Up the Rebels Songtext
von Wolfe Tones

So its here′s up the rebels get back our teddy's head
Her face and tail are all her own but her brains are
Foreign land.

On the outskirts of Europe in the Atlantic so fair
There′s a country called old Ireland that looks like a
Teddy bear
It's an island that's split in two - with a border in
Her head
Her face and tail are all her own but her brains are
Foreign land

So its here′s up the rebels get back our teddy′s head
Her face and tail are all her own but her brains are
Foreign land.

Her face is o'er in Donegal her brains are in Belfast
Her arms outstreched in Galway for the friends that do
Go past
Her hair is on the North Coast in Derry, Antrim, Down
I am sure this head would be better off without the
Bloody crown


So its here′s up the rebels get back our teddy's head
Her face and tail are all her own but her brains are
Foreign land.

Her Back Bone′s on the East Coast from Dublin to
Dundalk
Her legs and feet in Kerry they have shoes that never
Walked
Her backside's from Cork to Wexford her heart is in the
Midlands
We′re facing towards America with our ass to England

So its here's up the rebels get back our teddy's head
Her face and tail are all her own but her brains are
Foreign land.

T′was on a dreary New Years Eve
As the shades of night came down
A lorry load of volunteers approached the border town
There were men from Dublin and from Cork, Fermanagh and Tyrone
And the leader was a Limerick man - Sean South from Garryowen


No more wil he hear the seagull′s cry
Over the murmurring Shannon tide
For he fell beneath a Northern sky brave Hanlon by his side
They have gone to join that gallant band
Of Plunkett, Pearse and Tone
A martyr for old Ireland
Sean South from Garryowen

Up like a bird and high over the city
"Three men are missing" I heard the warder cry
"Sure it must have been a bird that flew into the prison
Or one of those new Ministers" said the warder from Mountjoy

Early one evening as the branchmen they were sleeping
A little helicopter flew in from the sky
Down into the yard where some prisoners were walking
"Get ready for inspection" said the warder in the 'Joy

Up like a bird and high over the city
"Three men are missing" I heard the warder cry
"Sure it must have been a bird that flew into the prison
Or one of those new Ministers" said the warder from Mountjoy

Down in the yard through the pushing and the shoving
Three of the prisoners they climbed upon the bird
And up and away they went into the grey skies
"I think someone escaped" said the warder in the ′Joy

Up like a bird and high over the city
"Three men are missing" I heard the warder cry
"Sure it must have been a bird that flew into the prison
Or one of those new Ministers" said the warder from Mountjoy

When boyhood's fire was in my blood
I read of ancient freemen,
For Greece and Rome who bravely stood,
Three hundred men and three men;
And then I prayed I yet might see
Our fetters rent in twain,
And Ireland, long a province, be.
A Nation once again!

A Nation once again,
A Nation once again,
And lreland, long a province, be
A Nation once again!

So, as I grew from boy to man,
I bent me to that bidding
My spirit of each selfish plan
And cruel passion ridding;
For, thus I hoped some day to aid,
Oh, can such hope be vain?
When my dear country shall be made
A Nation once again!

A Nation once again,
A Nation once again,
And lreland, long a province, be
A Nation once again!