[Verse 1]
You came in tired
With mud on your hem
One lantern dying
And no good end
The lane was empty
The gate hung low
Then black-hair shadow
Said, come, let’s go
A horse with ember eyes
At the field’s dark lip
You touched the reins once
And lost your grip
[Pre-Chorus]
He laughed in the bracken
He shook the rain
The road fell away
Like a loose-link chain
Too late to pray now
Too late to run
The Púca knows you
By breath and by bone
[Chorus]
Ride, ride, Púca ride
Hold on, hold on, hold on tight
Ride, ride, Púca ride
He’ll take you through the black of night
Púca ride
Púca ride
He’ll break your will
Then leave you alive
[Verse 2]
He tore through the bog
Like a blade through cloth
Through hawthorn teeth
And a graveyard north
Your boots hit air
Then cold wet stone
You saw your fear
In the ditch-side bone
He made the ditches sing
With your own name
Every mile a wound
Every turn the same
The moon went white
Then red as rust
And all your vows
Turned into dust
[Pre-Chorus]
He laughed in the bracken
He shook the rain
The road fell away
Like a loose-link chain
Too late to pray now
Too late to run
The Púca knows you
By breath and by bone
[Chorus]
Ride, ride, Púca ride
Hold on, hold on, hold on tight
Ride, ride, Púca ride
He’ll take you through the black of night
Púca ride
Púca ride
He’ll break your will
Then leave you alive
[Bridge]
If you hear the hoofbeats
Behind your door
Don’t answer softly
Don’t ask for more
He comes for the weary
The drunk, the proud
He wears your ruin
Like a wedding shroud
So leave him cider
Leave him bread
Keep your name
And your lantern fed
[Final Chorus]
Ride, ride, Púca ride
Hold on, hold on, hold on tight
Ride, ride, Púca ride
He’ll take you through the black of night
Púca ride
Púca ride
He breaks your will
Then leaves you alive