In the midst of Dublin’s frenzy is the bronze statue of Molly Malone, a busty young woman in a low cut dress. The polished bronze glow of its bosom hints to its popular appeal to be “handsy” with her best features.
Molly is the depiction of a fictional figure in a song about a fishmonger in this medieval city who plied the trade passed on by her parents. As in any old folklore, myths color the character as that of a girl who lived in the 17th century; a hawker by day and a prostitute by night. She died of a fever; but her ghost still wheels her barrow through the Irish cobblestones alleys; touting the freshness of her ware in an echoing wail, “cockles and mussels, alive, alive”.
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In Dublin’s fair city
Where the girls are so pretty
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone
As she wheeled her wheel-barrow
Through streets broad and narrow
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!”
Alive, alive, oh
Alive, alive, oh
Crying “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh”
She was a fishmonger
And sure ’twas no wonder
For so were her father and mother before
And they both wheeled their barrows
Through streets broad and narrow
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!”
Alive, alive, oh
Alive, alive, oh
Crying “cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh”
She died of a fever
And no one could save her
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone
But her ghost wheels her barrow
Through streets broad and narrow
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!”
Alive, alive, oh
Alive, alive, oh
Crying “cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh”
Alive, alive, oh
Alive, alive, oh
Crying “cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh”
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: R. Sarc
Molly Malone lyrics © Liffey Music
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