Raised on songs and stories, heroes of renown,
The passing tale of glory that once was Dublin Town,
The hallowed halls and houses, the haunting children's rhymes,
That once were part of Dublin in the rare old times.
Ring around the Rosie, as the light declines,
I remember Dublin City in the rare old times.
My name it is Sean Dempsey, as Dublin as can be.
Born hard and raised in Pimlico in a house that used to be.
By trade, I was a cooper lost out to redundancy.
Like my house that fell to progress, my trade of memory.
Ring around the Rosie, as the light declines.
I remember Dublin City in the rare old times.
The years have made me bitter, the drink has dimmed my brain,
For Dublin keeps on changing and nothing seems the same,
The Metropole and Pillar are gone, the Royal long pulled down,
As the gray unyielding concrete makes a city of my town.
Ring around the Rosie, as the light declines.
I remember Dublin City in the rare old times.
Fare thee well, my Anna Liffey, I could no longer stay.
To watch the new glass cages rise up along the quay.
My mind's too full of memories, too old to hear new chimes.
I was once a part of Dublin in the rare old times.
Ring around the Rosie, as the light declines.
I remember Dublin City in the rare old times.
I remember Dublin City in the rare old times.