Danny Farrell

I knew Danny Farrell when his football was a can
With his hand-me-downs and Welliers
And his sandwiches of bran
But now that pavement peasant
Is a full grown bitter man
With all the trials and troubles
Of his travelling people’s clan

He’s a looser, a boozer, a me and you user
A raider, a trader, a people police hater
So lonely and only, what you’d call a gurrier
Still now, Danny Farrell, he’s a man

I knew Danny Farrell
When he joined the National School
He was lousy at the Gaelic
We called him amadán – a fool
He was brilliant at the toss school
Or trading objects in the pawn
By the time he was an adult
All his charming ways had gone

I knew Danny Farrell
When we queued up for the dole
And he tried to hide the loss of pride
That eats away the soul
But mending pots and kettles
Is a trade lost in the past
There’s no handouts here for tinkers
Was the answer when he asked

He’s a looser, a boozer, a me and you user
A raider, a trader, a people police hater
So lonely and only, what you’d call a gurrier
Still now, Danny Farrell, he’s a man

I still know Danny Farrell
Saw him just there yesterday
Drinking methylated spirits
With some winos on the quay
He’s forty, going on eighty
With his eyes of hope bereft
And he told me this for certain
There’s not many of us left

He’s a looser, a boozer, a me and you user
A raider, a trader, a people police hater
So lonely and only, what you’d call a gurrier
Still now, Danny Farrell, he’s a man