[Verse]
In 1803, we sailed out to sea,
Out from the sweet town of Derry,
For Australia bound if we didn't all drown,
The marks of our fetters we carried,
In our rusty iron chains, we cried for our weans,
Our good women we left in sorrow,
As the mainsails unfurled, our curses we hurled,
On the English and thoughts of tomorrow.

At the mouth of the Foyle, bid farewell to the soil,
As down below decks we were lying,
O'Doherty screamed, woken out of a dream,
By a vision of bold Robert dying,
The sun burned cruel as we dished out the gruel,
Dan O'Connor was down with a fever,
Sixty rebels today bound for Botany Bay,
How many will reach their receiver?

[Chorus]
Oh... oh, I wish I was back home in Derry,
Oh... oh, I wish I was back home in Derry.

[Verse]
I cursed them to hell, as our bow fought the swell,
Our ship danced like a moth in the firelight,
White horses rode high as the devil passed by,
Taking souls to Hades by twilight,
Five weeks out to sea, we were now forty three,
We buried our comrades each morning,
In our own slime we were lost in the time,
Endless night without dawning.

[Chorus]
Oh... oh, I wish I was back home in Derry,
Oh... oh, I wish I was back home in Derry.

[Verse]
Van Diemen's land is a hell for a man,
To end out his whole life in slavery,
Where the climate is raw and the gun makes the law,
Neither wind nor rain care for bravery,
Twenty years have gone by, I've ended my bond,
My comrades' ghosts walk behind me,
A rebel I came, I'm still the same,
On the cold wind of night you will find me.

[Chorus]
Oh... oh, I wish I was back home in Derry,
Oh... oh, I wish I was back home in Derry,
Oh... oh, I wish I was back home in Derry,
Oh... oh, I wish I was back home in Derry.