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Magdalene Laundries
Emmylou Harris
Popularity ยท Moderate
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๐ฌ๐ง English ยท Original
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Lyrics
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Translation
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I was an unmarried girl
I'd just turned 27
When they sent me to the sisters
For the way men looked at me
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Branded as a Jezebel
I knew I was not bound for heaven
I'd be cast in shame
Into the Magdalene laundries
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Most girls come here pregnant
Some by their own fathers
Bridget got that belly
By her parish priest
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We're trying to get things white as snow
All of us woe-begotten-daughters
In the steaming stains
Of the Magdalene laundries
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Prostitutes and destitutes
And temptresses like me
Fallen women sentenced into dreamless drudgery
Why do they call this heartless place
Our Lady of Charity?
Oh, charity, sweet charity
These bloodless brides of Jesus
If they had just once glimpsed their groom
Then they'd know
And they'd drop the stones concealed behind their rosaries
They wilt the grass they walk upon
They leech the light out of a room
They'd like to drive us down the drain
At the Magdalene laundries
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Peg O'Connell died today
She was a cheeky girl, a flirt
They just stuffed her in a hole
Surely to God, you'd think at least some bells should ring
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One day I'm going to die here too
And they'll plant me in the dirt
Like some lame bulb
That never blooms come any spring
Oh, come any spring
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No, not any spring
Not any spring
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