이 곡은 Steven Jones와 Peter Jones에 의해서 쓰여진 곡이예요. 이들은 할아버지가 죽고나서 집을 정리하다가 오래된 편지를 발견했다고 해요. 그래서 그 편지들을 읽어보는데 그들의 고조부였던 Brian Hunter가 아들이었던 John에게 보낸 편지로 1860년에서부터 1892년에 걸쳐서 쓰여진 편지들이었어요. 많은 분들이 아시겠지만, 아일랜드의 감자기근은 수많은 아일랜드인들을 다른 지역으로 옮겨가게 했는데, 이 노래의 주인공인 John도 그 때문에 미국으로 건너왔고, 고향에 남아있던 아버지인 Brian은 문맹이었기때문에 친구에게 부탁을 해서 편지를 쓰고, 또 온 편지를 읽어달라고 했어요. Stenven과 Peter는 이 편지의 일부를 이용해서 곡으로 만든게 이 곡이네요. 아주 많은 가수가 불러준건 아니지만, 몇 몇 가수들이 불러줬고, 개인적으로는 Robbie O'Connell이 참여해선 만든 음반의 곡을 좋아하는 편이예요.

편지는 뭐 부모가 보내는 편지가 다 그렇겠지만, 자식에 대한 그리움과 안전하기를 바라는 마음. 당시 가족에게 일어나고 있는 이런 저런 일들에 대한것들과 더불어 지역에서 일어나고 있는 일들. 그리고 기회가 되면 고향을 방문해줘서 만나봤으면 하는 그리움같은것들이 묻어나는 가사로 되어있어요. 이렇게 30년이 지나서 마지막 편지는 아버지가 아닌 동생이 아버지가 자신을 그리워하다가 이제는 죽었다는 편지의 내용을 마지막으로 곡이 끝을 맺고 있네요.

요즘은 저시절 같지 않아서, 방문도 자주 할 수 있고, 전화로 이야기를 하거나 카톡도 하고 사진도 그때그때 보낼 수 있지만, 그래도 여전히 이런 종류의 노래를 접하면 생각이 많아집니다.

Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 60, my dear and loving son John
Your good friend the schoolmaster Pat McNamara's so good
As to write these words down.
Your brothers have all gone to find work in England,
The house is so empty and sad
The crop of potatoes is sorely infected,
A third to a half of them bad.
And your sister Brigid and Patrick O'Donnell
Are going to be married in June.
Your mother says not to work on the railroad
And be sure to come on home soon.

Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 70, dear and loving son John
Hello to your Mrs and to your 4 children,
May they grow healthy and strong.
Michael has got in a wee bit of trouble,
I guess that he never will learn.
Because of the dampness there's no turf to speak of
And now we have nothing to burn.
And Brigid is happy, you named a child for her
And now she's got six of her own.
You say you found work, but you don't say
What kind or when you will be coming home.

Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 80, dear Michael and John, my sons
I'm sorry to give you the very sad news
That your dear old mother has gone.
We buried her down at the church in Kilkelly,
Your brothers and Brigid were there.
You don't have to worry, she died very quickly,
Remember her in your prayers.
And it's so good to hear that Michael's returning,
With money he's sure to buy land
For the crop has been poor and the people
Are selling at any price that they can.

Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 90, my dear and loving son John
I guess that I must be close on to eighty,
It's thirty years since you're gone.
Because of all of the money you send me,
I'm still living out on my own.
Michael has built himself a fine house
And Brigid's daughters have grown.
Thank you for sending your family picture,
They're lovely young women and men.
You say that you might even come for a visit,
What joy to see you again.

Kilkelly, Ireland, 18 and 92, my dear brother John
I'm sorry that I didn't write sooner to tell you that father passed on.
He was living with Brigid, she says he was cheerful
And healthy right down to the end.
Ah, you should have seen him play with
The grandchildren of Pat McNamara, your friend.
And we buried him alongside of mother,
Down at the Kilkelly churchyard.
He was a strong and a feisty old man,
Considering his life was so hard.
And it's funny the way he kept talking about you,
He called for you in the end.
Oh, why don't you think about coming to visit,
We'd all love to see you again.