The Town I Loved So Well

In my memory I will always see
The town that I have loved so well
Where our school played ball by the Gas-yard wall
And we laughed through the smoke and the smell
Going home in the rain, running up the dark lane
Past the jail and down behind the fountain
Those were happy days, in so many, many ways
In the town I loved so well

In the early morning the Shirt Factory horn
Called women from Graigeen, The Moor and The Bog
While the men on the dole played a mother's role
Fed the children, and then walked the roads
And when times got rough there was just about enough
But they saw it through without complaining
For deep inside was a burning pride
For the town I love so well

There was music there in the Derry air
Like a language that we could all understand
I remember the day, when I earned my first pay
As I played in the small pick-up band
Then I spent my youth, and to tell you the truth
I was sad to leave it all behind me
For I'd learned about life and I'd found me a wife
In the town I loved so well

But when I returned, how my eyes were burned
To see how a town could be brought to its knees
By the armoured cars and the bombed out bars
And the gas that hangs on to every breeze
Now the Army's installed by the old Gas-yard wall
And the damned barbed wire gets higher and higher
With their tanks and guns, oh my God what have they done
To the town I love so well

Now the music's gone, but they still carry-on
Though their spirit's gone, but never broken
They will not forget for their hearts are all set
On tomorrow, and peace once again
For what's done is done, and what's won is won
And what's lost is lost and gone forever
I can only pray for a bright brand new day
In the town I love so well