Page 100
Produced by the Waterboys frontman Mike Scott as The Saw Doctor's first single in 1989 this song about emigration quickly because the band's anthem. N17 connects Galway with County Mayo and County Sligo, passing through the Saw Doctors' hometown of Tuam. - wikipedia
N17
by Saw Doctors
[D] Well I didn't see much [G] future
When I [D] left the Christian brothers [G] school
So I [D] waved it goodbye with a wistful [G] smile
And I [D] left the girls of [G] Tuam
And [D] sometimes when I'm remin- [G] iscing
I see the [D] prefabs and my old [G] friends
And I [D] know that they'll be [G] changed or gone
By the [D] time I get home [G] again
Chorus:
And I [D] wish I was on that [Bm] N [A] 17
Stone walls and the grasses green
Yes I [D] wish I was on that [Bm] N [A] 17
Stone walls and the grasses green
[G] Travelling with [C] just my thoughts and [D] dreams
Well the ould fella left me to Shannon
Was the last time I travelled that road
and as I turned left at Claregalway
I could feel a lump in my throat
As I pictured the thousands of times
That I travelled that well worn track
And I know that things would be different
If I ever decide to go back
Chorus:
Now as I tumble down highways
Or filthy overcrowded trains
There's no one to talk to in transit
So I sit there and daydream in vain
And behind all these muddled up problems
Of living on a foreign soil
I can still see the twists and turns on the road
From the square to the town of the tribes
Chorus X2
When I [D] left the Christian brothers [G] school
So I [D] waved it goodbye with a wistful [G] smile
And I [D] left the girls of [G] Tuam
And [D] sometimes when I'm remin- [G] iscing
I see the [D] prefabs and my old [G] friends
And I [D] know that they'll be [G] changed or gone
By the [D] time I get home [G] again
Chorus:
And I [D] wish I was on that [Bm] N [A] 17
Stone walls and the grasses green
Yes I [D] wish I was on that [Bm] N [A] 17
Stone walls and the grasses green
[G] Travelling with [C] just my thoughts and [D] dreams
Well the ould fella left me to Shannon
Was the last time I travelled that road
and as I turned left at Claregalway
I could feel a lump in my throat
As I pictured the thousands of times
That I travelled that well worn track
And I know that things would be different
If I ever decide to go back
Chorus:
Now as I tumble down highways
Or filthy overcrowded trains
There's no one to talk to in transit
So I sit there and daydream in vain
And behind all these muddled up problems
Of living on a foreign soil
I can still see the twists and turns on the road
From the square to the town of the tribes
Chorus X2