Finnegan's Wake

This article is about the ballad. For the book, see Finnegans Wake.

"Finnegan's Wake" is a ballad that arose in the 1850s in the music-hall tradition of comical Irish songs. The song is a staple of the Irish folk-music group The Dubliners, who have played it on many occasions and included it on several albums, and is especially well known to fans of The Clancy Brothers, who have performed and recorded it with Tommy Makem. The song has more recently been recorded by Irish-American Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys.

Summary

In the ballad, the hod-carrier Tim Finnegan, born "with a love for the liquor", falls from a ladder, breaks his skull, and is thought to be dead. The mourners at his wake become rowdy, and spill whiskey over Finnegan's corpse, causing him to come back to life and join in the celebrations. Whiskey causes both Finnegan's fall and his resurrection—whiskey is derived from the Irish phrase uisce beatha (pronounced [ˈiʃkʲə ˈbʲahə]), meaning "water of life".

Lyrics

Tim Finnegan lived in Walken street
A gentleman Irish, mighty odd
He had a brogue both rich and sweet
And to rise in the world he carried a hod
You see he'd a sort of a tipplin' way
With a love for the liquor he was born
And to send him on his way each day,
He'd a drop of the craythur every morn'

CHORUS:

Whack fol' the dah will ya dance to your partner
Round the floor your trotters shake
Isn't it the truth I told ya?
Lots of fun at Finnegan's wake

One morning Tim was rather full
His head felt heavy which made him shake
He fell off the ladder and he broke his skull
And they carried him home, his corpse to wake
Rolled him up in a nice, clean sheet
laid him out upon the bed
With a bottle of whiskey at his feet
And a barrel of porter at his head

(Repeat Chorus)

Well his friends assembled at the wake
And Mrs. Finnegan called for brunch
Well, first she brought them tea and cake
Then pipes, tobacco, and whiskey punch
Then the Widow Malone began to cry
"such a nice clean corpse did you ever see?"
" Tim, auvreen! Why did you die?"
"Will you hold yer gob?" says Molly McGee'

(Repeat Chorus)

Well, Mary Murphy took up the job
"Oh Biddy," says she, "you're wrong, I'm sure."
Well Biddy fetched her a belt in the gob
And left her sprawling on the floor
Then the war did then engage
'Twas woman to woman and man to man
Shillelagh law was all the rage
And a row and a ruction soon began

(Repeat Chorus)

Well Mickey Maloney ducked his head
When a bottle of whiskey flew at him
It missed, and landing on the bed
The whiskey scattered over Tim
Bedad revives, see how he rises!
Timothy risin' from the bed!
Sayin' "Throwin' your whiskey around like blazes,"
"Thanum an Dhul! do ye think I'm dead?"

(Repeat Chorus)

Uncommon or non-standard English phrases and terms

• brogue (accent)
• hod (a tool to carry bricks in)
• tippler's way (a tippler is a drunkard)
• craythur (craythur is whiskey, "a drop of the craythur" is an expression to have some whiskey)
• Whack fol the dah (non-lexical vocalsinging called "lilting"; see Scat singing and mouth music)
• trotters (feet)
• full (drunk)
• mavourneen (my darling)
• hould your gob (shut-up)
• belt in the gob (punch in the mouth)
• Shillelagh law (a brawl)
• ruction (a fight)
• bedad (an expression of shock)
• Thanam 'on dhoul (your soul to the devil)

Non-English phrases:

• The last part of the song where Tim Finnegan says, "D'ainm an diabhal", means "In the name of the devil", and comes from the Gaelic.
• However, in other versions of the song, Tim says "Thunderin' Jaysus" or "Thanum an Dhul".

Use in literature

"Finnegan's Wake" is famous for providing the basis of James Joyce's final work, Finnegans Wake (1939), in which the comic resurrection of Tim Finnegan is employed as a symbol of the universal cycle of life. As whiskey, the "water of life", causes both Finnegan's death and resurrection in the ballad, so the word "wake" also represents both a passing (into death) and a rising (from sleep). Joyce removed the apostrophe in the title of his novel in order to suggest an active process in which a multiplicity of "Finnegans", that is, all members of humanity, fall and then wake and arise.

"Finnegan's Wake" is also featured as the climax of the primary storyline in Philip José Farmer's award-winning novella, Riders of the Purple Wage.

A scene very similar to that of Finnegan's Wake is present in The Shipping News, when the character Jack Buggit is presumed to have drowned after being caught in the rope of a lobster pot, only for him to regain consciousness at his wake.

Recordings

• Brigid's Cross on their album Coolin' Out.
• The Clancy Brothers on their album Come Fill Your Glass with Us (example).
• The Dubliners on several live albums. (See an example with lyrics here on Youtube.)
• Dropkick Murphys on their albums Do or Die and Live on St. Patrick's Day From Boston, MA.
• Brobdingnagian Bards on their album Songs of Ireland.
• The Tossers on their album Communication & Conviction: Last Seven Years.
• Orthodox Celts on their album The Celts Strike Again.
• Darby O'Gill on their album Waitin' for a Ride.
• Ryan's Fancy on their album Newfoundland Drinking Songs.
• Beatnik Turtle on their album Sham Rock
• Celtic Connection on their album Celtic Connection
• Wylde Nept on their album Live in 3-D
• Irish Rovers
• Gael Sli on their album The Irish Century
• The Bloody Irish Boys on their album Drunk Rock
• Christy Moore on his album The Box Set 1964-2004
• Shilelagh Law on their album Good Intentions
• Donut Kings on their single Donut Kings Pub With No Beer
• Schooner Fare on their album Finnegan's Wake
• Woods Tea Company on their album The Wood's Tea Co. - Live!
• Cutthroat Shamrock on their album Blood Rust Whiskey
• The Pubcrawlers on their album Another Night on the Floor
• 3 Pints Gone on their live album "One More Round"
• Steve Benbow on his album Songs of Ireland
• Roger McGuinn in his Folk Den series.
• Leperkhanz on their album "Tiocfaidh Ar La"
• Aggressive Force on their album "Aggressive Force"
• Dominic Behan on his album Down By The Liffeyside
• Poxy Boggards on their albums "Barley Legal" and "Bitter and Stout"
• Seamus Kennedy on his album By Popular Demand