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A traditional song (inasmuch as roughly a century ago can be traditional)

lyrics

There's a uniform still hanging
In what's known as father's room
A uniform so simple in its style
It has no fancy braid of gold
No hat with feathered plume
But my mother has preserved it
All the while

One day, she made me try it on
A wish of mine for years
In memory of your father Sean, she said
When I put the Sam Browne on
She was smiling through her tears
As she placed the broad black brimmer
On my head

It's just a broad black brimmer
With ribbons frayed and torn
From the careless whisk of many a mountain breeze
An old trench coat
That's so battle-stained and worn
And breaches almost thread-bare at the knees

A Sam Browne belt with buckle big and strong
And a holster that's been empty many a day
When men claim Ireland's freedom
The one should choose to lead them
Will wear the broad black brimmer of the IRA

It was the uniform worn by my father years ago
When he reached my mother's homestead on the run
It was the uniform he wore in that little church below
When oul' Father Mac, he blessed the pair as one

After truce and treaty and the parting of the ways
He wore it when he marched out with the rest
When they bore his body down on that rugged heather braes
They placed the broad black brimmer on his chest

It's just a broad black brimmer
With ribbons frayed and torn
From the careless whisk of many a mountain breeze
An old trench coat
That's so battle-stained and worn
And breaches almost thread-bare at the knees

A Sam Browne belt with buckle big and strong
And a holster that's been empty many a day
When men claim Ireland's freedom
The one should choose to lead them
Will wear the broad black brimmer of the IRA

credits

from Forfocs​​​é​​​ic, Vol. 3: Love & War, released March 1, 2023
Craig Divino — Drums
Thom Dunn — Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Mandolin, Woodrow / Upright Appalachian Dulcimer, Accordion, Programming, etc.
Lyrics — Traditional

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Thom Dunn Boston, Massachusetts

Thom Dunn is a Boston-based writer, musician, & new media artist. He enjoys Oxford commas, metaphysics, and romantic clichés (especially when they involve whiskey), and he firmly believes that Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" is the single greatest atrocity committed against mankind. He is a graduate of Clarion Writer's Workshop at UCSD & Emerson College. thomdunn.net ... more

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