They Are the Roses

A song for you this evening, and it's not to make you sad
Or for adding to the sorrow of a troubled Northern land
But lately I've been thinking, and it just won't leave my mind
I'll tell you now of two good friends. They were both good friends of
Mine
Isaac Scott from Derry, he lived just across the fields
A great man for the music and the dancing and the reels
MacDonald came from South Armagh to court young Agnes fair
It was then we'd meet on Ryan Road, and laughter filled the air
Now, Isaac, he was Protestant and Sean was Catholic born
But it never made a difference, for their friendship it was strong
And sometimes in the evening when we heard the sound of drums
We said "War won't divide us, we will always be as one
For the land our fathers plow in, the soil it is the same
And the places where we say our prayers have just got different
Names."
We talked about our friends who'd died, we hoped there'd be no more
It was little then we realized the tragedy in store
There were roses, roses, there were roses
And the tears of the people ran together
It was on a Sunday morning when the awful news came around
There'd been another killing outside of Caplan town
We knew that Isaac danced up there, we knew he liked the band
We heard that he was dead, and we just could not understand
We gathered at his graveside on a cold and rainy day

The minister just closed his eyes, and for no revenge he prayed
And those of us who knew him from along the Ryan Road
Just bowed our heads and said a prayer for the resting of his soul
There were roses, roses, there were roses
And the tears of the people ran together
Now fear it filled the countryside, and fear filled every home
And late one night, a car came prowling round the Ryan Road
A Catholic would be killed tonight to even up the score
Oh Christ, it's young MacDonald that they've taken from the door
"Isaac was my friend!" he cried, he begged them with his fear
But centuries of hatred have ears that cannot hear
"An eye for an eye" was all that filled their minds
And another eye for another eye, til everyone is blind
There were roses, roses, there were roses
And the tears of the people ran together
Now I don't know where the moral is, or how this song should end
But I wonder just how many wars are fought between good friends
And the men who give the orders, well, they're not the ones who die
It's Scott and MacDonald and the likes of you and I
There were roses, roses, there were roses
And the tears of the people ran together