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

runnin' 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 mornin'

the shirt factory horn

called women from creggan

the moor and the bog

While the men on the dole

played a mother's role

fed the children

and then walked the dog

And when times got tough

there was just about enough

and they saw it through

without complainin'

For deep inside

was a burning pride

in the town I loved so well

There was music there

in the derry air

like a language that

we all could understand

I remember the day

that I earned my first pay

and I played

in a small pick-up band

There 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 a wife

in the town I loved so well

But when I returned

how my eyes have 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 that old gas-yard wall

and the damned barbed wire

gets higher and higher

With their tanks

and their guns

Oh My God

what have they done

to the town I loved so well

Now the music's gone

but they carry on

for their spirit's been

bruised, never broken

They will not forget

but their hearts are 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 loved so well