Tribute song to Ronnie Drew
(Lyrics at bottom of page)
A tribute song to Ronnie Drew who is battling cancer has been recorded by top Irish folk and rock singers. Christy Moore, Paul Brady and Shane McGowan are joined by Bono, Sinead O’Connor, Damien Dempsey, Glen Hansard and Mary Coughlan on The Ballad of Ronnie Drew. Also joining in are members of The Dubliners, The Chieftains, Kila and U2. It was recorded in Dublin’s Windmill Lane Studios in the second week in January.
Bono told Hot Press: "When you're fighting cancer your mood is critical. We want Ronnie to know how much he is respected and loved."
The song is a collaboration written by Grateful Dead lyricist and Ronnie Drew fan Robert Hunter, Bono, the Edge and Simon Carmody. According to Simon Carmody: "Bono and myself were out having lunch and a bottle of wine when Bono suggested we do a song for Ronnie. Bono has a whim of iron. When he gets an idea, he delivers." Originally it was intended to be a song for Ronnie to sing, but then it became a song about Ronnie.
Christy Moore, Shane McGowan, Bono and Damien Dempsey all take a verse each.
The song was produced by Sinead O’Connor’s former husband John Reynolds and the session was filmed by John Carney, the director of the acclaimed Irish film Once.
Others taking part included  Bob Geldof, Gavin Friday, Paddy Casey, Moya Brennan, Ronan Keating, Mundy, Eleanor Shanley and Andrea Corr.
Said Andrea Corr: “I didn’t want to go home. It is such an amazingly beautiful song and such a wonderful idea. It is the kind of occasion that you’ll remember all you life.” Moya Brennan added: “The atmosphere in the room was just amazing.”
Ronnie responded a few days later on Newstalk Radio. "I'd like to thank everyone who was on the record," said the 72-year-old who is getting treatment for bronchial cancer. He first learned about the recording when Bono, The Edge and Simon Carmody came to his Greystones, Co Wicklow, home the day after it was recorded. "It'd tongue-in-cheek, it's not too serious. It's a good record because it sounds like people are really enjoying themselves," said Ronnie.
He added that he hopes to get back on stage soon but that for now he is dealing with everything on a day-to-day basis.
The record was aired on radio stations across Ireland on February 19 and has been available for digital download in Ireland only since Friday, February 22, and available internationally on CD from February 29, with the proceeds going to the Irish Cancer Society. There will also be John Carney's DVD about the recording of the song.
Speaking on Radio Eireann on the morning on its radio launch, Ronnie Drew said "having a song written about you is a great compliment."
He said that he had changed from chemotherapy and was now on a different treatment. "I'm still to the good. I'm actually doing a bit of work, I hasten to add, for the taxman, not for money. What I'm planning is to sing more songs. I want to do some old songs I did years ago".
Over a million viewers tuned in to RTE television when Ronnie was back on the Late Late Show on February 22 and the song was performed by U2, Shane McGowan, Sinead O'Connor, The Dubliners et al. He told Pat Kenny: "Ever since this song was written, my voice is getting stronger and my hair is coming back." Damien Dempsey, who said that The Dubliners were "a massive influence," revealed that he had just completed a recording with Ronnie of "a jazzy version" of 'Rainey Night in Soho.'
The occasion took on the atmosphere of a family reunion and Andrea Corr reminded Ronnie that her dad had once accompanied him on guitar when he came to Dundalk for a gig. Ronnie told him to stick to the chords and cut out the fancy embellishments! To laughter from Ronnie, Barney McKenna said: "I think he is getting back to his old self. He's getting more grumpy, anyhow."

The Ballad Of Ronnie Drew

 Here's to you, Ronnie Drew.
 And as usual, the drinks are on Ronnie.

 Here's to the Ronnie, the voice we adore
 Like coals from a coal bucket scraping the floor
 Sing out his praises in music and malt
 And if you're not Irish, that isn't your fault

 Raise up our voices like dogs in a pack
 Thankful for honest men we never lack
 We got 'em by twenties, we got 'em by ones
 Them and their daughters and all of their sons

 Here's to you, Ronnie Drew
 Here's to you, Ronnie Drew
 Ronnie Drew, we love you, yes we do
 Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you

 And what's it to any man whether or no'
 Whether I'm easy or whether I'm true
 As I lifted her petticoat easy and slow
 And I tied up me sleeve for to buckle her shoe

 Get up and go at it, five until five
 When the whistle says budge it we come back alive
 He'll sing to the heavens, he's stormy as hell
 And wherever he goes, we'll be wishing him well

 Here's to you, Ronnie Drew
 Here's to you, Ronnie Drew
 Ronnie Drew, we love you, yes we do
 Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you

 The dawn and the dust, the wise, the unjust
 Kids in gambling games
 The unheard, the unseen, the unwashed and unclean
 Where the streets all have names
 Baggers, street masons, street wagons to Stevens
 With lovers and loners who can hear all intoners
 The goths and the ravers, invalids and traders
 Sing out Ronnie Drew

 A life for a life or a hand for a hand
 Trust in the music and strike up the band
 The more that we sing the less that we fight
 Time and again this is proved to be right

 Build you a statue on St. Stephen's Green
 No fairer monument ere to be seen
 The statue of Ronnie Drew holding the hand
 Of a girl with her hair in a black velvet band

 Here's to you, Ronnie Drew
 No stranger to devils or angles to tell
 Here's to you, Ronnie Drew
 A friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend to you
 Ronnie Drew, we love you, yes we do
 Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you
 Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you, Ronnie Drew
 Here's to you, Ronnie Drew, here's to you, Ronnie Drew

 And what's it to any man whether or no'
 Whether I'm easy or whether I'm true
 As I lifted her petticoat easy and slow
 And I rolled up me sleeve for to buckle her shoe