In nineteen hundred and sixteen, the forces of the Crown,
To capture orange, white, and green, bombarded Dublin town,
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.

They burned their way through Munster and laid Leinster on the rack,
Through Connaught and through Ulster marched those men in brown and black,
They shot down wife and children in their own heroic way,
Then the Black and Tans like lightning ran from the rifles of the IRA.

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

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

We're not free yet but we won't forget until our dying day,
When 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.