[Verse]
In 1803, we sailed out to sea,
Out from that sweet town of Derry,
For Australia bound if we didn't all drown,
And the marks of our fetters we carried,
In our rusty iron chains, we cried for our weans,
As the good women we left in sorrow,
As the mainsails unfurled, the curses we hurled,
At 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,
And the sun it 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]
And oh... oh, I wish I was back home in Derry,
And oh... oh, I wish I was back home in Derry.

[Verse]
Well, I cursed them to hell, as our bow fought the swell,
And 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,
And in our own slime we were lost in the time,
Of endless night without dawning.

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

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

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