Colony chords by Sharon Shannon and Damien Dempsey
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Intro 1
(D major)
(G major) (E minor) (D major)
(G major) (E minor) (D major)
Verse 1
I (D major) Sing
the Song of the Colony
I sing the song of the colony
And your (E minor) mother cries
And you ask God why
Greed (D major) is the knife and
the scars run deep
How many races
with much reason to weep
And your (E minor) children cry
You ask God why
(G major) An (D major) nie, she came from Dunleaven town
The TB came and killed her
family all around
Popula (E minor) tion boom, eleven in two rooms
(D major) Katie, she came from
downtown Dan Street
Ten in a bed, no shoes on their feet
1916 (E minor) came,
they played the Patriot game
(D major) Freddy came from the Ivey flats
Tenement slums and
infested with rats
Sleeping on (E minor) damp straw
Trying not to break their law
(G major) Thomas (D major) he came from Kilmainham,
Mayo
Semi -starvation was the only life you'd
With a (E minor) two -room shack,
Then jailed and let her frack.
(G major) (E minor) (D major)
(G major) (E minor) (D major)
I sang the song of the colony
How many years
and you still were not free
And your (E minor) mother cries, oh,
you ask God why
(G major) Greed (D major) is the knife and
the scars run deep
How many races
with much reason to weep
And your (E minor) children cry, oh,
you ask God why (D major) (E minor)
(G major) I (D major) look to the east, I look to the west
To the North and the South,
and I'm not too impressed
Time (E minor) after time after
crime after crime
They raped, robbed, pillaged,
enslaved and murdered
Well, (G major) Jesus Christ (D major) was their God,
and they'd done it in His name
So He could take their blame,
if it's not all a game
With (E minor) Bible in one hand
and the sword in the other
They came to purify my land
That my Gaelic Irish mothers an (G major) d (D major) fathers
and sisters and brothers
With our own ancient customs, laws,
music, art, way of life (E minor) and culture
Tribal and structure, we had a civilisation
When they were still in the
Andath (G major) ar nations
And we suf (D major) fer with the Native American
The Indian in Asia, Aboriginal Australia
The African (E minor) people with
their history so deep
And our children still weep
and our lives are still cheap
You came from (D major) Germany, from France,
from England and from Spain
From Belgium, Holland, Portugal,
you're all the much the same
(G major) You took (E minor) what was not yours,
you went against your own Bible
You broke your own laws
just to outdo the rival
But did you ever (D major) apologise
for the hundreds of millions of lives
You destroyed and terrorized
that you never realized
Did you nev (E minor) er feel shame
for what was done
in your country's name?
And find out who's to blame
and why they were so inhumane
And still they teach (D major) you in your school
about those glorious days of rule
How it's your destiny to be superior to me
But if you've any (E minor) kind of mind
you'll see that all humankind
Are the children of this earth
And your hate for them
will chew you up (G major) and spit (D major) you out (E minor)
You'll (F sharp minor) never (G major) kill a (E minor) will
to be free, (D major) to be free
You will (G major) never kill our (E minor) will
to be free, (D major) to be free (G major) (E minor) (D major)
Inside (G major) our minds we hold, (E minor) hold the key (D major) (G major) (E minor) (D major)
(G major) (E minor) (G major) (D major)
(G major) (E minor) (D major)
(G major) (D major) (G major) (E minor) (D major)
(G major) (E minor)
(D major) (G major) (E minor)
(D major) (G major) (E minor)
(D major) (G major) (E minor)
(D major) (G major) (E minor)
(D major) (G major) (E minor)
(D major) (G major) (E minor)
(D major) (G major) (E minor)
(D major)
You
Colony
Sharon Shannon and Damien Dempsey
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