(intro) Em G D A Em G D Em Bm

       Em       G
    In 1803 we sailed out to sea,
     D             A           Em
    out from the sweet town of Derry.
        Em                     G
    For Australia bound, if we didn't all drown,
             D            A         Em
    and the marks of our fetters we carried.
            A                    G
    In our rusty iron chains we cried for our weans,
          A                   Bm
    our good women we left in sorrow.
            Em                      G
    As the mainsails unfurled, our curses we hurled
            D             A           Em
    on the English, and thoughts of tomorrow.

            Em                          G
    At the mouth of the Foyle, bid farewell to the soil,
        D          A           Em
    as down below decks we were lying.
      Em                       G
    O'Doherty screamed, woken out of a dream
          D         A          Em
    by a vision of bold Robert dying.
         A                      G
    The sun burned cruel as we dished out the gruel,
           A                    Bm
    Dan O'Connor was down with a fever.
          Em                  G
    Sixty rebels today bound for Botany Bay,
         D         A            Em
    how many will reach their receiver.

 G    D       Em          D            Em
O........h, I wish I was back home in Derry. (2x)

       Em                         G
    I cursed them to hell as her bow fought the swell,
              D             A         Em
    our ship danced like a moth in the firelight.
          Em                       G
    White horses rode high as the devil passed by,
             D       A        Em
    taking souls to Hades by twilight.
          A                        G
    Five weeks out to sea, we were now forty-three,
        A                       Bm
    we buried our comrades each morning.
   Em                         G
    In our own slime we were lost in a time
       D        A            Em
    of endless night without dawning.

 G    D       Em          D            Em
O........h, I wish I was back home in Derry. (2x)

    Em                      G
    Van Diemen's land is a hell for a man,
        D             A           Em
    to vent out his whole life in slavery.
             Em                      G
   Where the climate is raw and the gun makes the law,
             D        A            Em
    neither wind nor rain care for bravery.
            A                        G
    Twenty years have gone by, I've ended my bond,
        A                     Bm
    my comrades ghosts walk behind me.
       Em             G
    A rebel I came, I'm still the same,
            D            A             Em
    on the cold winters night you will find me.

 G    D       Em          D            Em
O........h, I wish I was back home in Derry. (4x)