Dropkick Murphys
Dropkick Murphys are a punk band formed in the Irish Catholic working class neighborhoods of South Boston. Their sound combines punk rock, Oi!, Irish folk, and hardcore.
Albums
[edit]- Its not a rebel cry of some socialist
scheme to push for human rights
Just the facts an obvious mentioned
on the behalf of the working man,
for his family and his livelihood.
Your dreams are in danger,
and "We Must Rise" Our time has come
we are under the gun
"It's Do or Die"- "Do or Die" (Track 2)
- Young skinhead they call you hooligan
Just because you don't make any sense to them
You're a hardworking man whose paid his dues
But they still call you racist on the evening news- "Never Alone" (Track 4)
- Don't need no gang to watch my ass
Just loyal friendship and a pint of Bass- "Never Alone" (Track 4)
- Well its always been about big Money for them,
they're greedy and they reek soaring profits, big gains
The cash accumulation gains is all these cowards seek
And they always find a way to kick out the needy.
Tenant Enemy Number One.- "Tenant Enemy #1" (Track 12)
- And the boys on the docks needed John for sure
When they came to this country he opened the door
He said men I'll tell ya, They don't like our kind
Though it starts with a fist, it must end with your mind.- "Boys on the Docks (Murphys' Pub Version)" (Track 15)
The Gang's All Here (1999)
[edit]- There's no room for dancing on your precious floors, cause you've got to save space for the jocks and whores
You say that our shows are for violent thugs, but we're not the ones on designer drugs- "Pipebomb On Lansdowne" (Track 3)
- Who's gonna save us from this lonely picket line,
10 years of service but I'm still not worth your time.
And I've seen men give their lives,
and heard the stories that they tell of how they labored
for this company which sold it's soul to hell- "10 Years Of Service" (Track 5)
- Cowboys and coppers verse injuns and robbers,
take a guess for which side I was prone- "Wheel of Misfortune" (Track 13)
- Well you're walking down the road and the wind is in your face
You're down and out and the unemployment line's a mile long
The money in your pocket may not get you through the day
But cheer up son I know a place where mugs like us belong
Singing Hail, Hail, the Gangs All Here.
Leave your worries at the door boy, they're not going anywhere- "The Gang's All Here" (Track 16)
Sing Loud, Sing Proud (2001)
[edit]- Oh, workers can you stand it? Oh, tell me how you can. Will you be a lousy scab or will you be a man? Don't scab for the bosses, don't listen to their lies. Us poor folks haven't got a chance unless we organize. Which side are you on? Which side are you on?
- "Which Side Are You On?" (Track 3)
- And so the story's told of a hearty group of men. It's a tale of their triumphs and their woes. Be it raids and melees ancient or the modern worker's struggle that inspires men to stand up for their rights. And should we fall down by the wayside in this ever-changing world, we can look back to these heroes of our past with their staunch determination and ferocious iron will, no tyranny would quell them in their task.
- "Heroes From Our Past" (Track 5)
- They're gonna come when you're not ready, when you're not well-prepared. They're gonna prey upon your weakness -- no man's soul is ever spared. You've got to stand up, yeah, and fight them. Show them what it's all about. This man is not for sale. There will be no backing down.
- "The Gauntlet" (Track 7)
- Turn back the hands on the clock, you're a bitter old man. Who's done nothing but work your hands to the bone on assembly lines. You've grown cold to the touch of the ones that you love. Ignorance is something you can't overcome but you've passed it down and that's something much worse.
- "The Torch" (Track 10)
- In the factories and mills, in the shipyards and mines
We've often been told to keep up with the times
For our skills are not needed, they've streamlined the job
And with sliderule and stopwatch our pride they have robbed.- "Worker's Song" (Track 2)
- And when the sky darkens and the prospect is war
Who's given a gun and then pushed to the fore
And expected to die for the land of our birth
Though we've never owned one lousy handful of earth?- "Worker's Song" (Track 2)
- If they can make a law
Then I can break a law
If I can break a law
Will the law break me?- "The Outcast" (Track 3)
- By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young man calling
Nothing matters, Mary, when you're free
Against the famine and the crown,
I rebelled, they cut me down.
Now you must raise our child with dignity.- "Fields of Athenry" (Track 9) (written by Pete St. John)
- So give me one more chance to prove these problems and frustrations aren't just manifest in memories we're destined to repeat. A second chance to prove I know right from wrong. I swear I'll do things different but can't promise to be strong.
- "Bastards on Parade" (track 10)
- I can bench press a car, I'm an ex football star with degrees from both Harvard and Yale. Girls just can't keep up, I'm a real love machine I've had far better sex while in jail. I've designed the Sears Tower, I make two grand an hour I cook the world's best duck flambé. I'll take the pick of the litter, girls jockey for me I don't need these lines to get laid.
- "Kiss Me I'm Shitfaced" (track 14)
The Warrior's Code (2005)
[edit]- We are the ones who will never be broken
We are the ones who survive.- "Your Spirit's Alive" (Track 1)
- It's another murderous night
Another left hook from hell
A bloody war on the boardwalk
And the kid from Lowell rises to the bell.- "The Warrior's Code" (Track 2) (About Boston boxing legend Mickey Ward)
- Well it's all gone to hell now, even the wimps have gangs
Pop punk tough guys with neck tattoos
Well if you guys are hard then I'd rather be soft- "Wicked Sensitive Crew" (Track 6)
- Come decimate dictatorships and overthrow regimes
In exotic far-off places the vacation of your dreams
You'll assemble puppet governments and play the hand of God
We're an equal opportunity crime fighting squad
Citizen CIA- "Citizen CIA" (Track 8)
- And I can't help but wonder oh Willy McBride. Do all those who lie here know why they died? Did you really believe them when they told you the cause? Did you really believe that this war would end wars? Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame. The killing and dying it was all done in vain. Oh Willy McBride it all happened again. And again, and again, and again, and again
- "The Green Fields of France" (Track 9)
- Oh the day was dying and the wind was sighing, As I lay there crying in my prison cell
- The Auld Triangle (Track 12)
The Meanest of Times (2007)
[edit]- See, we had each other / it was us against the world / famous for nothing / Yeah, nothing was our world
- "Famous For Nothing" (Track 1)
- She had excuses and she chose to use them
she was the victim of unspeakable abuses
her husband was violent, malicious and distant
her kids now belong to the state of Massachusetts.- "The State of Massachusetts" (Track 3)
- Billy was the bright one
Tommy's off his head
mother loved them both the same, at least that's what she said
I don't predict the future, I don't care about the past
send them both to DSS, now you had your chance
the poison took your babies
the judges took your rights
you can have your children or the night!- "The State of Massachusetts" (Track 3)
- This gal she fainted and cried bloody murder, Called for her sons and gathered them all, Christopher swore he'd go no further, Till he had revenge at Flannigan's ball
- "Flannigan's Ball" (Track 8)
- You said we die alone, in this case you were right. No friends by your side or family in sight. There'll be no talking your way out this time. So don't count the cash cause you leave it behind
- "Loyal to No-one" (Track 11)
Singles & Compilations
[edit]- 19 men were tried and fired, August 26th through 29th
For violation of rule 35 -- the forbidden right to organize
They suffered the loss of their livelihood that night.
A city in terror on the thin blue line.
A thousand-plus walked off the job to support their brothers' cause,
The anti-union prohibition clause.- "We Got the Power" on Rock Against Bush, Vol. 2 (2004)
Interviews
[edit]- We go over to Europe and people go ‘So you guys are from Ireland.’ We go ‘No, we’re an American band. We’re not interested in being from Ireland. That’s not what we ever sung about. We don’t romanticize about being from Ireland.’ I’m not even Irish. I’m Scottish-German. That’s not even important.
- Sometimes I feel like I'm repeating myself over and over again to educate the public that not all skinheads are racist, and as a matter of fact there's a large majority of them that aren't.
- Band member Ken Casey in an interview with Andra Parrish, "Shamrocks and Shenanigans: Dropkick Murphys make Irish eyes smile", The Independent Florida Alligator, March 15, 2001 [2]
- The Dropkick Murphy will come and get you if you don't go to sleep tonight ... It's a rehab center, I think it's in Connecticut. I think it was the guy who used to come around late at night for all the drunks, like if you were too drunk to drive home, he would come and get you and put you in this hole that you couldn't get out until you were sober enough, I don't know. There's a bunch a story, it's also a boxer, a bunch of things, a rehab center in Connecticut, grandparents used to scare kids with it.
- Band member Marc Orrell on the origins of the band's name, "A Toast with the Dropkick Murphys", Dabelly[3]
