The (Am)Citizen
Army is (C)out today, and (G)if you wonder (Am)why,
Go ask
the lords of the (C)banking house if their (G)cash returns be (Am)high.
(C)’Tisn’t
the bosses who (G)bear the brunt, (F)’tisn’t you and (Em)I,
But those
(Am)women and (G)kids whose (Am)tears were (G)hid as the (Am)strikers went stumbling by.
The (C)docker
loads two (G)hundred tons in his (F)master’s ship per (Em)day;
At (Am)night
the (G)docker’s (Am)daughter (G)bends her (Am)weary limbs to pray.
From the
(C)old North Wall to (G)Liberty Hall was a (F)dead line of un(Em)skilled;
They (Am)heaved
an’ (G)hauled when the (Am)bosses (G)called and (Am)stopped when the bosses willed.
The (Am)Citizen
Army is (C)out today, and (G)if you wonder (Am)why,
It’s
because Jim Larkin (C)came this way to (G)nail the bosses’ (Am)lie.
The (C)iron
gyves on their (G)limbs and lives would (F)crush them till they (Em)die,
Those
(Am)women and (G)kids whose (Am)tears were (G)hid as the (Am)strikers went marching by.
The (C)docker
and carter and (G)heaver of coal were (F)only the backwash (Em)then,
Till (Am)Larkin
(G)built that (Am)union (G)up and the (Am)bosses feared again.
From the
(C)old North Wall to (G)Liberty Hall came that (F)dead line of un(Em)skilled
In a (Am)new-born
(G)fight for the (Am)workers’ (G)rights that the (Am)bosses thought they’d killed.
The (Am)Citizen
Army is (C)out today, and (G)if you wonder (Am)why,
Go ask
the troops in their (C)masters’ pay if the (G)blood on their guns be (Am)dry.
Ah, (C)well,
they won where the (G)baton and gun have swung (F)where the dead ones (Em)lie,
For those
(Am)women and (G)kids whose (Am)tears were (G)hid as the (Am)wounded went staggering by.
Jim (C)Connolly
watches (G)ships sail out through (F)flags at Kingstown (Em)Pier,
And (Am)starving
(G)Dublin (Am)sends its (G)toil of (Am)guard and fusilier-
(C)Food
for the guns that (G)over the world have (F)thundered murder’s (Em)peal,
And (Am)Dublin’s
(G)broken (Am)union (G)men die (Am)first on Flanders fields.
The (Am)Citizen
Army is (C)out today, and (G)if you wonder (Am)why,
Go ask
them in the (C)grey and green why the (G)Starry Plough flies (Am)high.
(C)’Tisn’t
only the bosses we (G)challenge now, for (F)Connolly has cast the (Em)die
For those
(Am)women and (G)kids whose (Am)tears were (G)hid as the (Am)soldiers went marching by.
(C)Four
hundred (G)bosses planned to break that (F)dead line of un(Em)skilled;
Change of verse structure:
(C)Four hundred (G)bosses drink to(F)night, for Connolly is (Em)killed;
But, (C)dead
or alive, there (G)are those who chose a (F)glorious thing to (Em)do,
For (Am)Connolly
(G)built that (Am)union (G)up for the (Am)likes of me and you.
The (Am)Citizen
Army is (C)out today, and (G)if you wonder (Am)why,
Go ask
the lords of the (C)banking house if their (G)cash returns be (Am)high.
For (C)they
are there, and (G)we are here: it’s a (F)fight to the knife a(Em)gain;
The (Am)Citizen (G)Army is (Am)out to(G)day- come, (Am)workers,
rise again!
The (Am)Citizen (G)Army is (Am)out to(G)day- come, (Am)workers,
rise again!
The (Am)Citizen (G)Army is (Am)out to(G)day- come, (Am)workers, rise again!