Drinking in the Day

Lyrics

[Intro - "Clearing a Space;" Brendan Kennelly] A man should clear a space for himself Like Dublin city on a Sunday morning about six o'clock Dublin and myself are rid of our traffic then, and I'm walking Houses are solitary and dignified, streets are adventures Twisting in and out and up and down my mind The river is talking to itself and doesn't care if I eavesdrop No longer cluttered with purpose The city turns to the mountains And takes time to listen to the sea And I witness all three communing in silence under a relaxed sky Bridges look aloof and protective The gates of the park are closed Green places must have their privacy too Office blocks are empty, important And a bit pathetic, if they admitted it The small hills in this city are truly surprising When they emerge in that early morning light Nobody has ever walked on them They are waiting for the first explorers To straggle in from the reedy north And squat down here this minute In weary legions between the cathedral and the river At the gates of conquest They might enjoy a deep, uninterrupted sleep To have been used so much and without mercy And still be capable of rediscovering in itself the old nakedness Is what makes a friend of the city when sleep has failed I make through that nakedness to stumble on my own Surprised to find a city is so like a man Statues and monuments check me out as I pass Clearing a space for myself the best I can One Sunday morning, in the original sun, in Dublin [Verse 1] Well I met her up on Leeson Street of a Tuesday afternoon In Summer's fallen colors, sulking back to school I asked her would she linger, and she asked me would I stay? Would I keep a girl in company, drinking in the day? [Chorus] Drinking, drinking Drinking and not thinking Drinking, drinking We'll go drinking in the day [Verse 2] She was almost a woman, she was going on sixteen She asked me to go walking in Saint Stephen's Green She said I love the sunshine and to hear the children play But I won't be distracted when I'm drinking in the day [Verse 3] With her flashing eyes and milk white lies she looked like a song Like the ghost of a woman that first made me go wrong She said I'll have a drink with you but I said you'll have to pay For a comprehensive education, drinking in the day [Chorus] Drinking, drinking Drinking and not thinking Drinking, drinking We'll go drinking in the day [Verse 4] If her mother could have seen us on that bright November day Botticelli and his angel perambulating Ormand Quay A drunken blessed virgin, me rhetorious and gay Bestowing ancient wisdom as to what made me this way [Verse 5] Well here it is: Deny your friends and family, to serve, you must betray Break and enter heaven, well, you'll steal but never save You'll squander every penny and you'll empty every heart You'll travel every darkened road, you'll never finish what you start You'll always talk to strangers and make love with whom you may For God will find good company for your drinking in the day [Chorus] Drinking, drinking Drinking and not thinking Drinking, drinking We'll go drinking in the day [Verse 6] So spend your youth on poetry, and spend your cash at play Every line upon my face is for a girl who went away A kiss, and a song, are fleeting things and fame will always stray So I'll tell the truth, the best spent youth is the one you throw away [Chorus] Drinking, drinking Drinking and not thinking Drinking, drinking We'll go drinking in the day [Chorus] Drinking, drinking Drinking and not thinking Drinking, drinking We'll go drinking in the day [Chorus] Drinking, drinking Drinking and not thinking Drinking, drinking We'll go drinking in the day [Chorus] Drinking, drinking Drinking and not thinking Drinking, drinking We'll go drinking in the day