G C G
Oh me name is Joe McDonnell, from Belfast town I came,
C G D
That city I will never see again.
G C G
For in the town of Belfast I spent many happy days,
C G D
I love that town in oh so many ways.
Am C Am C G
For it's there I spent my childhood and found for me a wife,
Am C G D
I then set out to make for her a life.
G C G
But all my young ambitions, met with bitterness and hate,
C G D
I soon found myself inside a prison gate.
Chorus
Am C Am C G
And you dare call me a terrorist while you look down your gun,
Am C G D
When I think of all the deeds that you have done.
G
You had plundered many nations divided many lands,
C Am C D
You had terrorised their people, you ruled with an iron hand,
G C D
And you brought this reign of terror, to my land.
G C G
Through those many months internment in the maidstone and the maze,
C G D
I thought about my land throught those days.
G C G
Why my country was divided, why I was now in jail,
C G D
Imprisoned without crime or without trial.
Am C Am C G
And though I love my country, I am not a bitter man,
Am C G D
I've seen cruelty and injustice at first hand
G C G
So then one faithful morning I shook bold freedom's hand
C G D
For right or wrong I'd tried to free my land.
Chorus
Am C Am C G
And you dare call me a terrorist while you look down your gun,
Am C G D
When I think of all the deeds that you have done.
G
You had plundered many nations divided many lands,
C Am C D
You had terrorised their people, you ruled with an iron hand,
G C D
And you brought this reign of terror, to my land.
G C G
Then one cold October morning, trapped in a lion's den,
C G D
I found myself in prison once again.
G C G
I was committed to the H-Blocks, for 14 years or more,
C G D
And the blanket, and condition, they were poor.
Am C Am C G
Then a hunger strike we did commence, for the dignity of man,
Am C G D
But it seemed to me that no one gave a dam.
G C G
But now I am a saddened man, I watched my comrades die,
C G D
If only people cared or wondered why.
Chorus
Am C Am C G
And you dare call me a terrorist while you look down your gun,
Am C G D
When I think of all the deeds that you have done.
G
You had plundered many nations divided many lands,
C Am C D
You had terrorised their people, you ruled with an iron hand,
G C D
And you brought this reign of terror, to my land.
G C G
May God shine on you Bobby Sands for the courage you have shown,
C G D
May your glory and your fame be widely known.
G C G
And Francis Hughes and Ray McCreesh, who died unselfishly,
C G D
And Patsy O’Hara and the next in line is me.
G C G
And those who lie behind me, may your courage be the same,
Am C G D
And I pray to God my life is not in vain.
G C G
Ah but sad and bitter was the year of 1981,
C G D
For everything I've lost and nothing's won.
