Selected Works Of Billy O'Neill

The Day They Buried Ronnie Drew
By Billy O'Neill

I saw it on the news that day, it was the headline story
Gasps from those surprised and shocked from Belfast down to Gorey
A misty day, the sky was grey, bad feelings in me belly
The day they buried Ronnie Drew and dug up old Luke Kelly

The world seemed to stop at once, when the message had sunk in
We all knew we would be there when the first dig was dug in
We were early for the ceremony, we stopped off in a deli
The day they buried Ronnie Drew and dug up old Luke Kelly

All around, the crowd surround, the sun splitting the sky
Young and old deep forty-fold, alert and so wide eyed
As the people gathered round, they showed it on the telly
The day they buried Ronnie Drew and dug up old Luke Kelly

As light grew dim day turned to black we waited patiently
The muffled screams from Ronnie Drew made us all smile with glee
They pulled the box up from the ground, the air was thick and smelly
The day they buried Ronnie Drew and dug up old Luke Kelly

They swapped the caskets in the ground and started to refill the earth
They had to dig a wider hole, Drew possessed such girth
They dropped the box from four feet up, a digger lost his welly
The day they buried Ronnie Drew and dug up old Luke Kelly

The hushed up crowd, crowbars in hand, went up to Kellys casket
We prised open the lid and all stood back, I stumbled on a basket
Out he sprang with banjo in hand, my knees just turned to jelly
The day they buried Ronnie Drew and dug up old Luke Kelly

Oh yes, I remember it as if it was yesterday
The day they buried Ronnie Drew and dug up old Luke Kelly

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