[Verse]
There are many songs that sung about the Provos and tales,
The exploits of these gallant men who broke out from the jails,
From Brixton down to Whitemoor Gaol, the Kesh and Crumlin Road,
Magilligan and Portloaise Gaol, no prison bars could hold.

[Chorus]
Oh, the boys are running free, the boys are running free,
And the biggest breakout of them all was back in '83.

[Verse]
Well we had the Crumlin Kangaroos, jumping over walls,
They didn't like the football game, so they dandered up the Falls,
Then they put them on the Maidstone ship but the waters were so calm,
Then seven lads went overboard and off to shore they swam.

[Chorus]
Oh, the boys are running free, oh, the boys are running free,
And the biggest breakout of them all was back in '83.

[Verse]
Now the funniest sight you'll ever see in a Provo birdie boy,
Flying rebels high and high from the warders in the Joy,
Sure the craic was good when we heard the news down in Portloaise Gaol,
They've gone a blew a little hole and nineteen men were bailed.

[Chorus]
Oh, the boys are running free, oh, the boys are running free,
And the biggest breakout of them all was back in '83.

[Verse]
From Magilligan and Musgrave Park and the courthouse down in Newry,
The Provos they were breaking out and the Brits were getting worried,
They were digging tunnels everywhere, were masters of disguise,
As women, teachers and the priests or in refuel trucks they'd lie.

[Chorus]
Oh, the boys are running free, oh, the boys are running free,
And the biggest breakout of them all was back in '83.

[Verse]
So they shot their way to freedom back in 1981,
Eight lads they left the Crumlin Road and head on the run,
They searched and searched far and wide, no Provos they could find,
The Brixton Busters are long gone, no clues they left behind.

[Chorus]
Oh, the boys are running free, oh, the boys are running free,
And the biggest breakout of them all was back in '83.

[Verse]
On one Sunday twenty years ago the dinners they were late,
The Provos they were planning to make their great escape,
And far from the blocks the cheer went up, as they smashed out through the gate,
Not one, nor two, nor three or four, by god there's thirty eight.

[Chorus]
Oh, the boys are running free, oh, the boys are running free,
And the biggest breakout of them all was back in '83.

[Chorus]
Oh, the boys are running free, oh, the boys are running free,
And the biggest breakout of them all was back in '83.

[Chorus]
Oh, the boys are running free, oh, the boys are running free,
And the biggest breakout of them all was back in '83.

[Chorus]
Oh, the boys are running free, oh, the boys are running free,
And the biggest breakout of them all was back in '83.

[Chorus]
Oh, the boys are running free, the boys are running free,
The biggest breakout of them all was back in '83.