A Great and touching song

Lyrics from Wolfe Tones
"A Sense of Freedom" 1983
Author: Brian Warfield
_____________________________________________
O me name is Joe McDonnell
From Belfast town I came
That city I will never see again
For in the town of Belfast
I spent many happy days
I love that town in oh so many ways
For it's there I spent my childhood
And found for me a wife
I then set out to make for her a life
But all my young ambitions
Met with bitterness and hate
I soon found myself inside a prison gate
Chorus

And you dare to call me a terrorist
While you look down the barrel of your gun
When I think of all the deeds that you had done
You had plundered many nations
Divided many lands
You had terrorised their peoples
You ruled with an iron hand.
And you brought this reign of terror to my land

Through those many months internment
In the Maidstone and the Maze
I thought about my land throughout those days
Why my country was divided, why I was now in jail
Imprisoned without crime or without trial
And though I love my country
I am not a bitter man
I've seen cruelty and injustice at first hand
So then one fateful morning
I shook bold freedom's hand
For right or wrong I'd try to free my land

Chorus

And you dare to call me a terrorist
While you look down the barrel of your gun
When I think of all the deeds that you had done
You had plundered many nations
Divided many lands
You had terrorised their peoples
You ruled with an iron hand.
And you brought this reign of terror to my land

Then one cold October morning
Trapped in a lion's den
I found myself in prison once again
I was committed to the H-blocks
For fourteen years or more
On the Blanket the conditions they were poor
Then a hunger strike we did commence
For the dignity of man
But it seemed to me that no one gave a damn
But now, I'm a saddened man
I've watched my comrades die
If only people cared or wondered why

Chorus

And you dare to call me a terrorist
While you look down your gun
When I think of all the deeds that you had done
You had plundered many nations
Divided many lands
You had terrorised their peoples
You ruled with an iron hand.
And you brought this reign of terror to my land

May God shine on you Bobby Sands
For the courage you have shown
May your glory and your fame be widely known
And Francis Hughes and Ray McCreesh
Who died unselfishly
And Patsy O Hara, and the next in line is me
And those who lie behind me
May you're courage be the same
And I pray to God my life is not in vain
Ah but sad and bitter was the year of 1981
For everything i've lost and nothing's won.

The best version I ever heard was in the movie "Hidden Agenda". Ron Kavana and Terry Woods. If you have Real Player try this link to other songs.

http://www.friend.ly.net/~kellybr/music.html

It's in the Radiocelt trad rotation (http://www.radiocelt.com/)

Very powerful--the side of the story that the mainstream media too often ignores and a strong warning of wht we lose when we play the "Good Guys vs the Terrorists" game.