[Verse]
Oh, me name is Joe McDonnell, from Belfast town I came,
That city I will never see again,
For it's in the town of Belfast, I spent many happy days,
I love that town in, oh, so many ways.

For it's there I spent my childhood and I found for me a wife,
I then set out to make for her a life,
Ah, but all my young ambitions met a bitterness and hate,
I found myself inside a prison gate.

[Chorus]
And you dare to call me a terrorist while you look down your gun,
When I think of all the deeds that you have done,
You have plundered many nations, divided many lands,
You have terrorized our people, you've ruled with an iron hand,
And you've brought this reign of terror to my land.

[Verse]
Through those many months internment, the Maidstone and Long Kesh,
I thought about my land throughout those days,
Why my country was divided, why I was now in jail,
Imprisoned without crime or without trial.

And although I love my country, I am not a bitter man, (Yes I am!)
I've seen cruelty and injustice at first hand,
So then one fateful morning, I shook bold freedom's hand,
For right or wrong, I tried to free my land.

[Chorus]
And you dare to call me a terrorist while you look down your gun,
When I think of all the deeds that you have done,
You have plundered many nations, divided many lands,
You have terrorized our people, you've ruled with an iron hand,
And you've brought this reign of terror to my land.

[Verse]
Then one cold October's morning trapped in a lion's den,
I found myself in prison once again,
I was committed to the H-Blocks for fourteen years or more,
On the blanket, the conditions, they were poor.

Then a hunger strike we commenced, for the dignity of man,
But it seemed to me that no one gave a damn,
Ah, but now I am a saddened man, I watched my comrades die,
If only people cared or wondered why.

[Chorus]
And you dare to call me a terrorist while you look down your gun,
When I think of all the deeds that you have done,
You have plundered many nations, divided many lands,
You have terrorized our people, you've ruled with an iron hand,
And you've brought this reign of terror to my land.

[Verse]
May God shine on you, Bobby Sands, for the courage that you have shown,
Your glory and your name be widely known,
Brave Francis Hughes and Ray McCreesh, who died unselfishly,
And Patsy O'Hara, and the next in line is me. (Joe McDonnell!)

And those who lie behind me, may your courage be the same,
For I pray to God my life is not in vain,
Ah, but sad and bitter was the year, 1981,
It was not lost but it's still going to be won.