Story Behind The Song

Made up

Song Description

Irish folk tale of a lifelong love that goes unrequited

Lyrics

Raised together on the streets of Dublin;
Fell in love when they were only kids
He swore his love to her would last forever
She, in turn, would keep her passion hid
But as she grew, she slowly came to love him
As she saw him through this many trials
To her, he was the princely boy of Dublin
To him, she was his Shannon of the Isles

As the boy became a man he wondered
What lay far beyond those fields of green
She understood his need to go a-searchin'
To find himself and worlds he's never seen
And as they kissed goodbye before his sailing
He said he would be gone for just a while
She gave to him a locket filled with memories
Of his time with Shannon of the Isles

He found himself a stranger in a strange land
Longing for his loving Irish home
The more he stayed away the more he wondered
If she would love the man that he'd become
And as the years wore on he'd sit and query
If she still felt his love over the miles
And if her heart like his was filled with longing
Longing for his Shannon of the Isles

He soon became a soldier in an army
Making free the soil on which he stood
And feeling deep remorse for all the killing
In his heart he knew that he was good
While sitting in a war-torn field one August
He found one joyful thought amid the bile
When this sad war was over he'd be sailing
Into the arms of Shannon of the Isles

In two long years the fighting finally ended
He laid his musket down to fight no more
He'd seen all of the world he'd ever wanted
Now wanted but to leave this foreign shore
Upon the ship's return he kept on thinking
Of her tender touch and loving smile
And how his life had changed since his departure
From his dearest Shannon of the Isles

All his loved ones greeted him with sadness
When his ship arrived upon the shore
They said the winter freeze had been a cruel one
And that Shannon died the year before
And when they found him hanging from the rafters
They knew that suicide was not his style
For in his hand a note he wrote explaining,
"I'm going to meet my Shannon of the Isles,
forever with my Shannon of the Isles"