Текст песни: William Henry Paddle + перевод

William Henry Paddle — would you care to dance?

It probably wouldn’t kill you, would you like another chance?

Times have changed a little & it’s not so grave a sin

So if it be your pleasure, feel free to jump right in

The Reverand Buchanon was twenty-one years old

In the service of the church, he did as he was told

This was back when Newfoundland was barely just a rock

He was sent to bring the heathens back into the flock

The Reverand Buchanon heard a knocking at the door

William Henry Paddle’s mother stood there lily-white and pure

She was visibly shaken, there was panic in her words

«The devil’s down the road, come quick, before someone gets hurt»

William Henry Paddle’s mother found out her son had gone

To a very wicked party where there was music going on

There was laughter, there was singing, there was dancing there as well

William Henry Paddle’s mother was afraid he’d go to hell

The Reverand grabbed his Bible and his other tools of battle

Put his collar & his hat on and then hopped into the saddle

William Henry Paddle’s mother left the Reverand eating dust

And when she burst into the cabin William Henry Paddle cussed

William Henry Paddle’s mother, she did not leave a trace

Of the smile that had been on William Henry Paddle’s face

And when he saw the Reverand William bowed his head in shame

Afraid there might forever be a mark beside his name

The scolding that the Reverand gave was all brimstone and fire

Unmarried dancing partners lost all of their desire

The fiddles all got packed away, the girls put up their hair

And all the partygoers joined the Reverand in prayer

On a street in Montreal, some 40 odd years later

In William Henry Paddle’s life, there was no moment greater

He bumped into the Reverand and introduced him to his wife

And thanked him for that evening when the Reverand saved his life

The Reverand’s diary fell into his great-granddaughter's hands

She read about this fellow who was not allowed to dance

So to find out if his bones might now be finally free to rattle

She did a jig around the grave of William Henry Paddle

Singing «William Henry Paddle — would you care to dance?

It probably wouldn’t kill you, would you like another chance?

Times have changed a little & it’s not so grave a sin

So if it be your pleasure, feel free to jump right in»

Перевод песни William Henry Paddle