Nathan … Read Full Bio ↴Nathan Carter (born 28 May 1990) is an Irish country singer.
Nathan was born in Liverpool to parents from Northern Ireland. He began playing the accordion at age 4 and at age 10, he won the title for All Ireland Title for Traditional Singing. At 18 he moved from Liverpool to live in Ireland.
His debut album, Starting Out, was released in 2007 and from then on he has been known for reviving the genre of Country and Irish in both the United Kingdom and Ireland. Nathan released his latest album Where I Wanna Be in August 2013. His cover of the single "Wagon Wheel" has topped the main Irish Singles Chart.
Winnie O'Neill
Nathan Carter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Working in the fields of green,
Fell in love wih a Newry girl,
She said her name was Winnie.
She could dance and she could sing,
She to me was everything,
I knew her two short years when,
I asked to marry Winnie.Winnie, will you marry me,
Take me family name O′Neill,
They say there's gold in America,
Far away from the County Down.
Jimmy O′neill I'll marry you,
We'll take the boat from Liverpool,
From there we′ll sail to America,
Far away from the county Down.
We were wed and full of hope,
Saved enough to take the boat,
Said goodbyes with tears in her eyes,
We sailed from Belfast harbor.
As the boat began to dock,
We received an awful shock,
All our plans and dreams were gone,
All our money, it was stolen.
Winnie though you married me,
Took me family name O′Neill,
We can't go to America,
Away from the county Down.
Jimmy O′Neill I married you,
So let's stay here in Liverpool,
For better or for Worse,
Far away from the county Down.
It was a blessing not a curse,
From that rogue, who stole my purse,Built our lives in Liverpool,
Without O′Neill, a dollar.
Friends I sing this song for you,
Story about a life so true,
Piece of family history,
To buy my own grandfather.
How an acorn grew on Oak
Family tree that won't be broke,
I′m so glad they missed the boat,
Jimmy and Winnie O'Neill.
Winnie will you marry me,
Take me family name O'Neill,
There′s gold in America,
Away from the county Down.
Jimmy O′Neill I'll marry you,
We′ll take the boat from Liverpool,
From there we'll sail to America,
Far away from the county Down.
Winnie will you marry me,
Take me family name O′Neill,
There's gold in America,
Away from the county Down.
Jimmy O′Neill I'll marry you,
We'll take the boat from Liverpool,
From there we′ll sail to America,
Far away from the county Down.
Yes we′ll return some day to the county Down.
In Nathan Carter's song "Winnie O'Neill," the singer recounts the story of a young man who falls in love with a girl named Winnie while working in the fields of green. He asks her to marry him and move to America, where they can find gold and a better life. However, just when they are about to set sail, their money is stolen, and they are unable to fulfill their dreams. But instead of giving up, they build their lives in Liverpool, where they remain happily married. The song is a tribute to the singer's grandparents, who managed to find happiness despite facing setbacks and challenges.
Line by Line Meaning
Just a boy of seventeen,
At the age of seventeen, I was a young, inexperienced boy.
Working in the fields of green,
I was working in the lush, green fields of my hometown.
Fell in love wih a Newry girl,
I fell in love with a girl from Newry, Ireland.
She said her name was Winnie.
The girl's name was Winnie.
She could dance and she could sing,
Winnie was a talented dancer and singer.
She to me was everything,
To me, Winnie was my everything.
I knew her two short years when,
We were together for only two years when,
I asked to marry Winnie.
I proposed to Winnie.
Winnie, will you marry me,
I asked Winnie to marry me.
Take me family name O′Neill,
I wanted her to take my family name, O'Neill.
They say there's gold in America,
I had heard that there was gold to be found in America.
Far away from the County Down.
I wanted to leave County Down, Ireland and travel to America.
Jimmy O′neill I'll marry you,
Winnie agreed to marry me and take my family name.
We'll take the boat from Liverpool,
We planned to leave for America from Liverpool.
From there we′ll sail to America,
We planned to start our journey to America from Liverpool.
We were wed and full of hope,
We got married and we were full of hope for the future.
Saved enough to take the boat,
We saved enough money to pay for our boat passage.
Said goodbyes with tears in her eyes,
We said goodbye to our friends and family with tears in our eyes.
We sailed from Belfast harbor.
We left Belfast Harbor on our journey.
As the boat began to dock,
As our boat was about to arrive at its destination,
We received an awful shock,
We received terrible news.
All our plans and dreams were gone,
All of our plans and dreams disappeared.
All our money, it was stolen.
Our money was stolen.
Winnie though you married me,
Even though Winnie had married me,
Took me family name O′Neill,
And taken my family name, O'Neill,
We can't go to America,
We were unable to travel to America.
Jimmy O′Neill I married you,
Winnie reminded me that she had married me,
So let's stay here in Liverpool,
And suggested that we stay in Liverpool.
For better or for Worse,
We were committed to each other through good times and bad.
It was a blessing not a curse,
Looking back, we saw our misfortune as a blessing in disguise.
From that rogue, who stole my purse,
We blamed the thief who stole our money.
Built our lives in Liverpool,
We built our lives in Liverpool instead of America.
Without O′Neill, a dollar.
We didn't have any money to start a new life in America.
Friends I sing this song for you,
I tell this story in song for all of my friends.
Story about a life so true,
This is a true story about my life.
Piece of family history,
This is a part of our family history.
To buy my own grandfather.
Telling this story helps me honor my grandfather.
How an acorn grew on Oak
This is the story of how my family tree began.
Family tree that won't be broke,
Our family tree has a strong foundation.
I′m so glad they missed the boat,
We were grateful that we didn't make it on the boat to America.
Jimmy and Winnie O'Neill.
We were happy to build our life together as Jimmy and Winnie O'Neill.
Yes we′ll return some day to the county Down.
We look forward to returning to County Down, Ireland someday.
Writer(s): Nathan Carter, John Norbert Farry
Contributed by Jordyn J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.