Emptyhanded Lyrics & Chords By Andy Irvine

Again the rains are late this year, again the fields are dry and crops are dead Today the bank refused to give me an extension for the loan No money in my pocket for the fare No friendly face with me my dissapointment to share In failure and in poverty you always feel alone. It's not the setting sun that makes my face look red You rich will never understand it And if I walk as if my shoes were made of lead It's the shame of coming back home emptyhanded. My arms and back are strong, and I have worked all hours that the good Lord gave But for my efforts I have had so very little in return This soil is too unyielding to the plough Too hard to soften with the sweat that trickles from my brow The crop so weak that there is almost nothing left to burn. It's not the setting sun that makes my face look red You rich will never understand it And if I walk as if my shoes were made of lead It's the shame of coming back home emptyhanded. My savings went to buy this land, but all it's good for is to bury me Unless I find a way to make it pay that could be very soon The future that I dreamed as a young man Is withered like the crops beneath the unrelenting sun The very one that makes this such a lovely afternoon. It's not the setting sun that makes my face look red You rich will never understand it And if I walk as if my shoes were made of lead It's the shame of coming back home emptyhanded. So what would happen if I just went right on walking till I disappeared And would they miss me if I had a mind the countryside to roam They followed me with hopes for Paradise The one thing I can't do right now is look them in the eyes I wish this road would swallow me and never take me home. It's not the setting sun that makes my face look red You rich will never understand it And if I walk as if my shoes were made of lead It's the shame of coming back home emptyhanded. It's not the setting sun that makes my face look red You rich will never understand it And if I walk as if my shoes were made of lead It's the shame of coming back home emptyhanded.