Sea Monsters by Paddy Garrigan and The Stroller Priests

I jumped ship and I ran away 			
(Sea Monsters took him ashore)
Swore it's the last they would see of me  		
(Sea Monsters took him ashore)
Ticked the box, “no publicity” 
(Sea Monsters took him ashore)
Kissed the book and I went to sea
(Sea Monsters took him ashore &c)

I worked with a dog in the frozen north
The dog swam away like it was made of cork
Sat on his throne like a Merchant prince
Drank his wine and he stank of piss

Cast adrift on the seven seas
Hoary sailors with hairy knees
Till the ship struck a rock on the ocean floor
She sank like a stone and she sailed no more

Waves to the left and above me eyes
I looked north to my great surprise
With nought but the moon for to drive me on
It turned it's back on me I was gone


Down in the doldrums and all forlorn
Skin was soaked to the very bone
In mortal fear of me very life
Till I took a sea monster to be me wife

Wrapped in her tentacles I saw her face
And saw in fact there was ten of them
I felt the pull of the siren's call
Felt the love that could save them all

Sea Monsters took him ashore
To lands I'd never seen before
There I'll stay forever more
Sea Monsters took him ashore

From the album 'I Jumped Ship', released 29 April 2016.

Recorded, engineered and mixed by Darren Leadsom
Produced by Darren Leadsom, Ben McCabe and Paddy Garrigan (but mostly by Darren Leadsom)
Words and music by Paddy Garrigan (c) 2016
Brass arrangements by Ben McCabe and performed by the Burst Horns

Songs performed and arranged by Paddy Garrigan and the Stroller Priests, who are:
Paddy Garrigan - Vocals, Mandolin, Guitar, Banjo and Concertina
Ben McCabe - Backing Vocals, Drums
Darren Leadsom - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals

Find us at www.strollerpriests.com

Sea Monsters

Where the Dead go when they Die by Paddy Garrigan and The Stroller Priests

Some people move away without due notice
They don't give you a forwarding address
They may give you a fright in the middle of the night
But they can't say where they got to when they left
I try hard not to think about dying
At least, not the parts of who or how or why
But there's one thing I'd like to know 
And if you know, let me know, 
Tell me: where do the dead go when they die?

When they die, when they die, tell me 
where do the dead go when they die?

I am thinking today of that sorrowful day
When no more here on earth shall I be found
When my friends say goodbye with a tear and a sigh
And they put me down underneath the ground
When they lay me down that fatal, fateful morning
There won't be no time to stop and say goodbye
I'll say “that's all from me” and my new home will be
In a box where the dead go when they die.

When they die, when they die, 
In a box where the dead go when they die.

Is there much entertainment up in heaven?
Do you have to come up with your own?
If you gave me all eternity and gave me a harp
I could still fail to get the thing in tune
Are there any bartenders up in heaven?
If there are, then I know where I'll abide
I'll say “thanks and goodnight”, then I'll go for a pint
In the bar where the dead go when they die

When they die, when they die, 
In the bar where the dead go when they die

Is there some way you should be remembered?
Is it something you did or you said?
Is there one simple fact upon which we can act
and cling onto, now that you're dead?
I don't want to make you a picture
Or a statue twenty-seven feet high
Let me get some words down and I'll carry you around
In the song where the dead go when they die

When they die, when they die, 
In the song where the dead go when they die

When they die, when they die, tell me 
where do the dead go when they die?

From the album 'I Jumped Ship', released 29 April 2016.

Recorded, engineered and mixed by Darren Leadsom
Produced by Darren Leadsom, Ben McCabe and Paddy Garrigan (but mostly by Darren Leadsom)
Words and music by Paddy Garrigan (c) 2016

Songs performed and arranged by Paddy Garrigan and the Stroller Priests, who are:
Paddy Garrigan - Vocals, Guitars
Ben McCabe - Backing Vocals, Drums
Darren Leadsom - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals

Find us at www.strollerpriests.com

Where The Dead Go When They Die

Now I Want More by Paddy Garrigan and The Stroller Priests

Silver spoon – not for me, I received the full cutlery set 
Because Daddy felt I should not want for the best I could get
The best life, the best education, 
surpassing all great expectation
The charmed life for me, that's to be sure -
But I wanted more

And as time drew on, it grew apparent that I was a man
Thus anointed, I took up my place near the head of the clan
The mansions, the baronetcy: 
it's the family business for me
We gave them the lad, they gave us a Lord
But I wanted more

Oh, I wanted more, yes I wanted more
At this auspicious hour, I attained my full power
And now, I want more

And in time, sure enough, all of my dearest rivals appeared
But by letting them bathe in my sunlight I kept them all near
Notwithstanding the odd, regrettable fall, 
they were largely content to play ball
If you scratch my back, I might scratch yours
But I may want more

From my window I look at this land that is promised to me
Like a young wife awaiting her husband, she's waiting for me
And if she's respectful and serves 
then I might give her what she deserves
And when it begins to feel like a chore
I will want more

Oh, now I want more, yes now I want more
Because what's yours is mine but what's mine isn't yours
Yes now I want more
Oh now I want more, yes now I want more
I don't give a toss who gets hurt or gets lost
Now I want more

All the snipers have me in their sights 
and my answerphone's daily transcribed
And there's many who've stood in my path
But there's not many who have survived

On a shelf in a hospital ward there's a helium balloon
With a note attached he'll never read that says:”Get Well Soon”
But what that note really should say
Is “You should have stayed out of my way”
I have absolute power over my life and your
And now, I want more

From the album 'I Jumped Ship', released 29 April 2016.

Recorded, engineered and mixed by Darren Leadsom
Produced by Darren Leadsom, Ben McCabe and Paddy Garrigan (but mostly by Darren Leadsom)
Words and music by Paddy Garrigan (c) 2016

Songs performed and arranged by Paddy Garrigan and the Stroller Priests, who are:
Paddy Garrigan - Vocals, Guitars, Harmonium and Piano
Ben McCabe - Backing Vocals, Drums
Darren Leadsom - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals

Find us at www.strollerpriests.com

Now I Want More

Stoned Freaks by Paddy Garrigan and The Stroller Priests

The King sits in the Market Square, 
a-combing of his greasy hair
saying, “Dreadful, awful, 
stoned freaks, stoned freaks, stoned freaks”
Who hails the King as he entreats 
his subjects flapping in the streets
Saying, “Dreadful, awful, 
stoned freaks, stoned freaks, stoned freaks”

Amongst the leaves and papers dry, 
a host of demons rule the sky
Don't feed them as they flap on by, 
you'll loosen up their beaks
The subjects of a maddened king, 
give heed – you'll hear the caged bird sing
“It's dreadful, it's awful, 
stoned freaks, stoned freaks, stoned freaks”

The King sits low in maddened gloom 
inside the precincts of his room
saying, “Dreadful, awful, 
stoned freaks, stoned freaks, stoned freaks”
The King declares a Royal War - 
“they'll never get past my front door”
Saying “Dreadful, awful, 
stoned freaks, stoned freaks, stoned freaks”

But still they come in, one by one, 
with armaments all set to stun
And menace dark: they coo as one 
and swoop on city streets
Invisible to you or I, 
they would not bloody let it lie
It's dreadful, it's awful, 
stoned freaks, stoned freaks, stoned freaks

Don't ask for whom this chance does call,
We come to claim you and your soul
And all your friends and, most of all, 
the ones for whom you speak
Tomorrow you shall never know 
and your epitaph shall crow
“It's dreadful, it's awful, 
stoned freaks, stoned freaks, stoned freaks”

In Market Square I met a bird 
who had the strangest choice of words
Singing “Dreadful, awful, 
stoned freaks, stoned freaks, stoned freaks”

From the album 'I Jumped Ship', released 29 April 2016.

Recorded, engineered and mixed by Darren Leadsom
Produced by Darren Leadsom, Ben McCabe and Paddy Garrigan (but mostly by Darren Leadsom)
Words and music by Paddy Garrigan (c) 2016

Songs performed and arranged by Paddy Garrigan and the Stroller Priests, who are:
Paddy Garrigan - Vocals, Guitars
Ben McCabe - Backing Vocals, Drums
Darren Leadsom - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals

Find us at www.strollerpriests.com

Stoned Freaks

The Honey Mead by Paddy Garrigan and The Stroller Priests

They stood on the bed, emptying glasses
The words were said like lines from an actor
The honey mead was sweet but so potent
They drank up and then they fell down

She felt like a queen, he felt like a merchant
They didn't have long and business was urgent
And things like a name did not seem important
They drank up and then they fell down

Oh, fix me up another, fix me up another drink
I don't need it to feel pretty, I need it so I can't think
Or maybe you've got something else to put me in the pink
But I'm falling, I'm falling down

She felt like the moon, he felt like a sailor
The queen of all lands and Glad the Impaler
He gave her a kiss and then he betrayed her
They drank up and then they fell down

She felt like a bag, he felt like a soldier
His life in her hands, her hands on his shoulders
For ten minutes' sleep, they felt ten years older, 
They drank up and then they fell down

Oh, let there be another, let there be another,
Let there be some way that you could satisfy,
You haven't done it yet.
You said you'd always love me but you've 
managed to forget my name. It's Hell-and
We're falling down

They stood on a bed….

From the album 'I Jumped Ship', released 29 April 2016.

Recorded, engineered and mixed by Darren Leadsom
Produced by Darren Leadsom, Ben McCabe and Paddy Garrigan (but mostly by Darren Leadsom)
Words and music by Paddy Garrigan (c) 2016

Songs performed and arranged by Paddy Garrigan and the Stroller Priests, who are:
Paddy Garrigan - Vocals, Guitars and harmonium
Ben McCabe - Backing Vocals, Drums
Darren Leadsom - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals

Find us at www.strollerpriests.com

The Honey Mead

What You Want & What You Get by Paddy Garrigan and The Stroller Priests

Jack Power's last wife left, he blew himself up in his shed
Now he's got a crater on the moon
James Joyce dismantled English writing Finnegans' Wake
Now he's Dublin's tourist trail every June
Now, it's hard to eat your just desserts and smile to keep 'em down
When there's one hard fact we'd all like to forget:
It makes fuck all difference if you know what you want
What you want is never what you get

I prayed each night to Jesus, and his little ghostly friend,
I ended up with no belief in God
I prayed to Father Christmas every Christmas of my life
I didn't want a single thing I got
I tried to pray to anyone who'd listen to my prayers
I stuck in my head and gargled in the font
You should all know better than to ask what I got:
What I got was never what I want

The way things are is never how you might want them to be
It's up to you to want the life you own
It's up to you to take the little pieces, make them fit
Put the jigsaw back where jigsaws shouldn't go
It's up to you to take your life and turn it around
To exercise the fullness of your powers
All your expectations can be easily met,
All you've got to do is make them lower

All your expectations can be easily met
Sixty more born every single hour

From the album 'I Jumped Ship', released 29 April 2016.



Recorded, engineered and mixed by Darren Leadsom
Produced by Darren Leadsom, Ben McCabe and Paddy Garrigan (but mostly by Darren Leadsom)
Words and music by Paddy Garrigan (c) 2016
Horn arrangements by Ben McCabe and performed by The Burst Horns

Songs performed and arranged by Paddy Garrigan and the Stroller Priests, who are:
Paddy Garrigan - Vocals, Guitars
Ben McCabe - Backing Vocals, Drums
Darren Leadsom - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals

Find us at www.strollerpriests.com

What You Want And What You Get

Me & The Universe Blues by Paddy Garrigan and The Stroller Priests

Me and the Universe took a little trip
We took a little trip to see me friends
Bought some beer and some wine
And we had ourselves a time
And we drank till we were nearly at the end

I believed things were going to improve
My condition wouldn't waver any more
Then me and the Universe had a little fight
And they found me rocking gently on the floor

Walked in me den, the highest of all me
Went to bed believing me a God
I awoke next morn wishing I had not been born
And never thinking any of it odd

In love and lust, in God you cannot trust
Nor in matters of the heart will he attend
He will come ot you when you least require him to
And he may not be disguised as a friend

If you're feeling down, he may hand to you the crown
If you need a new idea, you cannot lose
If your head is full, he'll knock you down until 
You're walking with the Universe Blues

Fear or flight: I never want a fight,
I'll never make a runner in these shoes
Come with me and I'll tell you all about
Me and the Universe Blues

From the album 'I Jumped Ship', released 29 April 2016.

Recorded, engineered and mixed by Darren Leadsom
Produced by Darren Leadsom, Ben McCabe and Paddy Garrigan (but mostly by Darren Leadsom)
Words and music by Paddy Garrigan (c) 2016
Horn arrangements by Ben McCabe and performed by the Burst Horns

Songs performed and arranged by Paddy Garrigan and the Stroller Priests, who are:
Paddy Garrigan - Vocals, Mandolin
Ben McCabe - Backing Vocals, Drums
Darren Leadsom - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals

Find us at www.strollerpriests.com

Me And The Universe Blues

No Way Back by Paddy Garrigan and The Stroller Priests

What a day it's been, not seen so many folks in my life
- a rush and a pull and I saw the light
Bright lights, tears and laughter
It's the centre stage for me
And now there's no way back, no way back
There's no way back for me

Holding hands, the first time I ever dined out
The food was amazing, the service knocked me out
I've been kissed and I've been cuddled 
Till I went blue in the cheeks
And now there's no way back, no way back
There's no way back for me

When I think of where I've been, 
I can't wait until tomorrow
When I think of what I've seen
I could dream until tomorrow, tomorrow

I drove in a car for the first time in my life
And for the first I saw how this city looks at night
Everybody wants to know me, it's a fairy tale for me
And now there's no way back, no way back
There's no way back for me

Man, what a day, I can't wait until tomorrow
When I think of where I've been, I can't wait until tomorrow
Man, what a day. I hope it's this good tomorrow.

From the album 'I Jumped Ship', released 29 April 2016.

Recorded, engineered and mixed by Darren Leadsom
Produced by Darren Leadsom, Ben McCabe and Paddy Garrigan (but mostly by Darren Leadsom)
Words and music by Paddy Garrigan (c) 2016
Horn arrangements by Ben McCabe, and performed by The Burst Horns

Songs performed and arranged by Paddy Garrigan and the Stroller Priests, who are:
Paddy Garrigan - Vocals, Guitars and Piano
Ben McCabe - Backing Vocals, Drums
Darren Leadsom - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals

Find us at www.strollerpriests.com

No Way Back

Dad's Army by Paddy Garrigan and The Stroller Priests

Alright Grandad, give it a rest, 
we all know that you fought in the war
Alright Grandad, please turn it down, 
I think you might have mentioned that one before
He thinks he's out in the trenches 
but he's stuck here, guarding the home
In his Dad's Army, 
it's a Dad's Army
He's not fighting on the beaches but he's still fighting the war

Alright Grandad, calm yourself down, 
I think it might be affecting your health
If watching TV makes you upset 
then why don't you go and watch something else
It's just a popularity contest 
but you'd think it was the end of the world 
For his Dad's Army, 
it's a Dad's Army
He's prepared to march on horseback 
when perhaps he should admit that he's bored

He used to shout “Up yours, Grandad” 
but he doesn't shout it any more
In his Dad's Army, 
it's a Dad's Army
He'll be up all night rehearsing 
then be too tired to go and fight in the war

I've got to hand it to you Grandad 
because I don't want it any more
It's a Dad's Army, 
it's a Dad's Army
He's gonna keep on keeping on 
though there's no-one left to hear any more

From the album 'I Jumped Ship', released 29 April 2016.

Recorded, engineered and mixed by Darren Leadsom
Produced by Darren Leadsom, Ben McCabe and Paddy Garrigan (but mostly by Darren Leadsom)
Words and music by Paddy Garrigan (c) 2016

Songs performed and arranged by Paddy Garrigan and the Stroller Priests, who are:
Paddy Garrigan - Vocals, Guitars
Ben McCabe - Backing Vocals, Drums
Darren Leadsom - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals

Find us at www.strollerpriests.com

Dad's Army

The Way of the Muse by Paddy Garrigan and The Stroller Priests

Damn your eyes, I'd like to tell you some lies 
about the troubles you think are your lot
Sometimes the pain we remember 
is better than the lies we forgot
Lift your head and shake, if it were not for your sake
We should never have been here today
That's the way of the Muse, boy 
– keep going 'till you get in her way

Young and small, he's no trouble at all 
apart from all of his terror inside
Of God as he appears in the Bible 
(as opposed to what he's like in real life)
Well, now the fear has gone, I'd like a Pantheon 
so I can offer whatever is mine
That's the way of the Muse, boy – we'll all follow on in time

The cold was biting, 
it's ever so exciting, 
we played and sang 'till the dawn's early light
She sang in silence 
with overtones of violence 
about someone who had broken her heart
- she could have broken my heart all night

Open road help to carry my load, 
let the river come and break my fall
Some say the moon will start talking, 
others say he doesn't shut up at all
Open heart, I'd like to jump on her cart, 
I will follow wherever she goes
That's the way of the Muse, boy 
– stay lucky, so long, cheerio

From the album 'I Jumped Ship', released 29 April 2016.

Recorded, engineered and mixed by Darren Leadsom
Produced by Darren Leadsom, Ben McCabe and Paddy Garrigan (but mostly by Darren Leadsom)
Words and music by Paddy Garrigan (c) 2016

Songs performed and arranged by Paddy Garrigan and the Stroller Priests, who are:
Paddy Garrigan - Vocals, Guitars and Piano
Ben McCabe - Backing Vocals, Drums
Darren Leadsom - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals

Find us at www.strollerpriests.com

The Way Of The Muse

Paddy Garrigan and The Stroller Priests

Three occasionally bearded fellows puffed out and panting at the precipice of the rock cliff over the ocean of folk sniffing the spray of grunge through the snot of punk.

Paddy Garrigan - Vocals/Guitar/Mandolin/
Ben McCabe - Drums/Backing Vocals
Darren Leadsom - Bass/Backing Vocals

The Stroller Priests

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