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You may recognize the melody as that used in Gordon Lightfoot’s 1976 hit The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. Christy Moore borrowed the tune in 1984 for his adaptation of of a Bobby Sands poem ‘The Voyage’.
Back Home in Derry
by Christy Moore
[Am] In 1803 we sailed [C] out to sea
[G] Out from the [D] sweet town of [Am] Derry
For [Am] Australia bound if we [C] didn’t all drown
And the [G] marks of our [D] fetters we [Am] carried
In the [D] rusty iron chains bid [C] farewell to our wains
As our [D] good women we left in [C] sorrow
As the [Am] mainsails unfurled our [C] curses we hurled
On the [G] English and [D] thoughts of to- [Am] morrow
at the mouth of the Foyle, bid farewell to the soil
as down below decks we were lying
O’Doherty screamed, woken out of a dream
by vision of bold Robert dying
the sun burnt cruel, as we dished out the gruel
Dan O’connor was down with a fever
sixty rebels today, bound for Botany bay
how many will reach their receiver
(Chorus
[C] Oh, Oh-oh- [G] ooh, I [Am] wish I was [G] back home in [Am] Derry
[C] Oh, Oh-oh- [G] ooh, I [Am] wish I was [G] back home in [Am] Derry)
I cursed them to hell as our bow fought the swell
Our ship danced like a moth in the firelight
White horses rode high as the devil passed by
Taking souls to Hades by twilight.
Five weeks out to sea we were now forty-three
Our comrades we buried each morning.
In our own slime we were lost in a time.
Endless night without dawning.
Oh, Oh-oh-oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Oh, Oh-oh-oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Van Dieman’s land is a hell for a man
To live out his life in slavery
Where the climate is raw and the gun makes the law
Neither wind nor rain cares for bravery
Twenty years have gone by and I’ve ended my bond
My comrades’ ghosts walk behind me
A rebel I came and I’m still the same
On the cold winds of night you will find me
Oh, Oh-oh-oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Oh, Oh-oh-oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Oh, Oh-oh-oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
[G] Out from the [D] sweet town of [Am] Derry
For [Am] Australia bound if we [C] didn’t all drown
And the [G] marks of our [D] fetters we [Am] carried
In the [D] rusty iron chains bid [C] farewell to our wains
As our [D] good women we left in [C] sorrow
As the [Am] mainsails unfurled our [C] curses we hurled
On the [G] English and [D] thoughts of to- [Am] morrow
at the mouth of the Foyle, bid farewell to the soil
as down below decks we were lying
O’Doherty screamed, woken out of a dream
by vision of bold Robert dying
the sun burnt cruel, as we dished out the gruel
Dan O’connor was down with a fever
sixty rebels today, bound for Botany bay
how many will reach their receiver
(Chorus
[C] Oh, Oh-oh- [G] ooh, I [Am] wish I was [G] back home in [Am] Derry
[C] Oh, Oh-oh- [G] ooh, I [Am] wish I was [G] back home in [Am] Derry)
I cursed them to hell as our bow fought the swell
Our ship danced like a moth in the firelight
White horses rode high as the devil passed by
Taking souls to Hades by twilight.
Five weeks out to sea we were now forty-three
Our comrades we buried each morning.
In our own slime we were lost in a time.
Endless night without dawning.
Oh, Oh-oh-oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Oh, Oh-oh-oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Van Dieman’s land is a hell for a man
To live out his life in slavery
Where the climate is raw and the gun makes the law
Neither wind nor rain cares for bravery
Twenty years have gone by and I’ve ended my bond
My comrades’ ghosts walk behind me
A rebel I came and I’m still the same
On the cold winds of night you will find me
Oh, Oh-oh-oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Oh, Oh-oh-oh, I wish I was back home in Derry
Oh, Oh-oh-oh, I wish I was back home in Derry