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, the small farmer too Protect the proletariat from the bosses and their screws So hold on to your rifles, boys, don't give up your dreams Of a Republic for the workin' class, economic liberty Then Jem yells 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" But to fight for the rights of the working man, the small farmer too Protect the proletariat from the bosses and their screws So hold on to your rifles, boys, don't give up your dreams Of a Republic for the workin' class, economic liberty And now we're in the GPO with the bullets whizzin' by With Pearse and Sean McDermott biddin' each other good-bye Up steps our citizen leader and he roars out to the sky My name is James Connolly, I didn't come here to die But to fight for the rights of the working man, the small farmer too Protect the proletariat from the bosses and their screws So hold on to your rifles, boys, don't give up your dreams Of a Republic for the workin' class, economic liberty Oh Lily, I don't want to die We've got so much to live for And I know we're 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 Oh no, it's far better to die like a man on your feet Than to live forever like some slave, on your knees, Lily 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 Oh 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 But to fight for the rights of the working man, the small farmer too Protect the proletariat from the bosses and their screws So hold on to your rifles, boys, don't give up your dreams Of a Republic for the workin' class, economic liberty, economic liberty