Lawless Chords & Lyrics - Christy Moore

[VERSE 1]

[G]He was Lawless by name, [C]Lawless by [G]nature
[G]He was trouble [D]right from the [G]start [G]
[Am]Hard as nails, runnin' [D]wild through the streets
[G]He was breakin' his poor mother's [D]heart
[Am]Nature played a [D]trick on Lawless
[G]And the humour of nature is [D]cruel
[G]And he grew up as we [C]all had [G]expected him
[G]Into a [D]dangerous [G]fool

[VERSE 2]

[G]He was a hard man, a [C]man for all [G]seasons
[G]He was always [D]out for a [G]fight [G]
[Am]He couldn't hold drink but [D]still he'd get plastered
[G]In Clark's every Saturday [D]night
[Am]Strip to the vest and [D]challenge the best
[G]Until the guards they were called to come [D]fast
[G]And they'd lock him away for the [C]rest of the [G]day
[G]And let him out on the [D]Sunday for [G]mass

[VERSE 3]

[G]Oh one night he went down to the[C] Ringsend [G]Regatta
[G]Where he met up with the [D]bould Dolly [G]Platts [G]
[Am]She wasn't exactly [D]what you'd call beauty
[G]But she was the belle of her [D]flats
[Am]A whirlwind romance and [D]Dolly took a flier
[G]With Lawless she [D]would settle down
[G]And It was pure coincidence [C]three months[G] before
[G]There was a yankee [D]destroyer in [G]town

[VERSE 4]

[G]And the couple were blessed with [C]one of god's [G]miracles
[G]Before six [D]months had [G]elapsed [G]
[Am]Dolly gave birth to a [D]nine-pound black baby
[G]And Lawless was fit to [D]collapse
[Am]She swore she'd never been [D]touched by another
[G]And Lawless took her at her[D] word
[G]And the neighbours all say, she's the [C]spit of her [G]father
[G]and the cuckoo is a [D]wonderful [G]bird.'

[VERSE 5]

[G]Oh now Lawless stays in and l[C]ooks after the f[G]amily
[G]While Dolly goes o[D]ut for the [G]night [G]
[Am]The old gossips all say she's fr[D]ee in her ways
[G]And its there evil rumours run[D] rife
[Am]When Lawless heard this he [D]waited for Dolly
[G]In the bridge where the river runs [D]low
[G]Noone will ever know [C]what happened [G]next
[G]But Dolly drowned in the [D]Dodder [G]below

[VERSE 6]

[G]Some say he's crazy and [C]more say he's[G] evil
[G]Everyone s[D]ays that he's [G]mad [G]
[Am]Noone will defend him, [D]he was no angel
[G]But I'll tell you he wasn't all [D]bad
[Am]They've locked him away for the [D]rest of his natural
[G]Never again will he [D]see
[G]Down the back of Ring's End
There's a [C]lonely child [G]playing
[G]Where the Liffey flows [D]into the [G]sea

Outro


[G]Down the back of Ring's End
There's a [C]lonely child [G]playing
[G]Where the Liffey flows [D]into the [C]sea [C] [C] [C] [C] [G]