Saint James Infirmary

Saint James Infirmary – traditional with added music and lyrics by Richard Ruane

I was down in old Joe's barroom, on the corner by the square
They were serving up the drinks as usual, and the usual crowd was there
On my left stood sweet Lou Ann McKenzie, but her eyes were bloodshot red
She turned to that crowd hanging ‘round there, and these were the words that she said

Oh I went down to the Saint James infirmary, I saw my baby there
He was lying on a long white table, so sweet, so cold, so fair
You know he treated me so mean and lowdown, he didn’t seem to care
Deep down, way down, he could have been good, but I won't see him again up there

He had a hard heart, such a hard heart, still he believed, we never would part
'Til the end of my days, he thought I’d sing his praise
But it's too hard to love a hard, hard heart

Let him go, let him go, God bless him, wherever he may be
He could have searched this wide world over, never found a gal like me
Going to take him down to Greenwood graveyard, lay him in the ground, and go
Some people might cry, maybe wonder why, but how he died no one will know

He had a hard heart, such a hard heart, still he believed, we never would part
'Til the end of my days, he thought I’d sing his praise
But it's too hard to love a hard, hard heart

Oh there may be a moral to the story, treat your lover kindly or you lose
And people will be gathering round your graveside, to sing the St. James Infirmary
Saint James Infirmary Blues

He had a hard heart, such a hard heart, still he believed, we never would part
'Til the end of my days, he thought I’d sing his praise
It's too hard to love a hard, hard heart
He had a hard heart, such a hard heart, still he believed, we never would part
'Til the end of my days, he thought I’d sing his praise
But it's too hard to love a hard, hard heart
Oh it's so hard to love a hard, hard heart
It’s too hard to love a hard, hard heart