Standard (EADGBE)
Give Ireland back to the Irish
Don't make them have to take it away
Give Ireland back to the Irish
Make Ireland Irish today
Great Britain, you are tremendous
And nobody knows like me
But really what are you doin'
In the land across the sea
Tell me how would you like it
If on your way to work
You were stopped by Irish soldiers
Would you lie down, do nothing
Would you give in, go berserk
Give Ireland back to the Irish
Don't make them have to take it away
Give Ireland back to the Irish
Make Ireland Irish today
Great Britain, and all the people
Say that all people must be free
And meanwhile, back in Ireland
There's a man who looks like me
And he dreams of God and country
And he's feeling really bad
And he's sitting in a prison
Should he lie down, do nothing
Should he give in, or go mad
Give Ireland back to the Irish
Don't make them have to take it away
Give Ireland back to the Irish
Make Ireland Irish today
Give Ireland back to the Irish
Don't make them have to take it away
Give Ireland back to the Irish
Make Ireland Irish today
NOTE: "You can't stay out of it, you know, if you think at
all these days. We're still humans, you know, and you wake
up and you read your newspaper, it affects you. So I don't mind
too much, it doesn't worry me, like I say. I don't now plan to
do everything I do as a political thing, you know, but just
on this one occasion I think the British Government overstepped
their mark and showed themselves to be more of a sort of a
repressive regime than I ever believed them to be." (Paul
McCartney, 1972)