Joe McDonnell

[Intro]
(Here's Tommy to sing of a young man from Belfast called Joe McDonnell)

Oh, me name is Joe McDonnell, from Belfast town I came
A 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 look 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 interment, 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'm 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]
And you dare to call me a terrorist, while you look 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

Then one cold October's morning, trapped in a lions' den
I found myself imprisoned 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 am a saddened man, I've watched my comrades die
If only people cared or wondered why

[Chorus]
And you dare to call me a terrorist, while you look 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

May God shine on your, 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; the next in line is me
And those who lie behind me, may your courage be the same
And I'll pray to God, my life is not in vain

Ah, but sad and bitter was the year of Nineteen Eighty-One
For everything I've lost, and nothing's won