The Orange and the Green

Oh, it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen

Me father he was orange and me mother she was green

My father was an Ulster man, proud Protestant was he

My mother was a Catholic girl from County Cork was she

They were married in two churches, lived happily enough

Until the day that I was born, then things got rather tough

Oh, it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen

Me father he was orange and me mother she was green

Baptized by Father Reilly, I was rushed away by car

And made a little Orangeman, me father's shining star

I was christened David Anthony, still in spite of that

To Father I was William, while me mother called me Pat

Oh, it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen

Me father he was orange and me mother she was green

With mother, every Sunday, to mass I'd proudly stroll

Then after that the Orange Lodge would try to save my soul

For both sides tried to claim me, but I was smart because

To play the flute or play the harp, depending where I was

Oh, it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen

Me father he was orange and me mother she was green

One day me ma's relations came down to visit me

Just as my father's kinfolk were all sitting down to tea

We tried to smooth things over, but they all began to fight

And me being strictly neutral, I bashed everyone in sight

Oh, it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen

Me father he was orange and me mother she was green

My parents never could agree about my type of school

My learning was all done at home, that's why I'm such a fool

They both passed on, God rest them, but left me caught between

That awful color problem of the orange and the green

Oh, it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen

Me father he was orange and me mother she was green

Oh, it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen

Me father he was orange and me mother she was green