Joe McDonnell - Irish Songs
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 found myself inside a prison gate
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 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
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 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
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
It seemed to me that no one gave a damn
Over now
I'm a saddened man
I've watched my comrades die
If only people cared or wondered why
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 plundered many nations divided many lands
You terrorised
Their peoples ruled with an iron hand
And you brought this reign of terror to my land
May God shine on you Bobby Sands
For the courage you have shown
May your glory and your name be widely known
And Francis Hughes and Ray McCreesh
Who died unselfishly
And Patsy O Hara 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
Over sad and bitter was the year of 1981
When then think
And we have lost and nothing's won
