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American Wake

from Immigrant Songs by Wolf Loescher

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about

Imagine a time before Google Maps, before MapQuest, before even the super-sized road atlas you could get in any Walmart…a time when “America” was as unknown as the dark side of the moon…more myth and legend than reality. By the end of The Famine in 1850, nearly one third of the entire population of Ireland had left the country in “coffin ships” for the New World. The odds of surviving the trip and returning home again was so low that families often held a “wake”, a party celebrating the life of the those they were unlikely to see ever again.

lyrics

In the year of forty-seven
A new tradition came home
From necessity came a brand new name
For the hunger that stalked their bones

They got their affairs in order
And gathered their friends around
What was left of the food and the whiskey too
Was rounded up from this town
Well, they listened to the lies and the stories
A last chance to look them in the eye
Like a walking corpse behind the horse
And you didn’t even get to die

Chorus
An American Wake was all they had
They never went back to their native land
They left to find a place to stand
With everything they could take
But first they had to face their American Wake

Well, the Brits all said it was written
The famine was willed by God
The Tory crimes of the London Times
Sent many to die in the fog
Some gave gifts for the journey
Some only had tears and a prayer
An eleven week ride when they caught the tide
If they even lived halfway there

Then a jig was danced, a one last chance
For the father to face the son
As the keener wailed they could count the sails
In the rising of the sun
There were blessings and toasts, they buried old ghosts
And they drank to the now and then
As the minutes passed by they tried to deny
They would never see Ireland again

credits

from Immigrant Songs, released September 29, 2023
Words and Music by Brent Hoad
© Elderspub Music

WL – Lead and Harmony Vocals, Irish Bouzouki, Drums
BP – Bass Guitar, Harmony Vocals
SM – Acoustic Guitar
TB – Whistle
KR – Accordion

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Wolf Loescher Longmont, Colorado

Wolf Loescher is a singer / storyteller based in Longmont, Colorado. He sings songs and tells stories from the Old World and the New, accompanying himself on his custom 8-string Irish bouzouki, tenor guitar, bodhran, and foot percussion. He is often joined by fabulous musicians from around the country in his backing band “The Growlers.” ... more

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