Christy Moore started in the music business in the mid-sixties, when his life as a bank clerk was interrupted by a bank strike, and he moved to England. There he became involved in the folk music scene at the time, and spent a few years playing pubs and clubs around the country.
His return to Ireland was marked by the album 'Prosperous', which proved to be a milestone in the rapprochement of Irish music to the popular mainstream. This album benefited from a collaboration of the leading talents of contemporary folk music, musicians such as Andy Irvine, Donal Lunny and Liam O'Flynn, and this one-off was to lead to the formation of Planxty, a band who were soon to be at the leading edge of the revival of Irish traditional music.
Over the following years the musical status of Planxty became legendary both in Ireland, Britain and throughout Europe. However in 1974 the band split up to pursue solo projects. It was during this period that Christy continued to explore new ground as a solo artist recording a number of solo albums including 'The Iron Behind the Velvet' (TARACD2002) which featured Andy Irvine and 'Live in Dublin' (TARACD2005) with Donal Lunny.
The original Planxty lineup of Christy, Andy, Liam and Donal then reformed in 1979. They recorded two further albums with Tara Records 'After the Break' (TARACD3001) and 'The Woman I Loved So Well' (TARACD3005). There were several additions and changes to their lineup most notably the addition of Matt Molloy, flautist from The Bothy Band, who later joined The Chieftains, and Bill Whelan.
In 1981 Planxty performed a Bill Whelan arrangement called 'Timedance' as the intermission piece for the Eurovision song contest, held that year in Ireland. Later it was released as a single and is now included on Bill's CD of 'The Seville Suite' (TARACD3030) released by Tara in 1992.
In the eighties Christy again teamed up with Donal Lunny to form Moving Hearts, another ambitious and innovative Irish band which sought to mix jazz into the folk-rock fusion. Ever the wanderer, Christy was soon breaking out on his own again, and it was in the eighties that he began to establish himself as one of Ireland's leading solo artists with a string of acclaimed albums and high profile tours.
In the mid-nineties Christy decided to take a break from the music for a few years. In the year 2000 Christy return to live performances with a series of Dublin concerts. Over the last few years he has released a number of solo projects including a television series, a live album and a 6 CD boxset.
Sacco & Vanzetti
Christy Moore Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Vanzetti was a travelling man, pushed his cart round with his hand
CHORUS
Two good men's a long time gone. Sacco and Vanzetti are gone.
Sacco was born across the sea, somewhere over in Italy.
Vanzetti born of parents fine, drank the best Italian wine.
Sacco sailed the sea one day, landed over in the Boston bay.
Vanzetti sailed the ocean blue, ended up in Boston too.
CHORUS
Sacco was a family man, Sacco's wife three children had
Vanzetti was a dreaming man, his books were always in his hand.
Sacco made his bread and butter being the factory's best shoe cutter.
Vanzetti worked both day and night, showed the people how to fight.
CHORUS
I'll tell you if you ask me about the pay-roll robbery.
Two clerks were shot in the shoe factory on the streets of old Braintree
I'll tell you the prosecutors' names: Katman, Admans, Williams, Kane.
Them and the judge were the best of friends. Did more tricks than circus clowns
The judge he told his friends around. He'd put them rebels down.
Communist bastards was the name the judge he gave these two fine men.
CHORUS
Vanzetti docked in '98. Slept along a dirty street.
Showed the people how to organise. Now in the electric chair he dies.
All us people ought to be like Sacco & Vanzetti.
Every day find ways to fight on the union side for the workers' right
CHORUS
I ain't got time to tell the tales because the branch and the bulls are on my fail
I won't forget these men who died to show us people how to live.
All you people in window lane sing this song and sing it plain.
Everybody here tonight singing this song we'll get it right
CHORUS
CHORDS
The song "Sacco & Vanzetti" by Christy Moore is a tribute to Niccola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian-American anarchists who were wrongly convicted of robbery and murder in 1920 and sentenced to death. The lyrics retell the story of their lives, highlighting their virtues as hardworking and kind men who were unjustly persecuted by the American justice system.
The opening verse introduces Sacco as a shoemaker and Vanzetti as a hawker who sold goods from a cart. The chorus laments their loss and expresses the singer's determination to keep their memory alive. The second verse describes their birthplaces in Italy and their immigration to Boston. Sacco is portrayed as a family man with three children, while Vanzetti is depicted as an intellectual who loved books.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh say there, did you here the news? Sacco worked at trimming shoes.
Did you hear the news? Sacco was a shoemaker.
Vanzetti was a travelling man, pushed his cart round with his hand
Vanzetti was a nomad who travelled with his cart.
Two good men's a long time gone. Sacco and Vanzetti are gone.
Sacco and Vanzetti were good men who are no longer with us.
Two good men's long time gone. They left me here to sing this song
Sacco and Vanzetti are no longer with us, but I am singing this song to remember them.
Sacco was born across the sea, somewhere over in Italy.
Sacco was born in Italy and crossed the sea to America.
Vanzetti born of parents fine, drank the best Italian wine.
Vanzetti came from a good family and enjoyed the best of Italian wine.
Sacco sailed the sea one day, landed over in the Boston bay.
Sacco arrived in America by sailing across the sea to Boston.
Vanzetti sailed the ocean blue, ended up in Boston too.
Vanzetti also sailed across the ocean to Boston.
Sacco was a family man, Sacco's wife three children had
Sacco had a wife and three children and was committed to his family.
Vanzetti was a dreaming man, his books were always in his hand.
Vanzetti was a dreamer who always had books in hand.
Sacco made his bread and butter being the factory's best shoe cutter.
Sacco made a living as the best shoe cutter in the factory.
Vanzetti worked both day and night, showed the people how to fight.
Vanzetti worked tirelessly and inspired people to fight for their rights.
I'll tell you if you ask me about the pay-roll robbery.
If you ask me about the payroll robbery, I'll tell you what happened.
Two clerks were shot in the shoe factory on the streets of old Braintree
Two clerks were shot in the shoe factory on the streets of Braintree.
I'll tell you the prosecutors' names: Katman, Admans, Williams, Kane.
The prosecutors' names were Katman, Admans, Williams, and Kane.
Them and the judge were the best of friends. Did more tricks than circus clowns
The prosecutors and the judge were close friends and used unethical tactics.
The judge he told his friends around. He'd put them rebels down.
The judge bragged to his friends that he would punish the rebels.
Communist bastards was the name the judge he gave these two fine men.
The judge labeled Sacco and Vanzetti as communist troublemakers.
Vanzetti docked in '98. Slept along a dirty street.
Vanzetti arrived in America in 1898 and slept on the streets.
Showed the people how to organise. Now in the electric chair he dies.
Vanzetti taught people how to organize, and he was sentenced to death in the electric chair.
All us people ought to be like Sacco & Vanzetti.
We should all be like Sacco and Vanzetti.
Every day find ways to fight on the union side for the workers' right
Every day, we should find ways to fight for workers' rights and support unions.
I ain't got time to tell the tales because the branch and the bulls are on my fail
I don't have time to tell stories because the police are on my tail.
I won't forget these men who died to show us people how to live.
I will never forget Sacco and Vanzetti, who died to show us how to live.
All you people in window lane sing this song and sing it plain.
Everyone in Window Lane should sing this song and sing it clearly.
Everybody here tonight singing this song we'll get it right
If we all sing this song together tonight, we'll get it right.
Two good men's a long time gone. Sacco and Vanzetti are gone.
Sacco and Vanzetti were good men who are no longer with us.
Two good men's long time gone. They left me here to sing this song
Sacco and Vanzetti are no longer with us, but I am singing this song to remember them.
Contributed by Emily G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Oisin feehilly
on By Barna
Hellow Lady, Can I borrow your teddy
Samuel Joseph Donnelly
on Whacker Humphries
Ask "whacker" about the Provo they marched on and set up for votes in council elections- set up by a brasser from the Barn named Lilly Healy- 18 fucking years in blocks/cages/ torture centres and back stabbed by wannabes from Dublin! Between Active service ( killing etc whacker in case you didn't know!!
Chloe Mcl
on Hey Paddy
Is that the words Brendan O'Carroll sing