[Verse]
I was born in a Dublin street where the royal drums did beat,
And loving English feet they tramped all over us,
And every single night when me da would come home tight,
He'd invite the neighbours outside with this chorus.
[Chorus]
Come out you black and tans, come out and fight me like a man,
Show the wife how you won medals down in Flanders,
Tell her how the IRA made you run like hell away,
From the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra.
[Verse]
Come let us hear you tell how you slandered great Parnell,
When you thought him well and truly persecuted,
Where are the sneers and jeers that you bravely let us hear,
When our leaders of '16 were executed?
[Chorus]
Come out you black and tans, come out and fight me like a man,
Show the wife how you won medals down in Flanders,
Tell her how the IRA made you run like hell away,
From the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra.
[Verse]
Come tell us how you slew them old Arabs two by two,
Like the Zulus they had spears and bow and arrows,
How bravely you faced each one with your sixteen pounder gun,
And you frightened them damn natives to their marrow.
[Chorus]
Come out you black and tans, come out and fight me like a man,
Show the wife how you won medals down in Flanders,
Tell her how the IRA made you run like hell away,
From the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra.
[Verse]
The day is coming fast and the day is here at last,
When each yeoman will be cast aside before us,
And if they'll be a need them I'm sure we'll sing, "Godspeed!",
With a verse or two of Stephen Behan's chorus.
[Chorus]
Come out you black and tans, come out and fight me like a man,
Show the wife how you won medals down in Flanders,
Tell her how the IRA made you run like hell away,
From the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra.
[Chorus]
Come out you black and tans, come out and fight me like a man,
Show the wife how you won medals down in Flanders,
Tell her how the IRA made you run like hell away,
From the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra,
From the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra.