Oh Irene I've been your neighbor
For forty years or more
Oh I used to see you get the paper
Or standing at the door
I didn't know you very well
But I saw it on the news
Oh Irene, Irene
What is there to do?

Oh the people hear the gunshots
But they don't do a thing
And somehow the songbirds above us
Still find a voice to sing
I wish I was a swallow
So I could fly away
Oh Irene, Irene
What is there to say?

Oh Irene I met your daughter
At the memorial today
Oh you know she was so gracious
I bet you raised her that way
I'll try to be a better man
Than the one you knew
Oh Irene, Irene
What am I to do?