Joe Mcdonnell chords by The Wolfe Tones

• Capo on 3rd

Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E)

THE WOLFE TONES
JOE McDONNELL

Verse 1:
   G              C       G
O me name is Joe McDonnell, from Belfast town I came
   C      G       D
That city I will never see again
  G               C      G
For in the town of Belfast I spent many happy days
 C         G     D
I love that town in oh so many ways
     Am   C    Am      C       G
For it's there I spent my childhood and found for me a wife
 Am       C    G    D
I then set out to make for her a life
  G                C       G
But all my young ambitions met with bitterness and hate
    C      G        D
I soon found myself inside a prison gate

Chorus:

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


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


Chorus:
     Am  C     Am       C         G
And you dare call me a terrorist while you look down your gun
     Am        C     G    D
When I think of all the deeds that you have done
     G
You had plundered many nations divided many lands
     C        Am        C      D
You had terrorised their peoples you ruled with an iron hand
     G           C      D
And you brought this reign of terror to my land


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

Chorus:


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

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