Come gather round me bonny boys, a story i will tell,
About the Battle of Bogside, I'm sure you know it well,
Twas on the 12th of August, in the summer of the year,
When proudly I enlisted in the Bogside volunteers,
When proudly I enlisted in the Bogside volunteers.

I was standing at the corner with McGinley and O'Toole,
I haven't had a job, you know, since ever I left school,
For jobs are scarce in Derry town for many a long till year,
So I was ripe material for the Bogside volunteers,
So I was ripe material for the Bogside volunteers.

Well, Paddy Murphy came to us excited I could tell,
Says he, "the police have broken through, they're going to give us hell,
But the boys are building barricades and I'll tell you what I hear,
They're looking for recruits today in the Bogside volunteers,"
"They're looking for recruits today in the Bogside volunteers".

When we got to the firing line, the fire was thick and fast,
And there we found the volunteers determined to the last,
There were none of them ran for shelter, there was none of them cringed for fear,
For here were the boys who feared no noise the Bogside volunteers,
For here were the boys who feared no noise the Bogside volunteers.

The police were firing tear gas shells, they scattered all around,
They said they had sufficient men to beat us to the ground,
But we replied with petrol bombs and filled their hearts with fear,
For they met their match in the Derrymen and the Bogside volunteers,
For they met their match in the Derrymen and the Bogside volunteers.

We drove the police before us then, like chapping for the win,
The air was thick with stones and bricks and it made an awful din,
And every time the police withdrew the boys sent up a cheer,
For civil rights and freedom and the Bogside Volunteers,
For civil rights and freedom and the Bogside Volunteers.

Well, now me story's ended and me pen I will lay down,
But don't forget the 3 days fight in dear old Derry town,
And talking of your lancers and your Irish fusiliers,
Just spare a thought for those other lads the Bogside volunteers,
Just spare a thought for those other lads the Bogside volunteers.