We'll sing a song, a soldier's song,
With cheering rousing chorus,
As round our blazing fires we throng,
The starry heavens o'er us;
Impatient for the coming fight,
And as we wait the morning's light,
Here in the silence of the night,
We'll chant a soldier's song.
Chorus:
Soldiers are we
whose lives are pledged to Ireland;
Some have come
from a land beyond the wave.
Sworn to be free,
No more our ancient sire land
Shall shelter the despot or the slave.
Tonight we man the gap of danger
In Erin's cause, come woe or weal
'Mid cannons' roar and rifles peal,
We'll chant a soldier's song
In valley green, on towering crag,
Our fathers fought before us,
And conquered 'neath the same old flag xf
That's proudly floating o'er us.
We're children of a fighting race,
That never yet has known disgrace,
And as we march, the foe to face,
We'll chant a soldier's song
Chorus
Sons of the Gael! Men of the Pale!
The long watched day is breaking;
The serried ranks of Inisfail
Shall set the Tyrant quaking.
Our camp fires now are burning low;
See in the east a silv'ry glow,
Out yonder waits the Saxon foe,
So chant a soldier's song.
(Bobby Sands)
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 fetters we carried.
In the rusty iron chains we sighed for our wains
As our good wives we left in sorrow.
As the mainsails unfurled our curses we hurled
On the English and thoughts of tomorrow.
(Chorus)
Oh Oh Oh Oh I wish I was back home in Derry.
Oh Oh Oh Oh I wish I was back home in Derry.
I cursed them to hell as our bow fought the swell.
Our ship danced like a moth in the firelights.
White horses rode high as the devil passed by
Taking souls to Hades by twilight.
Five weeks out to sea we were now forty-three
Our comrades we buried each morning.
In our own slime we were lost in a time.
Endless night without dawning.
(Chorus)
Van Dieman's land is a hell for a man
To live out his life in slavery.
When the climate is raw and the gun makes the law.
Neither wind nor rain cares for bravery.
Twenty years have gone by and I've ended me bond
And comrades' ghosts are behind me.
A rebel I came and I'II die the same.
On the cold winds of night you will find me
Oh father why are you so sad on this bright Easter morn
when Irish men are proud and glad of the were they were born
oh son I see in memory to of far off distant days
when being just a lad like you I joined the I.R.A.
(Chorus)
Where are the lads who stood with me when history was made
oh gra mo chroi I long to see the Boys of The Old Brigade
From hills and farms the call to arms was heard by on and all
and from the glens came brave young men to answer Ireland's call
twas long ago we faced the foe the old brigade and me
and by my side they fought and died that Ireland might be free.
(Chorus)
And now my son I've told you why on Easter morn I sight
when I recall my comrade's all from dark old day's gone bye
I think of men who fought in the glens with rifles and handgrenades
may heaven keep the men who sleep from the rank's of the old brigade
(Chorus)
By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young girl calling
Michael they are taking you away
for you stole trevelyn's corn so the young might see the morn
now a prison ship lies waiting in the bay.
(Chorus)
Low lie the fields of Athenry
Where once we watched the small free birds fly
Our love was on the wing, we had dreams and songs to sing
It's so lonely round the fields of Athenry.
By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young man calling
Nothing matters Mary when you're free
Against the Famine and the Crown, I rebelled they ran me down
Now you must raise our child with dignity.
(Chorus)
By a lonely harbor wall, she watched the last star falling
As the prison ship sailed out against the sky
Sure she'll wait and hope and pray for her love in Botany Bay
Its so lonely round the fields of Athenry.