Chords for Joe McDonnell - The Wolfe Tones

_ We're proud to have called our band after the great patriot, Wolf Tone.
Wolf Tone,
founder of the United Irishmen, was born in Dublin.
_ But he was no stranger to Belfast, and that's where we go for our next song. _
This time about a modern-day patriot and a man called Joe McDonald,
_ whose death in a struggle for freedom was as brave and heroic as Wolf Tone's.
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [D] O, me name is Joe McDonald
_ _ [G] From Belfast town [D] I came
_ [G] That city I will [D] never [A] see again _ _
_ _ [D] For in the town of Belfast
[G] I spent many [D] happy days
[G] I love that [D] town in oh so [A] many _ ways _
_ _ [Em] For it's there I [G] spent my childhood
_ And found for me [D] a wife
[Em] I then set out to [D] make for [A] her a life _ _
_ _ [D] But all my young ambitions
_ [G] Met with bitterness [D] and hate
I [G] soon found myself [D]
inside a [A] prison gate _ _ _
_ _ [Em] And you dare to call me a terrorist
While you look down [D] your gun
[Em] When I think of [D] all the days that you [A] had done _ _
_ _ [D] You had plundered many nations
_ _ Divided many lands
_ [G] You had _ terrorised their peoples
You ruled with an iron [A]
hand
And [D] you brought this reign of terror to [A] my _ land _
_ Through [D] those many months' _ internment
[G] In the _ maidstone and [D] the maze
[G] I thought about [D] my land throughout [A] those _ days _
_ Why [D] my country _ was divided
_ [G] Why I was now [D] in jail
_ _ [G] _ Imprisoned without [D]
crime or [A] without tribe _ _
_ _ [Em] And though I love my country
I am not a bitter [D]
man
_ [Em] I've seen cruelty _ [D] and injustice at [A] first _ _ hand
_ _ [D] So then one fateful morning
I [G] shook bold [D] freedom's hand
For right or wrong I'd try to free [A] my land _ _
_ And [Em] you dare to [G] call me a terrorist
While you look down [Bm] your [D] gun
[Em] When I think of all [D] the deeds that you [A] had done _ _ _
_ You [D] had plundered _ many nations
_ _ Divided many _ lands
You [G] had _ terrorised their peoples
You ruled with an iron [A] hand
_ And you brought this reign of terror to my _ land _
_ Then [D] one cold October's morning
_ _ [G] Trapped in a [D] lion's den
_ [G] I found myself [D]
imprisoned _ [A] once again _ _ _
_ I [D] was committed to the H-blocks
[G] For fourteen years or more
[G] And the Blankers, their [D]
conditions, they [A] were _ poor _
_ _ [Em] Then a hunger strike [G] we did commence
[Em] For the dignity [D] of man
_ [Em] But it seemed to me [D] that no one gave [A] a _ damn _
_ _ [D] But now I am a saddened man
I've watched my comrades die
_ [G] If only _ [D] people cared or [A] wondered why _ _
_ And [Em] you dare [G] to call me a terrorist
While [Em] you look down [D] your gun
[Em] When I think of all [D] the deeds that you [A] had done _ _
_ You [D] had plundered _ many nations
_ Divided many _ lands
You had _ terrorised their peoples
You ruled with an iron [A] hand
_ And you [D] brought this reign of terror to [A] my land _ _
_ _ [D] May God shine on you, Bobby Sands
[G] For the courage you [D] have shown
[G] May your glory and [D] your fame be [A] widely known _ _
_ _ _ [D] Francis Hughes
And Ray McCreach
[G] Who died _ [D] _
unselfishly
[G] And Patsy O'Hara
[D] And the next in [A] line is me _ _
And _ [Em] those who lie behind me
May your courage be [D]
the same
[Em] And I pray to God [D] my life is [A] not in _ _ vain
Ah, [D] but sad and bitter _ was the year [G] of _ [D] 1981
_ _ [G] For everything [D] I've lost and [A] nothing won _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _