] ground our fathers ploughed in, the [F] soil is [G] just the [C] same, And the [C] places where we [G] say our prayers have [F] just got different [C] names, We [C] talked about the friends who died, and we [F] hoped there'd [G] be no [C] more, It's [C] little then we [G] realised the [F] tragedy in [C] store. [Chorus] [5] It was [C] on a Sunday morning when the [F] awful [G] news came [C] down, [C] Another killing had been [G] done just [F] outside Newry [C] Town, We [C] knew that Alan danced up there, we [F] knew he [G] liked the [C] bands, But [C] when we heard that he was [G] dead, we [F] could not [C] understand. [6] We [C] gathered at his grave side [F] on that [G] cold and rainy [C] day, And the [C] minister he [G] closed his eyes and [F] prayed for [C] no revenge, And [C] all of us who knew him, from [F] along the [G] Ryan [C] Road, We [C] bowed our heads and we [G] said a prayer, for the [F] resting of his [C] soul. [7] Now [C] fear it filled the country side, [F] there was [G] fear in every [C] home, When the [C] car of death came [G] prowling round the [F] lonely Ryan [C] Road, A [C] Catholic would be killed tonight, to [F] even [G] up the [C] score, Oh [C] Christ it's young [G] O'Malley, that they've [F] taken from the [C] door. [8] [C] Alan was my friend he cried, he [F] begged them [G] with his [C] fear, But [C] centuries of [G] hatred have [F]ears that cannot [C] hear, An [C] eye for an eye, was [F] all that [G] filled their [C] mind, And [C] another eye for [G] another eye, till [F] everyone is [C] blind. [Chorus] [9] I [C] don’t know where the moral is or [F] where this [G] song should [C] end, But I [C] wonder just how [G] many wars are [F] fought between good [C] friends, And [C] those that give the orders are [F] not the [G] ones to [C] die, It's [C] Bell and [G] O'Malley and the [F] likes of you and [C] I. [Chorus] (Added by Rodger, Bangor Ukes 2025)