Drinking in the Day lyrics

[Intro - "Clearing a Space;" Brendan Kennelly]
A man should clear a space for himself
Like Dublin city on a Sunday morning about six o'clock
Dublin and myself are rid of our traffic then, and I'm walking
Houses are solitary and dignified, streets are adventures
Twisting in and out and up and down my mind
The river is talking to itself and doesn't care if I eavesdrop
No longer cluttered with purpose
The city turns to the mountains
And takes time to listen to the sea
And I witness all three communing in silence under a relaxed sky
Bridges look aloof and protective
The gates of the park are closed
Green places must have their privacy too
Office blocks are empty, important
And a bit pathetic, if they admitted it
The small hills in this city are truly surprising
When they emerge in that early morning light
Nobody has ever walked on them
They are waiting for the first explorers
To straggle in from the reedy north
And squat down here this minute
In weary legions between the cathedral and the river
At the gates of conquest
They might enjoy a deep, uninterrupted sleep
To have been used so much and without mercy
And still be capable of rediscovering in itself the old nakedness
Is what makes a friend of the city when sleep has failed
I make through that nakedness to stumble on my own
Surprised to find a city is so like a man
Statues and monuments check me out as I pass
Clearing a space for myself the best I can
One Sunday morning, in the original sun, in Dublin

[Verse 1]
Well I met her up on Leeson Street of a Tuesday afternoon
In Summer's fallen colors, sulking back to school
I asked her would she linger, and she asked me would I stay?
Would I keep a girl in company, drinking in the day?

[Chorus]
Drinking, drinking
Drinking and not thinking
Drinking, drinking
We'll go drinking in the day

[Verse 2]
She was almost a woman, she was going on sixteen
She asked me to go walking in Saint Stephen's Green
She said I love the sunshine and to hear the children play
But I won't be distracted when I'm drinking in the day

[Verse 3]
With her flashing eyes and milk white lies she looked like a song
Like the ghost of a woman that first made me go wrong
She said I'll have a drink with you but I said you'll have to pay
For a comprehensive education, drinking in the day

[Chorus]
Drinking, drinking
Drinking and not thinking
Drinking, drinking
We'll go drinking in the day
[Verse 4]
If her mother could have seen us on that bright November day
Botticelli and his angel perambulating Ormand Quay
A drunken blessed virgin, me rhetorious and gay
Bestowing ancient wisdom as to what made me this way

[Verse 5]
Well here it is:
Deny your friends and family, to serve, you must betray
Break and enter heaven, well, you'll steal but never save
You'll squander every penny and you'll empty every heart
You'll travel every darkened road, you'll never finish what you start
You'll always talk to strangers and make love with whom you may
For God will find good company for your drinking in the day

[Chorus]
Drinking, drinking
Drinking and not thinking
Drinking, drinking
We'll go drinking in the day

[Verse 6]
So spend your youth on poetry, and spend your cash at play
Every line upon my face is for a girl who went away
A kiss, and a song, are fleeting things and fame will always stray
So I'll tell the truth, the best spent youth is the one you throw away
[Chorus]
Drinking, drinking
Drinking and not thinking
Drinking, drinking
We'll go drinking in the day

[Chorus]
Drinking, drinking
Drinking and not thinking
Drinking, drinking
We'll go drinking in the day

[Chorus]
Drinking, drinking
Drinking and not thinking
Drinking, drinking
We'll go drinking in the day

[Chorus]
Drinking, drinking
Drinking and not thinking
Drinking, drinking
We'll go drinking in the day