The song has taken on a sort of life of its own and has gone beyond its status of a song in a play, developing into a modern Irish anthem. Musical groups as diverse as The Dubliners, The Pogues, The Doug Anthony Allstars and, most recently, U2, Dropkick Murphys and the High Kings, have covered the song. An unusual live version, recorded at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, appears on the live debut album The Dawning of the Day by Dublin based pipe band St. Laurence O' Toole. As with many Irish ballads, the lyrics have been changed with each passing cover. For example, the Murphys' cover condenses the structure into a three-lyric section song with a chorus based on the last two lines of each stanza in the original.
Bob Dylan and The Band also recorded a rendition of the song during their famed Basement Tapes sessions in 1967. This recording is widely available via bootleg. It has also been recorded by Bert Jansch and appears on his 2006 album The Black Swan. The song has also been recorded by Jeff Tweedy on his tour DVD Sunken Treasure: Live in the Pacific Northwest, and sung live by the Oysterband: it appears on their now-deleted 'Alive and Acoustic' recording.
Eric Burdon also recorded a version of it, retitled "The Royal Canal". The Canadian folksingers Ian and Sylvia's version is quite powerful.
In December 2008, popular American Singer and Songwriter, Cat Power released her Dark End Of The Street EP, in which she performs a version of the song titled "Ye Auld Triangle".
The Auld Triangle
The Pogues Lyrics
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And the mice were squealing in my prison cell
And that auld triangle went "jingle, jangle"
All along the banks of the Royal Canal
Oh, to start the morning, the warden bawling
Get up out of bed, you, and clean out your cell
And that auld triangle went "jingle, jangle"
Oh, the screw was peeping and the lag was sleeping
As he lay weeping for his girl, Sal
And that auld triangle went "jingle, jangle"
All along the banks of the Royal Canal
On a fine spring evening, the lag lay dreaming
And the seagulls were wheeling high above the wall
And that auld triangle went "jingle, jangle"
All along the banks of the Royal Canal
Oh, the wind was sighing and the day was dying
As the lag lay crying in his prison cell
And that auld triangle went "jingle, bloody jangle"
All along the banks of the Royal Canal
In the women's prison, there are seventy women
And I wish it was with them that I did dwell
And that auld triangle can go "jingle jangle"
All along the banks of the Royal Canal
The Pogues' song "The Auld Triangle" is a poignant and melancholic ballad about the suffering and monotony of prison life. The song's lyrics chronicle the mundane, oppressive routine of a prisoner in the Royal Canal prison, where the singer is confined. The song opens with a vivid description of the singer's hunger, which is made worse by the wheezing and squealing of mice in his prison cell. The singer hears the sound of an old triangle jingling and jangling along the banks of the Royal Canal, which becomes a symbol of the bleakness and monotony of prison life.
The singer is forced to wake up early in the morning to the sound of the warden's bawling voice. The line "Get up out of bed, you, and clean out your cell" captures the oppressive nature of prison life and the complete loss of freedom that comes with being incarcerated. The old triangle continues to sound in the background. The singer hears the "screw" peeping and the "lag" (a slang term for a prison inmate) sleeping and weeping for his girl, Sal. The old triangle, once again, punctuates the melancholic scene.
The song's somber tone is further enhanced by the singer's dream of being able to escape his prison cell and join the seagulls wheeling high above the wall. However, the wind sighs and the day dies, and the lag is inevitably forced to cry himself to sleep. The final verse of the song shifts the focus to the neighboring women's prison, where there are 70 women. The singer wishes he were with them, and the old triangle continues to jingle-jangle along the banks of the Royal Canal.
Line by Line Meaning
A feeling of hunger came over me and I was surrounded by mice in my cell
The old triangle made a noise as I heard it on the banks of the Royal Canal
The warden yelled to wake me up and clean my cell as the old triangle rang out
The prison guard was looking while the prisoner next to me cried for his girlfriend Sal to no avail
The prisoner daydreamed on a beautiful spring evening while seagulls flew overhead
As the prisoner cried in his cell at night, the winds were heavy and the day was ending
In the women's prison, I wish I could dwell with the seventy women and hear the old triangle ringing along the canal
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Brendan Behan
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind