The Town I Loved So Well

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

There was music there in the Derry air
Like a language we could all understand
I was proud on the day when I earned my first pay
When 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 learned about life and I'd found me 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 tree
Now the army's installed by that old gasyard wall
And the damned barbed wire gets higher and higher
With their tanks and their guns, oh 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
I can only pray for a bright, brand new day
In the town I loved so well