The Wind That Shakes The Barley Lyrics
Music Video
The Wind That Shakes The Barley
I sat within the valley green, I sat me with my true love
My heart it strove me two between, the old love and the new love
The old for her, the new that made me think on Ireland dearly
While soft the wind blew down the glen and shook the golden barley
'Twas hard the woeful words to frame to break the ties that bound us
But harder still to bear the shame of foreign chains around us
And so I said, "The mountain glen I'll seek at morning early
While soft the wind blew down the glen, and shook the golden barley"
While sad I kissed away her tears, my fond arms round her flinging
The foeman's shot burst on our ears from out the wildwood ringing
A bullet pierced my true love's side in life's young spring so early
And on my breast in blood she died while soft winds shook the barley
But blood for blood without remorse I've taken at Oulart Hollow
And laid my true love's clay cold corpse where I full soon must follow
As round her grave I wander drear, noon, night and morning early
With breaking heart when e'er I hear the wind that shakes the barley
The wind that shakes the barley
Song Details
✍️ Lyricist: Robert Dwyer Joyce (1836-1883) - a poet and professor of English Literature born in Limerick, Ireland (published 1861).
🎶 Composer: Traditional Irish air
📝 Song Brief: Set during the 1798 Rebellion, the song tells the story of a young Wexford rebel torn between love and duty. As he prepares to join the uprising, tragedy strikes when his beloved is killed by enemy fire, leaving him consumed by grief and vengeance.
Here is a excerpt from Wikipedia relating to the song:
The song is written from the perspective of a doomed young Wexford rebel who is about to sacrifice his relationship with his loved one and plunge into the cauldron of violence associated with the 1798 rebellion in Ireland. The references to barley in the song derive from the fact that the rebels often carried barley oats in their pockets as provisions for when on the march. This gave rise to the post-rebellion phenomenon of barley growing and marking the "croppy-holes, "mass unmarked graves which slain rebels were thrown into, symbolising the regenerative nature of Irish resistance to British rule... wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wind_That_Shakes_the_Barley
🍀 Genre: Irish Folk Song
👥 Covers: The Chieftains, Loreena McKennitt, The Dubliners, Dead Can Dance (Lisa Gerrard), Altan, Solas, The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem, Dick Gaughan, Orthodox Celts, Amanda Palmer, Fire + Ice, Sarah Jezebel Deva, Martin Carthy, Declan de Barra, Belfast Food, Poets of the Fall and Glow.
🎤 Featured Artist: Dolores Keane
Occupation: Singer, actress
Music Styles: Celtic, folk
Instruments: Tin Whistle, Guitar
Associations: Sean Keane, De Dannan
📀 Album: Night Owl
Released: March 14, 2000
Country: Ireland
Format: CD
Label: The Grapevine Label
🌹 In Memory of Dolores Keane (26 September 1953 – 16 March 2026)
A voice of rare depth and truth, Dolores Keane gave the world songs filled with heart, heritage, and humanity. Her music will continue to shine for all who seek comfort, courage, and the beauty of Ireland’s tradition.
