James Connolly - the song -

James Connolly

Where oh where is our James Connolly?

Where oh where is that gallant man?

He is gone to organise the Union

That working men they may yet be free.



Oh who then who will lead the van?

Oh who then who will lead the van?

Who but our James Connolly,

The hero of the working man.



Who will carry high the burning flag?

Who will carry high the burning flag?

Who but our James Connolly,

Could carry high the burning flag.



They carried him up to the jail,

They carried him up to the jail.

And they shot him down on a bright May morning

And quickly laid him in his grave.



Who mourns the death of this great man?

Who mourns the death of this great man?

Oh bury me down in yon green garden,

With union men on every side.



So they buried him down in yon green garden,

With union men on every side.

They swore they would form a mighty union

That James Connolly's name might be filled with pride.



Where oh where is our James Connolly?

Where oh where is that gallant man?

He is gone to organise the Union

That working men they may yet be free.

The Patriot Game

Come all you young rebels, and list while I sing,

For the love of one's country is a terrible thing,

It banishes fear with the speed of a flame,

And it makes us all part of the Patriot Game.



My name is O'Hanlon, I'm just gone sixteen,

My home is in Monaghan — there I was weaned.

I learned all my life cruel England to blame.

And so I'm a part of the Patriot Game.



It's barely a year since I wandered away

With the local battalion of the bold IRA

I read of our heros and wanted the same

To play up my part in the Patriot Game.

They told me how Connolly was shot in a chair

His wounds from the fighting all bleeding and bare.

His fine body twisted, all battered and lame

They soon made me part of the Patriot Game.



This Ireland of mine has for long been half free

Six Counties are under John Bull's monarchy.

But still De Valera is greatly to blame

For shirking his part in the Patriot Game.



I don't mind a bit if I shoot down police

They are lackeys for war, never guardians of peace.

But at deserters I'll never let aim

The rebels who sold out the Patriot Game.



And now as I lie with my body all holes

I think of those traitors who bargained and sold

I'm sorry my rifle has not done the same

For the quislings who sold out the Patriot Game.

JAMES CONNOLLY

Marchin' down O'Connell Street with the Starry Plough on high
There goes the Citizen Army with their fists raised in the sky
Leading them is a mighty man with a mad rage in his eye
"My name is James Connolly - I didn't come here to die

But to fight for the rights of the working man
And the small farmer too
Protect the proletariat from the bosses and their screws
So hold on to your rifles, boys, and don't give up your dream
Of a Republic for the workin' class, economic liberty"

Then Jem yelled out "Oh Citizens, this system is a curse
An English boss is a monster, an Irish one even worse
They'll never lock us out again and here's the reason why
My name is James Connolly, I didn't come here to die....."

And now we're in the GPO with the bullets whizzin' by
With Pearse and Sean McDermott biddin' each other goodbye
Up steps our citizen leader and roars out to the sky
"My name is James Connolly, I didn't come here to die...

Oh Lily, I don't want to die, we've got so much to live for
And I know we're all goin' out to get slaughtered, but I just can't take any more
Just the sight of one more child screamin' from hunger in a Dublin slum
Or his mother slavin' 14 hours a day for the scum
Who exploit her and take her youth and throw it on a factory floor
Oh Lily, I just can't take any more

They've locked us out, they've banned our unions, they even treat their animals better than us
No! It's far better to die like a man on your feet than to live forever like some slave on your knees, Lilly

But don't let them wrap any green flag around me
And for God's sake, don't let them bury me in some field full of harps and shamrocks
And whatever you do, don't let them make a martyr out of me
No! Rather raise the Starry Plough on high, sing a song of freedom
Here's to you, Lily, the rights of man and international revolution"

We fought them to a standstill while the flames lit up the sky
'Til a bullet pierced our leader and we gave up the fight
They shot him in Kilmainham jail but they'll never stop his cry
My name is James Connolly, I didn't come here to die...."

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