Lord of the Dance - The Dubliners

I danced in the morn­ing when the world was be­gun,
And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,
And I came down from hea­ven and I danced on the earth,
At Beth­le­hem I had my birth.

Refrain

Dance, then, wher­ev­er you may be;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.
And I’ll lead you all wher­ev­er you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.

I danced for the scribe and the Pha­ri­see,
But they would not dance and they would not fol­low me;
I danced for the fish­er­men, for James and John;
They came to me and the dance went on.

Refrain

I danced on the Sab­bath when I cured the lame,
The ho­ly peo­ple said it was a shame;
They whipped and they stripped and they hung me high;
And they left me there on a cross to die.

Refrain

I danced on a Fri­day and the sky turned black;
It’s hard to dance with the dev­il on your back;
They bur­ied my bo­dy and they thought I’d gone,
But I am the dance and I still go on.

Refrain

They cut me down and I leapt up high,
I am the life that’ll ne­ver, ne­ver die;
I’ll live in you if you’ll live in me;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.

Refrain

Shaler Tune, Lyrics by Sydney B. Carter, 1963