Long Journey Home

If on every ocean the ship is a throne
And for each mast cut down another sapling is grown
Then I could believe that I'm bound to find
A better life than I left behind

But as you ascend the ladder
Look out below where you tread
For the colours bled as they overflowed
Red, white and blue
Green, white and gold

So I had to leave from my country of birth
As for each child grown tall
Another lies in the earth
And for every rail we laid in the loam
There's a thousand miles of the long journey home

But as you ascend the ladder
Look out below where you tread
For the colours bled as they overflowed
Red, white and blue
Green, white and gold

But as you ascend the ladder
Look out below where you tread
For the colours bled as they overflowed
Red, white and blue
Green, white and gold

But as you ascend the ladder
Look out below where you tread
For the colours bled as they overflowed
Red, white and blue
Green, white and gold

Long Journey Home (Anthem)
Written by	Elvis Costello & Paddy Moloney
Performed by	The Chieftains with The Irish Film Orchestra, Anúna & Elvis Costello
Produced by	Paddy Moloney
Orchestra arranged & conducted by	Fiachra Trench
Chorus arranged by	Michael McGlynn
Musicians	Elvis Costello - vocals Paddy Moloney - tin whistle, uilleann pipes Kevin Conneff - bodhrán Derek Bell - harp Matt Molloy - flute Martin Fay - fiddle Fiachra Trench - piano Arty McGlynn - guitar James Blennerhassett - double bass Paddy Glackin - fiddle Robbie Casserly - drums The Irish Film Orchestra Anúna - choir
Recorded	1997, Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin
Released	January 13, 1998
Singles	Long Journey Home, 1998 (full-length version & radio edit)
Collections	The Chieftains: The Wide World Over: A 40 Year Celebration, 2002 (radio edit) - The Chieftains: The Essential Chieftains, 2006 (full-length version)
Soundtracks	Long Journey Home, 1998 (full-length version)
Various Artists collections	Long Journey Home (sampler), 1998
Length	4:18 (full-length version) 3:20 (radio edit)

First known performance:
June 5, 1999, San Francisco, CA
Last known performance:
February 10, 2023, New York, NY
(4 known performances, 1 as a snippet)

“Paddy [Moloney] didn’t ever dream little, so he told me, ‘let’s go to Carnegie Hall with the Notre Dame [Folk Choir], and let’s do it like it’s the national anthem”… That was the conceit of that song, it was supposed to be the national anthem of the Irish in America.” — Songlines, April 2022