Rose Tattoo

Album: Signed & Sealed In Blood (2013)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is the first single to be released from Signed and Sealed in Blood, the eighth studio album by Celtic punk band The Dropkick Murphys. The band started playing this in June 2012 during their European tour. The album title comes from the lyrics of this song.
  • The lyrics are inspired by bassist Ken Casey's own tattoos. "Throughout life - trials, tribulations, dates, times, places, things that are important to you, family, people who have passed away - tattoos on my body document my life and what I've been through, things that have been important to me," he told NPR's Audie Cornish. "You know, they're all a part of the story."
  • The rose tattoo referred to in this song appears on Casey's arm and is a memorial to his grandfather who raised him after his father had died. "He taught me most things that make me who I am today," Casey told NPR. "He was a big union guy in Boston. It's in a visible place for me and I look down and I see it a lot. He was such an inspiring man that it inspires me. Oftentimes, I just catch it out of the corner of my eye and it literally changes my mood when I think of him and what a strong individual he was."
  • The song was re-recorded in May 2013 with Bruce Springsteen on guest vocals as a charity single to benefit the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.

Comments: 1

  • Tcn from KansasI am 65 and have no tattoos but this song struck me so much I am going to have it tattooed on my arm.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Lita Ford

Lita FordSongwriter Interviews

Lita talks about how they wrote songs in The Runaways, and how she feels about her biggest hit being written by somebody else.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce PavittSong Writing

The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.

P.F. Sloan

P.F. SloanSongwriter Interviews

P.F. was a teenager writing hits and playing on tracks for Jan & Dean when he wrote a #1 hit that got him blackballed.

Kerry Livgren of Kansas

Kerry Livgren of KansasSongwriter Interviews

In this talk from the '80s, the Kansas frontman talks turning to God and writing "Dust In The Wind."

Bands Named After Real People (Who Aren't In The Band)

Bands Named After Real People (Who Aren't In The Band)Song Writing

How a gym teacher, a janitor, and a junkie became part of some very famous band names.