In nineteen hundred and sixteen, the forces of the Crown,
To capture orange, white, and green, bombarded Dublin town,
But in '21, Britannia's Huns were forced to earn their pay,
When the Black and Tans like lightning ran from the rifles of the IRA.

And they burned their way through Munster and left Leinster on the rack,
Through Connaught and through Ulster marched those men of brown and black,
Oh, well, they cut down wives and children in their own heroic way,
And the Black and Tans like lightning ran from the rifles of the IRA.

They hung young Kevin Barry high, a lad of eighteen years,
Cork City's flames lit up the sky but our brave boys knew no fear,
Well, the Cork Brigade with hand grenades in ambush waiting lay,
And the Black and Tans like lightning ran from the rifles of the IRA.

The Tans were taken out and shot by a brave and a fearless few,
Seán Treacy, Denny Lacey and Tom Barry's famous crew,
Oh, well, we're not free yet but we won't forget until our dying day,
How the Black and Tans like lightning ran from the rifles of the IRA,
How the Black and Tans like lightning ran from the rifles of the IRA.