Folk song, Ireland
“Molly Malone (“Cockles & Mussels” or “In Dublin’s fair city”)” is a folk song from Ireland, as well as the unofficial anthem of the city of Dublin.
Molly Malone (Cockles & Mussels) – Song History
Molly Malone was a legendary fishmonger. It isn’t clear if she was a real person, but is referred to as a nice woman who died young of a fever. In memory of her, a statue has been placed since 1987, the city’s first millennium celebration, at Grafton Street. June 13 is also established as “Molly Malone Day”, as the date on which one of many Molly Malones who lived in Dublin during the last centuries died.
In fact the song was not recorded earlier than 1883, when it was published as a work written and composed by James Yorkston, of Edinburgh. However, as the song became naturalised in Ireland, the attribution to Yorkston was generally omitted in published versions, encouraging a general assumption that it was an ancient folk song. The song was featured in Stanley Kubrick’s film A Clockwork Orange, sung by an old drunk.
Table of Contents
- Molly Malone (Cockles & Mussels) – Song History
- Molly Malone Videos
- Molly Malone karaoke (Free MP3 download)
- Molly Malone Sheet music with chords
- Free Printable PDF with Sheet Music and lyrics
- Teaching idea
- MP4 Video File | Free Download
Molly Malone Videos
Sing-Along Video
Karaoke Video
Lyrics
1. In Dublin’s fair city
Where the girls are so pretty
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone
As she wheeled her wheel-barrow
Through streets broad and narrow
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!”
“Alive, alive, oh,
Alive, alive, oh,”
Crying “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh”.
2. She was a fishmonger
But sure ’twas no wonder
For so were her father and mother before
And they wheeled their barrows
Through the streets broad and narrow
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!”
“Alive, alive, oh,
Alive, alive, oh,”
Crying “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh”.
3. She died of a fever
And no one could save her
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone.
But her ghost wheels her barrow
Through streets broad and narrow
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!”
“Alive, alive, oh,
Alive, alive, oh,”
Crying “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh”.
Molly Malone karaoke
(Free MP3 download)
To download your free instrumental mp3 of this song, click or tap on the following button or link:
“Molly Malone (Cockles & Mussels)” free mp3 download (instrumental, 1:40 – 6/8 – 154 bpm)
Commercial License (karaoke)
Purchase a license that permits the commercial use of this track. You can license this track for:
YouTube License
Insta/FB License
TikTok License
Other License
Not sure which license is best for you?
Read our licensing page or contact us!
Buy our entire album with 30 Favourite Nursery Rhymes
+ 20 Instrumental versions of songs for kids
Molly Malone Sheet music with chords
To save this free music sheet of “Molly Malone (Cockles & Mussels)” to your computer, right click (or tap and hold, on mobile devices) and choose “Save Image As…”.
Free Printable PDF with Sheet Music and lyrics
To download a ready-to-print PDF of this song for music activities with a music sheet, lyrics and a drawing for kids to paint, right click (or tap and hold) on the following link, then choose “Save link as…”.
“Molly Malone (Cockles & Mussels)” free PDF download – Singing Bell
Click on the button for a printable PDF file with Guitar Chords, Tabs and Sheet Music for this song for free.
Click on the button to watch a piano tutorial video and download a PDF file with music score to this song for free.
Teaching idea
This Irish song can be a useful material for “exploring” the 3/4 measure.
Ask children to find how many combinations of quarters, eighths, etc. that consist this measure there are in the song.
Try to find as many new combinations as you can, make a table and compare them.
MP4 Video File | Free Download
To watch the karaoke video of this song on your mobile device, click on the following link to download the video file (mp4 format).
Molly Malone (Cockles & Mussels) | Free mp4 Video File Download
Did you like this post? Rate it!
(2 vote(s), average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...
You may also like:
