Back Home In Derry by Bobby Sands (Cover) by Seth Staton Watkins
This song was written by Bobby Sands as he languished in Long Kesh prison during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. I sing it now for those currently under siege in Gaza. I am wearing my Irish flag keffiyeh to honor the unwavering, vehement Irish support for Palestinian liberation. In Gaza, the Israeli government is bombing schools, hospitals, mosques, supermarkets, and residential buildings. 7,000 Civilians have been killed since Oct. 7th, 2,900 of them children. Countless more are still beneath the rubble. There are 2.3 million people in Gaza. More than half of whom are children. Despite this, the Israeli military has made it clear that their goal is not accuracy, but rampant indiscriminate destruction, all while withholding vital resources and humanitarian aid. These war crimes must be condemned, and we must demand an immediate ceasefire. The atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7th, though utterly despicable, did not occur in a vacuum and do not in any way justify the ongoing campaign by the Israeli military to "turn Gaza into an island of ruins" (10/6, Netanyahu). To put a stop to this tragic loss of life, both Palestinian and Israeli, the Israeli government must end its illegal occupation and dismantle the systems of apartheid and Palestinian subjugation. Most in the region, both Israelis and Palestinians, would live peacefully alongside one another if it weren't for propaganda from a small minority of warmongers and ethno-nationalists. We must not let them win. The voices of Palestinians and anti-Zionist Israelis must be heard loud and clear. All in the region must share the right to the same rights.
“The last paradox is that the tale of Palestine from the beginning until today is a simple story of colonialism and dispossession, yet the world treats it as a multifaceted and complex story-hard to understand and even harder to solve.” - Noam Chomsky
Lyrics:
In 1803 we sailed out to sea Out from the sweet town of Derry For Australia bound if we didn't all drown The marks of our fetters we carried In the rusty iron chains we cried for our wean's Our good women we left in sorrow As the main sails unfurled, our 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 The sun burned cruel as we dished out the gruel Dan O'Connor was down with the fever Sixty rebels today bound for Botany Bay How many will reach their receiver? Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry I cursed them to hell, as our bow fought the swell Our ship danced like a moth in the firelight Wild 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 In our own slime, we were lost in the time Endless night without dawning Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry Van Diemen's land is a hell for a man To end out his whole life in slavery Where the climate is raw and the gun makes the law Neither wind nor rain care for bravery Twenty years have gone by, I've ended my bond My comrades' ghosts walk behind me A rebel I came, I'm still the same On the cold winter's night you will find me 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 Oh, oh, I wish I was back home in Derry