"Chop you down like an old dead tree."

This mid-seventies edition of the Dubliners was without its departed founder Ronnie Drew, who would later return to the fold, and Ciarán Bourke, who had been crippled by an aneurysm. But this is the beloved singer Luke Kelly's personal version, anyway. Ewan MacColl wrote the song, and a cover by the Pogues is better known to younger listeners.

This morning in New Albany, I'm singing "Dirty Old Town" along with Luke.