St. Brendan's Fair Isle
View chords used in this chart
D G D
When I was a lad on the Emerald Isle,
Bm D Bm
I heard many stories both lovely and wild.
D G D
A bout the great dragons and monsters that be,
Bm D Bm
That swallow the ships as they sail on the sea.
G
'Tho I was an artist with canvas and paints,
D
I sailed with Saint Brendan and his jolly saints.
G
We told the good people, "Goodbye for a while,
D A D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle, fair isle,
A D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle.
D G D
When we had been sailing for ninety-four days,
Bm D Bm
We came to a spot where the sea was ablaze.
D G D
Those demons from Hades was dancing with glee
Bm D Bm
And burning the sailors alive on the sea
G
Then Saint Brendan walked on the festering waves,
D
He threw all the demons right back to their caves,
G
And all of the saints bore a heavenly smile,
D A D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle, fair isle,
A D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle.
D G D
One night while the brethren were lying asleep,
Bm D Bm
A great dragon came up from under the deep.
D G D
He thundered and lightninged and made a great din;
Bm D Bm
He awakened Saint Brendan and all of his men.
G
The dragon came on with his mouth open wide.
D
We threw in a cross and the great dragon died.
G
We skinned him and cooked him and feasted awhile
D A D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle, fair isle,
A D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle.
D G D
At last we came onto that beautiful land.
Bm D Bm
We all went ashore and we walked on the sand.
D G D
We took up our longbows and killed a Zebu.
Bm D Bm
We roasted it up and had hot barbecue.
G
And after a while we were singing a song,
D
We noticed the island was moving along.
G
We ate and we drank and we rode in high style,
D A D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle, fair isle,
A D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle.
D G D
Now Brendan said, "Boys, this is much to my wish
Bm D Bm
"We ride on the back of the world's biggest fish
D G D
"Hold fast to the rope that is pulling the ship,
Bm D Bm
"We'll need it some day if this fish takes a dip!"
G
We sailed every ocean, we sailed every sea,
D
We sailed every spot that a sailor could be.
G
In forty-four days we sailed ten million miles,
D A D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle, fair isle,
A D
We sailed for Saint Brendan's fair isle.
How to play St. Brendan's Fair Isle
Use the controls above to change the key and text size. Follow the highlighted chords while listening, then practice each section slowly before playing at the original tempo.
What is the starting chord?
The first identified chord is D. You can transpose without leaving the page.
Can I play it on guitar or keyboard?
Yes. The chord progression works on acoustic guitar, electric guitar and keyboard. Adapt the voicings to your instrument and level.