A Pair of Brown Eyes - The Pogues - MP3 instrumental karaoke

The Pogues' 1985 ballad "A Pair of Brown Eyes" begins in the same way as many of the band's songs: with a drink, or two. "One summer evening, drunk to hell / I sat there nearly lifeless / An old man in the corner sang / "Where the Water Lilies Grow", sings the band's larger-than-life frontman, iconoclast, and old “Fairytale of New York” hit-maker Shane MacGowan. "A Pair of Brown Eyes" is sung from the viewpoint of a World War I veteran and houses a melody built from "Wild Mountain Thyme," a traditional Irish/Scottish folk song penned by Francis McPeake in 1957 (also known as "Purple Heather" and "Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go?") The track was featured on the band's 1985 album Rum Sodomy & the Lash, the second studio LP from the Anglo-Irish Celtic punk leaders. The LP rose to number 13 on the UK charts with "A Pair of Brown Eyes" making it to number 72 and scoring their first charting single.