Jarosz, Sarah - Shankill Butchers Lyrics






Two, three, four...

The shankill butchers ride tonight
You better shut your windows tight
They're sharpening their cleavers and their knives
And taking all their whiskey by the pint
'Cause everybody knows
If you don't mind your mother's words
A wicked wind will blow
Your ribbons from your curls
Everybody moan, everybody shake,
The shankill butchers wanna catch you
Awake

They used to be just like me and you
They used to be sweet little boys
But something went horribly askew
Now killing is their only source of joy
'cause everybody knows...

[Repeat:]

The shankill butchers on the rise
They're waiting till the dead of night
They're picking at their fingers with their knives
And wiping off their cleavers on their thighs
'Cause everybody knows...

[Repeat:]

The shankill butchers wanna catch you
The shankill butchers wanna cut you
The shankill butchers wanna catch you
Awake
Awake
Awake
Awake





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Jarosz, Sarah Shankill Butchers Comments
  1. H.... j....

    Was on a peaky blinders binge and it brought me here.. glad it did

    Cheers mates🍻💙

  2. z.... ....

    How the hell can you make a song about a bunch of sick fucks, who literally tortured their victims to death,i worry about the sanity of some people.

  3. A.... B....

    You're amazing.

  4. A.... P....

    I did a cover of this song. Check it out if you’d like :) https://youtu.be/pK8QGj65FrE

  5. D.... Q....

    Would scream at a performer at the marienttes being worked......I would.........

  6. S.... B....

    Fucking Americans. Do they actually know how to stay out of shit. Probably don’t even know who the butchers were

  7. T.... D....

    against those other ''Crazy b'stards'', namely the IRA

    T.... D....

    @macker33 the Shankhill Butchers were better than the IRA, but definitely not great, regardless.

    T.... D....

    @Jesse Brennan In what way were they better than the IRA?
    The IRA never went around picking up random protestants to murder.

    T.... D....

    @macker33 they did. They blew up buses with women and children in Northern Ireland. More egregiously, they launched attacks in England and Scotland.

    T.... D....

    @Jesse Brennan Link me the story of the IRA blowing up buses with school children or it didnt happen.

    T.... D....

    @macker33 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-29-mn-5071-story,amp.html

  8. T.... D....

    A real-life gang of Bogey men led by a madman, Lenny Murphy - though all were reactionaries

  9. J.... K....

    Better than the original.

  10. i.... s....

    can anyone tell me the chords for this cover?

  11. T.... P....

    Ignorant Americans singing about things they have no clue about.

    T.... P....

    Literally everyone knows what this song is about

  12. C.... R....

    This is something straight out of Dishonored.

    C.... R....

    The original song was better.

  13. A.... V....

    better than the original

    A.... V....

    Uhh...no.

    A.... V....

    Yeah, totally agree. Like chaotic459 said, I do feel like walking through a abandoned circus on halloween with bats and serial killer clowns coming after me.. I like the creepy feeling.

  14. w.... w....

    @philmont

  15. P.... C....

    Brilliant cover!

  16. J.... M....

    Hail Murphy????? oh just noticed his user name. Guess that explains it. However it's a bit unsettling to know that there is a " for want of a better name" human out there that would post a comment like that. I guess today we have all sorts amongst us, even  crack heads like this. Still think,  great singer bad choice of topic for a song.

  17. C.... H....

    Better than the original.

  18. J.... M....

    The Butchers were real they killed real people. Not my choice for a song, Great singer poor topic. Ask the people in Forth river way how it felt to go outside their home and find a butchered soul in the lane across the street. Or the loved ones who lost a husband, son, father to these animals if they like a song about the SB. The name should remain in hell along with the butchers. RIP= rot in purgatory Butchers. Like I said great singer bad song. B bay

    J.... M....

    Jacob Laughlin good thought, it was my own as well. I started to listen to the song once and when I realized the lyrics were what they are I paused and posted my comment, never listened to it again only checked the post tonight and saw that people like you like it. And that is your choice to listen to a song about butchery and murder for pleasure. Be well also Jacob and I truly hope you or your loved ones ever meet a single butcher let alone a bunch.

    J.... M....

    Art doesn't care, it reports. Too many people in this era are hung up on an idea that nothing should offend or report ugliness in this sick culture. Grow up!! The world is a multifaceted place and horrible things happen to good and bad people alike. Great song writing and nice cover.

    J.... M....

    Jim Morrison but like it was Ireland so who gives a fuck right?

    J.... M....

    And it was the IRA who finally took them out. What do we make of that?

  19. G.... H....

    gave me chills

    G.... H....

    The original was better.

  20. b.... ....

    They used to be sweet little boys...

    b.... ....

    Yeah That Verse Really Drug Me In As Well !!!

    b.... ....

    To be fair, Lenny Murphy was never a sweet little boy. He was robbing his classmates at knife point when at school. Probably a born psychopath who would have been a killer with or without ‘The Troubles’.

  21. H.... S....

    This is a lot better than the original. Her voice is beautiful. I could careless about the lyrics. The rhythm of the song is enough for me. 

  22. D.... C....

    After hearing this i had to researcher the shanekill butchers, and they were a Belfast group of murderers who killed Catholics! (In Ireland) Look up the documentary if you are interested :)

    D.... C....

    +Jim Morrison I wonder what way your bread is buttered ??

    D.... C....

    Diamond Crafters They were a bunch of sadistic murderers.

    They would kill anyone Protestant or Catholic, UVF or IRA soldiers. It didn't matter to them.

    D.... C....

    @OganessonOG And the IRA got rid of them. I don't think I need to tell you how.

  23. r.... ....

    Hail Lenny Murphy!

    r.... ....

    Oh...you mean that murderous bastard who was so bad that his own side turned him into the IRA, so they could rid that scumbag off the streets?

    r.... ....

    Hes in hell now with a hot poker up his ass, sick fvckers probably asking for more..

  24. C.... ....

    You wouldn't happen to have an mp3 of sarah jarosz playing "come on up to the house?"

    C.... ....

    I know this is declasse, but you should buy it from Sarah & support her. Another flame war starts...

    C.... ....

    @Charles Field no, you're right about that.

  25. N.... N....

    My fave song noe

  26. H.... .....

    love this

  27. 1.... ....

    this song reminds me of the purge

  28. j.... ....

    I just heard this song on the jukebox in a country bar in Wasco CA. Congrats Sarah, you've arrived in places you didn't even know existed!

  29. t.... ....

    I think this version is just a tiny bit too fast. I wish it were a bit slower. But it's an excellent cover.

  30. F.... ....

    I agree with you and I am a Decembrists fan but saying, 'the general consensus among critics' just sounds so goddamn arrogant and quite frankly isn't true we all know there might have been one or two critics at most to compare the two versions and your just trying to further solidify your opinion by saying 'everyone thinks her version is better' when in reality this isn't true.

  31. R.... S....

    SO creepy!

  32. J.... G....

    Thanks for uploading this, been looking it for days. Thanks.

  33. T.... ....

    I loved the original, but this is better.

  34. c.... b....

    lenny murphy got what he deserved bang bang bang killed by the ira there own loyalists friends touted to they ira to kill him ha ha

  35. A.... ....

    I first came across this song on Pandora, and it sent shivers down my spine. It's one of those songs that gets into your head and burrows in deep. When I learned it was a cover, I went to look up the original version and it just didn't have the same effect. Sarah's voice is powerful in a subtle way. Haunting and beautiful.

  36. M.... B....

    NPR brought me here lol. SWEET!

  37. M.... W....

    This song is about the Northern Ireland Shankill Butchers... They were a Ulster loyalist group who believed that anyone who was Catholic deserved to die. They would arrange attacks on random Catholics. This song is about how the Shankill Butchers and how their raising would turn them into evil people. They were only standing for what they believed in, however, that doesn't constitute their evil ways of judgement.

    M.... W....

    Matthew Ward they killed Ulster Volunteer soldiers and other Protestants too.

    They were sadistic murderers.

    M.... W....

    "They were only standing for what they believed in"

    Wasn't aware that torturing people to death was a principle

  38. C.... V....

    If Bran Stark had listened to his mom and stopped climbing the entire Game of Thrones series would have been different.

  39. M.... S....

    It's a really good cover. Exceptional. But I don't see how a cover could ever be better than the rendition of the person who actually wrote it.

  40. M.... N....

    wicked sweet

  41. r.... m....

    This is a nice cover

  42. d.... f....

    I Love this song, well i Love all of her music. It is so nice to see talent these days.
    Her songs have such feelings.

  43. d.... r....

    sing it darling

  44. W.... K....

    The Shankill butchers
    A case study of mass murder

    By Martin Dillon

  45. M.... M....

    giving a haunting song a perfectly haunting sound. She is great and I could listen to her all day.

  46. W.... K....

    Being from Belfast myself, I grew up on the streets in which the Shankill butchers operated, it wasn't until last year when I read the book that I realised how evil this group was, n knowing that the streets that I played on as a kid was used as a chopping board a mere 20 years before, it sends chills thru me. Infact one of the Shankill butchers lives across the street from where I'm currently living, he is an evil man he would of dropped a concrete slab on your head for looking at him wrong an

    W.... K....

    give an adress for where he lives please asking for a friend .....

  47. c.... ....

    I hate to agree, but I agree... though I wouldn't use the word superior, I'd say better improved upon? I feel like I should be walking through an old abandoned circus ground on halloween with bats and serial killer clowns coming after me while listening to the musical break between the lyrics. It's awesomely spooky!

  48. c.... ....

    "Ring around the rosie, pockets full of posies,
    ashes, ashes, we all fall down"
    A nursery rhyme little kids sing about the black plague... That is pretty disturbing... Kids today are listening to things WAY worse than this. Hell, I listened to Spice Girls as a little girl and they have some trashy lyrics. Kids shouldn't be exposed to evil, I agree, BUT we're in a world where there is NO protection from it, so we teach them that it does exist, and to stay away from it.

    And, I love this song!

  49. J.... K....

    I wouldn't read to much into it. It's about a group who would hunt Irish Catholics in Belfast, and written from the perspective of a parent telling their child a "boogey man" story.

  50. W.... K....

    Yeah even still, you can't compare grease with the Shankill butchers, I'm just finished the book about them and its very disturbing

  51. W.... K....

    Well it disturbs me, I wouldn't want my children hearing it, kids shouldn't be exposed to such evil

  52. j.... ....

    That's the point isn't it? This song is part of the tradition of children's tales that warn that the world is a scary place where evil exists.

  53. W.... K....

    This song is about a gang of murdering thugs who cut people's throats for fun, it disturbs me

  54. M.... C....

    holy crap she covered the d's i'm in love??!?!?!

  55. D.... P....

    Original is the best version, but this one nice too.

  56. s.... ....

    much better than the Decemberists. she is a brilliant talent.

  57. L.... ....

    She's good, but she can't touch the Decemberists. He brings more soul. But I'm biased. :)

  58. c.... ....

    Get Yourself on Later with Jools Holland ASAP

  59. F.... M....

    Ireland for the Irish, not for London or for Rome!!

    F.... M....

    Then why are there so many Irish living in mainland U.K. get your facts right.

  60. j.... ....

    @koga711 Frankly, she leaves 'em in the dust with this :)

  61. e.... ....

    I like this version better than the original, just because her voice is more... mysterious.

  62. P.... L....

    While I like the Decemberists more, I prefer her version of this song.

  63. T.... ....

    Good, she certainly does a good cover.

  64. T.... ....

    @FIntyMAcC10 ain't that hypocritical lol. The original IRA? That did right for Ireland, it was a bunch of freedom fighters. The Provisional IRA? That's something else entirely as bad. In the 70's? The worry wasn't about a Islamic Extremist committing a suicide bombing, the worry was about a member of the Provisional IRA.
    THERE'S a fecking HUGE difference.

  65. G.... s....

    My favorite Decemberists song. This was a very beautiful cover.

  66. F.... M....

    @kdwskdws Where Irish and this is IRELAND so fuck off use british basterds. Now use are in Afganistan getting blew to shit. Get the message. INVADERS MUST DIE

    F.... M....

    Finty Mac remember Finty when you leave a comment like this you leave your IP address as well, just a thought eh!

  67. m.... ....

    It's things like this song that makes one feel both mushy (in a heart-melting way) and yet so BA for being Catholic. I love it.

  68. C.... M....

    not as creepy as the Decemberists

  69. F.... M....

    Here in Belfast on their gravestone it says "Here lies a soldier", nothing but cowardly scum killing innocent catholics in the most brutal way they could.

    God Bless the IRA

    F.... M....

    Provisional IRA did the same to Protestant civilians. Both were terrorist cowards.

  70. c.... ....

    Respect to maneggl who can throw his respect around like loose confetti

  71. M.... P....

    Respect the IRA for putting twnenty rounds into Shankill Butchers leader.

  72. g.... ....

    lol i love the comment sthis song is against the shankill butchers you mongoloids. the decemberists are irish americans.

  73. c.... ....

    @CherchezMoi Good on you for taking the time out to write that

  74. L.... O....

    @jpalmer222 Exactly what she was aiming for, I'm sure.

  75. F.... M....

    POOR OLD LENNY, MET THE IRA ONE DAY, THEY SHOT HIM 20 TIMES,AND THEN THEY WALKED AWAY

  76. J.... S....

    God Bless the Devils Brigade, UVF
    lest we forget

  77. F.... M....

    When being just a lad like you, I joined the IRA

  78. u.... ....

    @Robinjackassjackson,so I post that the butchers=scum and from that you deduce that I'm a taig?You have mental health issues.

  79. E.... ....

    @Biverix Fucking typos, how do they work?

  80. B.... ....

    @Einchy1 I feel comfortable condemning a bunch of cereal... wait, WHAT?

  81. F.... M....

    TIOCFAIDH AR LA
    KAH

  82. E.... ....

    @therebelmedic I feel comfortable condemning a bunch of cereal killers who murdered random civilians.

  83. L.... b....

    unique, beaufiful voice!

  84. B.... T....

    the song is so creepy but i really love hearing the guitar instrumental in the beginning. i wish there was an instrumental version ~

  85. M.... K....

    And they did pretty much exactly the same thing -- the only difference is they won.

    Basically, if you're going to thumbs me either way on this, consider this as the point to my whole comment. Both sides of The Troubles, Shankill Butchers inclusive, should be neither revered or despised for acting so desperately, merely studied and learned from.

  86. M.... K....

    I love that a /vast/ majority of the posters on this vid are saying "F. the SB! Bastards!" or the opposite, and backing them. While yes, what the SB did was reprehensible, you've got to look at the other side of the story, too. Remember, the UVF and IRA (used as a broader term for all parties) were THE two most violent organizations in Irish history.
    That said, while no-one should be backing them, no-one should be condemning them either. I mean, the French Resistance aren't viewed as terrorists.

  87. m.... ....

    Darren King from MuteMath sent me here. I'm glad he did, I really like this. :)

  88. L.... ....

    i like this version wayyyy better

  89. N.... R....

    Sounds awesome!

  90. R.... ....

    She does The Decemberists justice (in my opinion)

  91. L.... ....

    FGAU, Up the UDA, UVF.

  92. E.... ....

    It's a good cover, but I think I like The Decemberists' version better. It was creepier, but it was also very captivating--like a disturbing fairytale or lullaby.

  93. u.... ....

    The shankill butchers were sectarian scum,and I'm a prod.

  94. s.... d....

    omg fuckin scumbags..fuck the s.hill butchers SCUMMY BASTARDS

  95. s.... ....

    wow great cover

  96. b.... ....

    well at least that makes one of you

  97. M.... B....

    He wrote it as a reference a parental bedtime scare tactic - "everybody knows if you don't mind your mother's words, a wicked wind will blow ribbons from your curls, the shankill wanna catch you awake" Kind of like when a parent says if you dont behave santa wont bring you anything. He was talking about the strange and omnious fairytale it became.

  98. L.... O....

    I want the MP3. D:

  99. G.... ....

    You're an invader saying that.

  100. G.... ....

    Er, the song makes them into fairy tale boogeymen, which is very much on par with what these monsters were; like in El Laberinto del Fauno, the real ogre is all too human.