Archive of lyrics for a number of rebel songs.
In 1803 we sailed out to sea
Out from the sweet town of Derry.
For Australia bound if we didn't all drown
And the marks of our letters were heavy
In the rusty iron chains we signed for our wanes
Our women we left there in sorrow
As the main sails unfurled, our cares we hurled
At the English and the thoughts of tomorrow
Chorus
Oh....oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Oh....oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
At the mouth of the foil, bid farwell to the soil
As down below decks we were lying.
O'Docherty's scream woke him out of a dream
Of a vision of bold Robert dying.
The sun burned cruel as we dished out the gruel
Dan O'Connor was down with the fever
Sixty rebels today bound for Botany Bay
How many would reach their receiver?
Chorus
I cursed them to hell, as our bow fought the swell
Our ship danced like moths on the firelight
Wild horses rode high as the devil passed by
Taking souls into Hades by twilight light
Five weeks out to sea we were now 43
We buried our comrades each morning
In our own slime, we lust for a time
Endless nights without dawning
Chorus
Van Diemen's land is a Hell for a man
To live out his life in slavery
Where the climate is raw and the gun makes the law
Neither wind nor the rain care for bravery
Twenty years have gone by and I've emptied my bond
My comrades' ghosts walk beside me
Well a rebel I came and sure I'll die the same
On a cold winters night you will find me
Chorus
I was born on a Dublin street where the Loyal drums do beat
And the loving English feet they walked all over us
And each and every night when me Da' would come home tight
He'd invite the neighbors outside with this chorus
Chorus
Come out you Black and Tans
Come out and fight me like a man
Show your wives how you won medals down in Flanders
Tell them how the IRA made you run like hell away
From the green and lovely lanes in Killashandra
Come tell us how you slew
Those old Arabs two by two
Like the Zulus they had spears and bows and arrows
How bravely you faced each one
With your sixteen pounder gun
And you frightened them poor natives to their marrow
Chorus
Come let me hear you tell
How you slammed our great Parnell
When you had him well and truly persecuted
Where are your sneers and jeers
That you loudly let us hear
When our leaders of '16 were executed
Chorus
Well the time is coming fast
And I think it's here at last
When each soldier will be cast aside before us
And if there be a need
Then it's sure we'll sing "Godspeed!"
With a verse or two of Steven Beehan's chorus
There's a uniform that's hanging in what's known as father's room
A uniform so simple in it's style
It has no braid of gold or silk nor hat with feathered plume
Yet the mother has preserved it all the while
One day she made me try it on, a wish of mine for years
"In memory of your father, son" she said
And when I put the Sam Browne on she was smiling with the tears
As she placed the broad black brimmer on my head
Chrous
It's just a broad black brimmer with ribbons frayed and torn
By the careless whisk of many a mountain breeze
A old trench coat that's battle stained and worn
And breeches almost threadbare at the knees
A Sam Brown belt with a buckle big and strong
And a holster that´s been empty many's a day
When men claim Ireland´s freedom the one who'll choose to lead them
Will wear the broad black brimmer of the IRA
It was the uniform been worn by me father long ago
When he reached me mothers homestead on the run
It was the uniform me father wore in that little church below
When oul Father Mac he blessed the pair as one
And after truce and treaty and the parting of the ways
He wore it when he marched out with the rest
And when they bore his body down that rugged heather braes
They placed the broad black brimmer on his chest.
Chorus
As we gather in the chapel here in old Kilmanhaim Jail
I think about these past few weeks, oh, will they say we failed
From our school days they have told us we must yearn for Liberty
But all I want in this dark place is to have you here with me
Chorus
Oh, Grace just hold in your arms and let this moment linger
They'll take me out at dawn and I will die
With all my love I'll place this wedding ring upon your finger
There won't be time to share our love, so we must say good bye
Now, I know it's hard for you, my love, to ever understand
The love I bare for these brave men, my love for this dear land
But when Padric called me to his side down in the GPO
I had to leave my own sick bed to him I had to go
Chorus
Now, as the dawn is breaking my heart is breaking too
As I walk out on this may morn, my thoughts will be of you
So write these words upon the wall so everyone will know
I loved so much that I could see his blood upon the rose
Chorus
Written by Declan McLaughlin
I've been up and down the highways in the dead of night
Singing songs about the justice that I don't believe is right
But I believe in you
I've seen a hundred grave yards and a chance to say goodbye
I've never known an English solider but I've seen a couple die
I believe, I believe in you
There's no flowers in the graveside from anyone at all
Your picture's in the paper and I think that says it all
And all that I can do is maybe dedicate this song
Try and shame the bastards that spelt your name wrong
I believe, I believe, I believe in you
Oh when men behind the wire it rung up and down the street
You were planning revolution with your children at your feet
When the images of Ireland as a woman have all gone
It's the women of the movement, that keep it moving on
I believe, I believe, I believe in you
When your Catholic education has you up against the wall
Don't worry sister, I'll be there if you fall
There's women in the kitchen and there's women on the street
There's women manning barricades, that's women on their feet
I believe, I believe, I believe in you
Yes I believe, I believe, I believe in you
Oh me name is Joe McDonnell from
Belfast town I came
That city I will never see again
For in the town of Belfast
I spent many happy days
I love that town in oh so many ways
For it's there I spent my childhood and found
for me a wife
I then set out to make
for her a life
But all my young ambitions met with bitterness and hate
I soon found myself inside a prison gate
Chorus
And you dare to call me a terrorist
While you looked down your gun
When I think of all the deeds that you had done
You had plundered many nations divided many lands
You had terrorised their peoples you ruled with an iron hand.
And you brought this reign of terror to my land
Through those many months internment
In the Maidstone and the Maze
I thought about my land throughout those days
Why my country was divided, why I was now in jail
Imprisoned without crime or without trial
And though I love my country I am not a bitter man
I've seen cruelty and injustice at first hand
So then one fateful morning I shook bold freedom's hand
For right or wrong I'd try to free my land
Chorus
Then one cold October morning trapped in a lion's den
I found myself in prison once again
I was committed to the H-blocks for fourteen years or more
On the Blanket the conditions they were poor
Then a hunger strike we did commence for the dignity of man
But it seemed to me that no one gave a damn
But now, I'm a saddened man I've watched my comrades die
If only people cared or wondered why
Chorus
May God shine on you Bobby Sands
For the courage you have shown
May your glory and your fame be widely known
And Francis Hughes and Ray McCreesh who died unselfishly
And Patsy O Hara and the next in line is me
And those who lie behind me may you're courage be the same
And I pray to God my life is not in vain
Ah but sad and bitter was the year of 1981
For everything I've lost and nothing's won.
For those who are in love
There's a song that's warm and tender.
For those who are oppressed
In song you can protest.
So liberate your minds
And give your soul expression.
Open up your hearts,
I'll sing for you this song.
Let the people sing their stories and their songs
And the music of their native land
Their lullabies and battlecries and songs of hope and joy
So join us hand in hand
All across this ancient land
Throughout the test of time
It was music that kept their spirits free
Those songs of yours and of mine
It was back in ancient times,
The bard would tell his stories
Of the heroes, of the villain,
Of the chieftains in the glen.
Through Elizabethian time
And Cromwellian war and fury
Put our pipers to the sword,
Killed our harpers and our bards.
Let the people sing their stories and their songs
And the music of their native land
Their lullabies and battlecries and songs of hope and joy
So join us hand in hand
All across this ancient land
Throughout the test of time
It was music that kept their spirits free
Those songs of yours and of mine
Ireland, land of song,
Your music lives forever
In its valleys, in its mountains,
In its hills and in its glens.
Our music did survive
Through famine and oppression.
To the generations gone,
I'll sing for you this song.
'Twas on Good Friday Morning all in the month of May
A German ship was signaled beyond there in the bay.
We've twenty thousand rifles here all ready for to land
But no answering signal came from the lonely Banna Strand.
A motor-car was dashing through the early morning gloom,
A sudden crash, and in the sea they went to meet their doom
Two Irish lads lay dying there just like their hopes so grand
They could not give the signal now from lonely Banna Strand.
'No signal answers from the shore,' Sir Roger sadly said,
'No comrades here to welcome me, alas! they must be dead;
But I must do my duty and at once I mean to land,'
So in a boat he pulled ashore to lonely Banna Strand.
The German ships were lying there with rifles in galore.
Up came a British ship and spoke, 'No Germans reach the shore;
You are our Empire's enemy, and so we bid you stand.
No German foot shall e'er pollute the lonely Banna Strand.'
They sailed for Queenstown Harbour. Said the Germans: 'We're undone
The British are our masters man for man and gun for gun.
We've twenty thousand rifles here, but they never will reach land.
We'll sink them all and bid farewell to lonely Banna Strand.'
The R.I. C. were hunting for Sir Roger high and low,
They found him at McKenna's Fort, said they: 'You are our foe.'
Said he, 'I'm Roger Casement, I came to my native land,
I meant to free my countrymen on the lonely Banna Strand.'
They took Sir Roger prisoner and sailed for London Tower,
And in the Tower they laid him as a traitor to the Crown.
Said he, 'I m no traitor,' but his trial he had to stand.
For bringing German rifles to the lonely Banna Strand.
'Twas in an English prison that they led him to his death.
'I'm dying for my country,' he said with his last breath.
He's buried in a prison yard far from his native land
The wild waves sing his Requiem on lonely Banna Strand.
In nineteen hundred and sixteen
The forces of the Crown
For to take Orange, White, and Green
Bombarded Dublin Town
But in '21, Britannia's sons
Were forced earn their pay, when
The Black and Tans, like lightening ran
From the Rifles of the IRA
They burned their way through Munster
Then laid Leinster on the rack
Through Connacht, and through Ulster
Marched those men in brown and black
They shot down wives and children
In their own heroic way, but
The Black and Tans, like lightening ran
From the Rifles of the IRA
They hanged young Kevin Barry high
Just a lad of eighteen years
Cork City's flames lit up in the sky
But our brave lads new no fear
The Cork Brigade with hand-grenades
In ambush wait and lay, and
The Black and Tans, like lightening ran
From the Rifles of the IRA
The Tans were got, taken out and shot
By a brave and valiant few
Sean Treacy, Dinny Lacey
And Tom Barry's gallant crew
Though we're not free yet
We won't forget
Until our dying day, how
The Black and Tans, like lightening ran
From the Rifles of the IRA
It was on a dreary New Years day, when the shade of night came down
A lorry load of volunteers, approached the border town
There were men from Dublin and from Cork, Fermanagh and Tyrone
But the leader was a Limerick man, Sean South of Garryowen
And as they moved along the street, up to the barracks door
They scorned the danger the would meet, the fate that lay in store
They were fighting for Old Ireland, to make their very own
And the foremost of this gallant band, was South of Garryowen
But the sergeant spoiled their daring plans, he spied them through the door
And with sten guns and with rifle, a hail of death did roar
But when that awful night was o'er, two men lay cold as stone
There was one from near the border, and one from Garryowen
No more he will hear the seagull cry, o'er the murmuring Shannon tide
For he fell beneath a Northern sky, brave O'Hanlon by his side
He has gone to join that gallant band, of Plunkett, Pearse and 'Tone
Another martyr for old Ireland, Sean South of Garryowen.
It was Sunday Bloody Sunday
When they shot the people there
The cry of 14 martyrs
Filled the Free Derry air
Is there anyone amongst you
Dare to blame it on the kids?
Not a soldier boy was bleeding
When they nailed the coffin lids
Chorus
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday's the day
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Bloody Sunday's the day
Well you claim to be majority
Well you know that it's a lie
You´re really a minority
On the sweet Emerald Isle
When Stormont bans our marches
They've got a lot to learn
Internment is no answer
It's those mothers turn to burn
Chorus
You Anglo pigs and Scotties
Sent to colonise the North
You wave your fuckin' Union Jack
Well you know what it's worth
How dare you hold to ransom
Our people proud and free
Leave Ireland for the Irish
Turn the British back to sea
Chorus
Well it's always Bloody Sunday
In the concentration camps
Keep the Falls Road free forever
From those bloody English hands
Repatriate to Britain
All ye who call it home
Leave Ireland for the Irish
Not for London or for Rome
In Sackville Street the curfew, drove the restless out of sight,
The Black and Tans marched up and down, the moon shone cold and bright,
The shot was like a whip crack, pulled the first man off his feet,
He died on bloody cobble stones while his comrades combed the street,
They called up reinforcements, pulled the people from their beds,
They were screaming "Get that bastard!", but it's fear was in their heads
They found him in a cellar, he was only seventeen,
Fighting for his country: ying for the green.
The sergeant dragged him by the hair and beat him to the ground,
Into this young mans body he emptied every round
"Come out and take a look", he cried as he marched his troops away,
They went in stony silence, such a prize to have today.
Some knelt and prayed beside him, ah but it's too late anyhow,
They said he was a rebel then, and he's a hero now.
In '66 this country sang the praises of the dead,
We didn't call them rebels then we used 'patriot' instead,
On every household TV screen we saw how hard they fought,
How they spilled their life's blood, and how freedom had been bought
The garden gates were opened up to silent motorcades,
Cannons boomed and flags unfurled and solemn wreaths were laid,
Prayers for those departed were called for loud and clear,
For those who had been outlawed, ah but that was another year...
The veterans stood up stiff and proud, their white hair ruled the wind,
With their pride pinned to their gaberdine and thoughts upon their friends,
And bitter wounds burst open, the scars of history,
Went flying into our faces in stark reality,
Just up the road from Sackville Street ah but things are different now,
They said he was a rebel then but he's a hero now
Along the Falls Road soldiers push, their glances left and right,
Kids of the English working class, soldiers overnight,
Tossed into the melting pot of bloody war and strife,
Never understanding and fearing for their lives
Outside the Glenn Road Brewery a bomb takes two away,
The bombers work is over; he's finished for the day,
The terrorist or the dreamer: the savage or the brave?
It depends who's vote you're trying to catch, or who's face you're trying to save.
There's tea and cakes in Downing Street, there's whispers in the halls,
Let's move to cure Rhodesia now our backs are to the wall.
There's panic down in Leinster House where words are seldom scarce,
"Send someone to Glasnevin quick to remember Padraig Pearse!"
Once more His crucifixion, it seems a lie somehow
They said he was a rebel then, but he's a hero now
Once more His crucifixion, it seems a lie somehow
They said he was a rebel then, but he's a hero now
But he's a hero now.
Chorus
This land is your land,
This land is my land
From the northern highlands,
To the western islands.
From the hills of Kerry,
To the streets of Free Derry,
This land was made for you and me
As I went walking, by the Shannon waters
Hand in hand with my little daughter
Hear the church bells ringing
And the children singing
This land was made for you and me
Chorus
I climbed the mountain
By the crystal fountains
And I heard a great roar
From the rocky seashore
Her eyes were gleaming,
She said "oh Daddy"
This land was made for you and me
Chorus
I walked her home by
The old church steeple
Proud of my country
Proud of my people
From the men who cried there
To the men who died there singing that
This land was made for you and me
Chorus
In my memory I will always see
The town that I have loved so well
Where our school played ball by the gasyard wall
And we laughed through the smoke and smell.
Going home in the rain running up the dark lane
Past the jail and down beside the fountain
Those were happy days in so many, many ways
In the town I loved so well.
In the early morn the shirt factory horn
Called women from Creggan, the Moor and the Bog
While the men on the dole played a mothers role
Fed the children and then walked the dog
And when times got rough, there was just about enough
But they saw it through without complaining
For deep inside was a burning pride
For the town I loved so well.
There was music there in the Derry air
Like a language that we could all understand
I remember the day when I earned my first pay
as I played in a small pickup band
There I spent my youth and to tell you the truth
I was sad to leave it all behind me
For I'd learned about life and I'd found a wife
In the town I loved so well.
But when I returned how my eyes were burned
To see how a town could be brought to it's knees
By the armoured cars and the bombed out bars
And the gas that hangs on to every breeze
Now the army's installed by that old gasyard wall
And the damned barbed wire gets higher and higher
With their tanks and guns
Oh my God, what have they done
To the town I loved so well.
Now the music's gone but they carry on
For their spirit's been bruised, never broken
Oh, they'll not forget still their hearts are set
On tomorrow and peace once again
Now what's done is done and what's won is won
And what's lost is lost and gone forever
I can only pray for a bright brand new day
In the town I loved so well.
Try to sing some songs of glory,
Sing some songs of peace,
But in the end it's the same old story,
They're both so hard to reach.
People tell me they're sick and tired,
Of seeing this place run down,
Well I say: Take your blindfolds off, you hypocrites,
And help us to get off the ground.
Chorus
Please say it isn't so,
Why Willie and Danny had to go,
The reason's very clear ,
They're laying down their lives for us year after year.
Seventy shots between their bodies,
Not one of those bullets missed,
For every trigger pulled that morning,
A volunteer will enlist.
For five long hours they left them lying there,
The priest was turned away,
So another step lower for those SAS bastards,
We'll never forget the day.
The funerals were to prove their worthiness,
Thousands thronged the streets,
While those Borstel Boys hovered helplessly overhead,
The 'Ra came out to salute.
They emptied their magazines over each coffin,
Defiantly the crowd were sent,
So another day dawns and the guns will be out again,
Cause Willie and Danny had friends.