Magpie - The Unthanks: Song Lyrics, Music Videos & Concerts

Magpie

225,061

Singer/Songwriter

Magpie was released on February 9, 2015 by RabbleRouser Music as a part of the album Mount the Air

Popular Segments

Song Details

Most Popular

Past 7 Days

00:25 - 00:30

Magpie was discovered most frequently at around 25 seconds into the song during the past week

00:00

00:25

00:35

01:05

01:10

01:15

01:30

01:35

01:40

01:45

02:00

02:10

02:20

02:35

04:55

00:00

05:08

OVERVIEW

LYRICS

Music Video

Music Video

Credits

Lyrics

One's for sorrow, two's for joy

Three's for a girl and four's for a boy

Five's for silver, six for gold

Seven's for a secret never told

Devil, devil, I defy thee

Devil, devil, I defy thee

Devil, devil, I defy thee

Oh, the magpie brings us tidings

Of news both fair and foul

She's more cunning than the raven

More wise than any owl

For she brings us news of the harvest

Of the barley, wheat, and corn

And she knows when we'll go to our graves

And how we shall be born

One's for sorrow, two's for joy

Three's for a girl and four's for a boy

Five's for silver, six for gold

Seven's for a secret never told

Devil, devil, I defy thee

Devil, devil, I defy thee

Devil, devil, I defy thee

She brings us joy when from the right

Grief when from the left

Of all the news that's in the air

We know to trust her best

For she sees us at our labour

And she mocks us at our work

And she steals the eggs from out of the nest

And she can mob the hawk

One's for sorrow, two's for joy

Three's for a girl and four's for a boy

Five's for silver, six for gold

Seven's for a secret never told

Devil, devil, I defy thee

Devil, devil, I defy thee

Devil, devil, I defy thee

The priest, he says we're wicked

For to worship the devil's bird

Ah, but we respect the old ways

And we disregard his word

For we know they rest uneasy

As we slumber in the night

And we'll always leave out a little bit of meat

For the bird that's black and white

One's for sorrow, two's for joy

Three's for a girl and four's for a boy

Five's for silver, six for gold

Seven's for a secret never told

Written by: David Dowds

Shazam Footer

Select language:

Company

Legal

Chrome Web Store

Galaxy Store

Follow Us

© Copyright 2026 Apple Inc. and its affiliates | Supplier Responsibility

Loading...