[Verse]
In 1803, we sailed out to sea,
Out from the sweet town of Derry,
For Australia bound if we didn't all drown,
And the marks of our fetters we carried,
In the rusty iron chains, we sighed for our weans,
As our good women we left in sorrow,
As the mainsails unfurled, our curses we hurled,
On the English and the thoughts of tomorrow.

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

[Verse]
At the mouth of the Foyle, bid farewell to the soil,
As down below decks we were lying,
O'Doherty screamed, woken out from a dream,
By the vision of bold Robert dying,
The sun 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 meet their receiver?

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

[Verse]
I cursed them to hell, as our bow fought the swell,
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 at sea, we were now forty three,
We buried our comrades each morning,
In our own slime we were lost in the time,
Of endless night without dawning.

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

[Verse]
Oh, Van Diemen's land is a hell for the 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 passed by and I've ended me bond,
Me comrades' ghosts walk behind me,
A rebel I came, oh, I'm still the same,
On the cold winds of night now you will find me.

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