A traditional folk song -- mos' definitely a drinking song -- that's one of Great Big Sea's standards:


Oh the night that Paddy Murphy died,
is a night I'll never forget
Some of the boys got loaded drunk,
and they ain't got sober yet;
As long as a bottle was passed around
every man was feelin' gay
O'Leary came with the bagpipes,
some music for to play

CHORUS: That's how they showed
their respect for Paddy Murphy
That's how they showed
their honour and their pride;
They said it was a sin and shame
and they winked at one another
And every drink in the place
was full the night Pat Murphy died

As Mrs. Murphy sat in the corner
pouring out her grief
Kelly and his gang came
tearing down the street
They went into an empty room
and a bottle of whiskey stole
They put the bottle with the corpse
to keep that whiskey cold

(CHORUS)

About two o'clock in the morning
after empty'ing the jug
Doyle rolls up the ice box lid
to see poor Paddy's mug
We stopped the clock
so Mrs. Murphy couldn't tell the time
And at a quarter after two
we argued it was nine

(CHORUS)

They stopped the hearse on George Street
outside Sundance Saloon
They all went in at half past eight
and staggered out at noon
They went up to the graveyard,
so holy and sublime
Found out when they got there,
they'd left the corpse behind!

(CHORUS)

Oh the night that Paddy Murphy died,
is a night I'll never forget
Some of the boys got loaded drunk
and they ain't been sober yet;
As long as a bottle was passed around
every man was feelin' gay
O'Leary came with the bagpipes,
some music for to play

(CHORUS)