[Verse 1]
I packed my coat at dawn beside the harbor wall,
With a penny in my pocket and no fear at all.
The ferryman was calling, the gulls began to cry,
I waved goodbye to Galway as the morning hurried by.
[Chorus]
Roll on, old road, through the heather and the rain,
Carry me to Dublin and bring me home again.
With a tune upon my shoulder and a laugh beneath my tongue,
The miles will turn to music before the day is done.
[Verse 2]
A farmer shared his breakfast from a paper-wrapped loaf,
A fiddler in the corner played a reel beneath the roof.
We stamped across the station while the whistle gave a roar,
And every passing village sent us farther from the shore.
[Chorus]
Roll on, old road, through the heather and the rain,
Carry me to Dublin and bring me home again.
With a tune upon my shoulder and a laugh beneath my tongue,
The miles will turn to music before the day is done.
[Bridge]
If the wheels should lose their rhythm, we will find another beat,
If the road grows long before us, we will dance upon our feet.
Raise a glass for those who travel, raise a song for those who stay,
The heart can cross an island in a single lively day.
[Final Chorus]
Roll on, old road, through the heather and the rain,
Carry me to Dublin and bring me home again.
With a tune upon my shoulder and a laugh beneath my tongue,
The miles will turn to music before the day is done.
[Outro]
The miles will turn to music,
Before the day is done.