Christy Moore - Back Home in Derry | live Vicar Street Dublin 2023

Christy Moore, Back Home in Derry, live at Vicar Street, Dublin, Ireland, Sunday 15 January 2023
#Christymoore #Derry #botanybay
LYRICS
In 1803 we sailed out to sea
Out from the sweet town of Derry
For Australia bound if we didn't all drown
The marks of our fetters we carried
In the rusty iron chains we cried for our wean's
Our good women we left in sorrow
As the main sails unfurled, our curses we hurled
At the English and thoughts of tomorrow
At the mouth of the Foyle, bid farwell to the soil
As down below decks we were lying
O'Doherty screamed, woken out of a dream
By a vision of bold Robert dying
The sun burned cruel as we dished out the gruel
Dan O'Connor was down with the fever
Sixty rebels today bound for Botany Bay
How many will reach their receiver?
Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
I cursed them to hell, as our bow fought the swell
Our ship danced like a moth in the firelight
Wild horses rode high as the devil passed by
Taking souls to Hades by twilight
Five weeks out to sea, we were now forty-three
We buried our comrades each morning
In our own slime, we were lost in the time
Endless night without dawning
Van Diemen's land is a hell for a man
To end out his whole life in slavery
Where the climate is raw and the gun makes the law
Neither wind nor rain care for bravery
Twenty years have gone by, I've ended my bond
My comrades' ghosts walk beside me
A rebel I came, and I'm still the same
On the cold winter's night you will find me
Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
MORE INFO
'Back Home in Derry' is an Irish rebel song which has been covered by several artists, most notably by Christy Moore for his 1984 album 'Ride On'. The lyrics describe the voyage of Irish rebels, convicted to exile in Australia, in the aftermath of the Irish Rebellion of 1803. The narrator describes the feelings of the men as they sail away from Ireland, in precarious conditions, while the chorus is a lament of longing for the narrator’s hometown of Derry. The protagonist is ultimately deported to van Diemen's land, where he endures a harsh existence of servitude and violence, but remains a hardened republican to the end. The lyrics were written by Bobby Sands while imprisoned in HM Maze in Northern Ireland.

[@markup2]

He never ages does he??!!

[@mpearl1625]

One of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar - still magic 37 years on!

[@DianeD862]

A legend wish he would come to Liverpool Christy would be made very welcome 🙏 we’ve got plenty of venues peace to all.❤

[@denisrocher4192]

The best in Irish Folk

[@markup2]

Super fekking duper, I can't believe still that it is as old as me!

[@dannymullane3993]

Jesus mark your pushing on