'Down in Cork he'd be known as a Langer'
A group from Cork — Ireland’s second-largest city, and some say its real capital — were dominating the charts with “The Langer” in Summer 2004. “Langer” is a Cork term meaning — well, it can mean a lot of things, but if you read the lyrics you can probably work out the primary meaning. The song is also notable for being the first with a full verse as Gaeilge to reach number one in Ireland. Appropriately the verse is about langers who think only they can speak Irish.
The Langer
Have you seen the old man
The drunken ould lout
Roaring and bawling and spilling his stout?
And in everyone’s business
You’ll first see his snout
Down in Cork he’d be known as a langer
Chorus:
A langer (Response: A langer)
In Cork he’d be known as a langer
And our hero Roy Keane
Footballer supreme
The finest this country and Man U’s ever seen.
And we’d have won the World Cup
But Mick McCarthy fouled up.
Roy was dead right to call him a langer!
Chorus:
A langer (Response: A langer)
Roy was dead right to call him a langer!
And Johnny and Mick
Have a Honda Civic
With spotlamps and spiders
And loud rock music
Ah, but don’t they look nice
With the big furry dice?
Would they ever stop acting the langer?
Chorus:
A langer (Response: A langer)
Would they ever stop acting the langer?
Féach an phleice amach romhainn,
ag bladairt trína thóin
Níl gaelinn ag éine,
dár leis, ach é féin
Tá aige fomhraíocht sár-bhinn,
‘s gramadach fíor chrinn,
I gCorcaigh, gan dabht, sé an langer! 1
Curfa:
An langer! An langer!
I gCorcaigh, gan dabht, sé an langer!
From Mitchelstown to Cape Clear
You’ll be welcome down here
For there’s plenty of scenery, music, and beer
But avoid the rugby weekend in Kinsale
For every year with out fail
The town gets infested with langers
Chorus:
A langer (Response: A langer)
The whole town's infested with langers
[This verse done in a posh Montenotte accent]
In two thousand and five
Culture will thrive
All along the green banks of the Lee (Shouted: Oh, good man, George!)
But no matter what
If you arrive on a yacht
We’ll tolerate absolutely nobody acting the langer
(Shouted: Certainly not in Crosshaven!)
Chorus:
A langer (Response: A langer)
There'll be nobody acting the langer
George Bush and his boys
Ah, did make your blood boil.
Will they give the Iraqi people back their soil?
Ah, and all of us know
All he wants is their oil.
Oh Lord, he’s a ferocious langer!
Chorus:
A langer (Response: A langer)
Oh Lord, he's a ferocious langer!
So three cheers for Roy Keane
He’s back wearing the green.
Ah, what more could you ask him to do?
So forget all the press
And the whole bloody mess
They’re only a big shower o’ langers.
Chorus:
A langer (Response: A langer)
They're only a big shower of langers.
So there was me song
I didn’t keep ye too long
For now ye all know one word of Cork slang
And while there’s meat on me bones
I hope I’ll never be known
As a typical home-grown Cork langer
1 Look at the messer in front of us,/ talking through his ass, / Nobody can speak irish,/ in his opnion, but himself, / He’s got perfect pronounciation,/ and perfectly accurate grammar, / In Cork, without a doubt, he’s a langer.
Originally Posted by lucy chambers
