The Orange and the Green

Oh me father was an Ulsterman, proud Protestant was he
Me mother was a Catholic girl, from County Cork was she
They were married in two churches, lived happily enough
Until the day that I was born and things got rather tough
Oh it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen
Me father he was orange and me mother she was green
Baptised by father Reilly, I was rushed away by car
To be made a little orangelass, my father’s shining star
I was christened Mary Katherine, but still in spite of that
To father I was Liza and to mother I was Kat
Oh it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen
Me father he was orange and me mother she was green
With mother every Sunday to mass I’d proudly stroll
And after that the orange lads would try to save my soul
For both sides tried to claim me, but I was smart because
I played the flute, I played the harp, depending where I was
Oh it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen
Me father he was orange and me mother she was green
One day me ma’s relations came round to visit me
Just as me father’s kinfolk were all sittin' down to tea
We tried to smooth things over, but they all began to fight
And being strictly neutral, I bashed everyone in sight
Oh it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen
Me father he was orange and me mother she was green
Now me parents never could agree about me type of school
Me learning was all done at home, that’s why I’m such a fool
They both passed on, god rest them, but left me caught between
That awful color problem of the orange and the green
Oh it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen
Me father he was orange and me mother she was green
Fed up with all the fighting I moved far away from home
And met a handsome baker who was named Elijah Cone
My family will still write me asking which one I will choose
I don’t know how to tell them that my husband’s turned me blue
Oh it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen
Me father he was orange and me mother she was green
Oh it is the biggest mix-up that you have ever seen
Me father he was orange and me mother she was green