Granddaddy used to sit me on his knee   And tell me how it was in the old country   Famine and floods and crops that failed   I'd listen for hours as he told his tale      He said "There must have been a curse on the family name"   But he swore he'd be the one to break that chain   With money he saved from the sweat of his brow   He'd get 'em out of there, someday, somehow      Well, he never was much of a gambin' man   But he dreamed of passage to the Promised Land   Bet it all on a better life in America   He said "We'll change our fate, and this danged O'Reilly Luck"      I can only imagine the look on his face   Tickets in hand, as they counted the days   Eleven passports, no turnin' back   Decidin' what they should and shouldn't pack      But the baby caught the fever just days before   And the doctor hung a sheet on their front door   For two long weeks they were quarantined   Stranded with nothin' but his shattered dream      Well, he never was much of a gambin' man   But he dreamed of passage to the Promised Land   Bet it all on a better life in America   He said "We'll change our fate, and this danged O'Reilly Luck"      Granddaddy told this story 'til he passed away   How the people all cheered from the dock that day   While he shook his fist with a tear in his eye   At the beautiful ship of the White Star Line   And he cursed his fate and his danged O'Reilly Luck   As the mighty Titanic, sailed into the sun      Well, he never was much of a gambin' man   But he found his way to the Promised Land   Bet it all on a better life in America   He said "We'll change our fate, and this danged O'Reilly Luck,   Danged O'Relly Luck..."