St Patrick Battalion chords by David Rovics

Chords with lyrics

Intro: D MajorD Dsus2Dsus2 D MajorD D MajorD Dsus2Dsus2 D MajorD

Verse:
  D MajorD      B minorBm  - Bsus2Bsus2
My name is John Riley,
   G+G          D MajorD   - Dsus2Dsus2
I'll have your ear only a while.
 G+G          D MajorD   - F# minorF#m
I left my dear home in Ireland
    B minorBm     F# minorF#m    B minorBm  - A augmentedA G+G
It was death, starvation or exile.
  G+G       D MajorD   - Dsus2Dsus2
And when I got to America,
  G+G       B minorBm
It was my duty to go,
D MajorD         G+G
Enter the army and slog across Texas
  A augmentedA            B minorBm   - Bsus2Bsus2 B minorBm A augmentedA
To join in the war against Mexico.

      D MajorD            B minorBm    - Bsus2Bsus2
And it was there in the pueblos and hillsides,
    G+G           D MajorD  - Dsus2Dsus2
That I saw the mistake I had made.
G+G          D MajorD  F# minorF#m
Part of a conquering army
     B minorBm     F# minorF#m   B minorBm  - A augmentedA G+G
With the morals of a bayonet blade.
     G+G             D MajorD     - Dsus2Dsus2
So in the midst of these poor, dying Catholics,
     G+G                 B minorBm
Screaming children, the burning stench of it all,
 D MajorD          G+G
Myself and two hundred Irishmen
 A augmentedA          B minorBm
Decided to rise to the call...


Chorus:
      G+G      D MajorD   - Dsus2Dsus2
From Dublin City, to San Diego
A augmentedA           B minorBm
We witnessed freedom denied
   G+G             D MajorD
So we formed the Saint Patrick Battalion
    A augmentedA           B minorBm - Bsus2Bsus2
And we fought on the Mexican side


Verse:
  D MajorD                   B minorBm   - Bsus2Bsus2
We marched 'neath the green flag of Saint Patrick
 G+G           D MajorD   - Dsus2Dsus2
Emblazoned with "Erin Go Bragh"
G+G              D MajorD    - F# minorF#m
Bright with the harp and the shamrock
     B minorBm    F# minorF#m  B minorBm - A augmentedA G+G
And "Libertad para Mexicana"
G+G     D MajorD          - Dsus2Dsus2
Just fifty years after Wolftone
G+G          B minorBm
Five thousand miles away
     D MajorD           G+G
The Yanks called us a Legion of Strangers
  A augmentedA           B minorBm
And they can talk as they may

But--

Chorus:
      G+G      D MajorD   - Dsus2Dsus2
From Dublin City, to San Diego
A augmentedA           B minorBm
We witnessed freedom denied
   G+G             D MajorD
So we formed the Saint Patrick Battalion
    A augmentedA           B minorBm - Bsus2Bsus2
And we fought on the Mexican side


Verse:
  D MajorD         B minorBm  - Bsus2Bsus2
We fought them in Matamoros
      G+G             D MajorD  - Dsus2Dsus2
While their volunteers were raping the nuns
  G+G         D MajorD  - F# minorF#m
In Monterey and Cerro Gordo
  B minorBm      F# minorF#m    B minorBm - A augmentedA G+G
We fought on as Ireland's sons
      G+G            D MajorD   - Dsus2Dsus2
We were the red-headed fighters for freedom
       G+G            B minorBm
Amidst these brown-skinned women and men
    D MajorD           G+G
Side by side we fought against tyranny
   A augmentedA          B minorBm
And I dare say we'd do it again


Chorus:
      G+G      D MajorD   - Dsus2Dsus2
From Dublin City, to San Diego
A augmentedA           B minorBm
We witnessed freedom denied
   G+G             D MajorD
So we formed the Saint Patrick Battalion
    A augmentedA           B minorBm - Bsus2Bsus2
And we fought on the Mexican side


Verse:
  D MajorD         B minorBm  - Bsus2Bsus2
We fought them in Matamoros
      G+G             D MajorD  - Dsus2Dsus2
While their volunteers were raping the nuns
  G+G         D MajorD  - F# minorF#m
In Monterey and Cerro Gordo
  B minorBm      F# minorF#m    B minorBm - A augmentedA G+G
We fought on as Ireland's sons
      G+G            D MajorD   - Dsus2Dsus2
We were the red-headed fighters for freedom
       G+G            B minorBm
Amidst these brown-skinned women and men
    D MajorD           G+G
Side by side we fought against tyranny
   A augmentedA          B minorBm
And I dare say we'd do it again


Chorus:
      G+G      D MajorD   - Dsus2Dsus2
From Dublin City, to San Diego
A augmentedA           B minorBm
We witnessed freedom denied
   G+G             D MajorD
So we formed the Saint Patrick Battalion
    A augmentedA           B minorBm - Bsus2Bsus2
And we fought on the Mexican side

Instrumental Verse:
D MajorD  B minorBm  - Bsus2Bsus2
G+G  D MajorD  - Dsus2Dsus2
G+G  D MajorD  - F# minorF#m
B minorBm F# minorF#m B minorBm - A augmentedA G+G
G MajorG  D MajorD  - Dsus2Dsus2
G+G  B minorBm
D MajorD  G+G
A augmentedA  B minorBm


Instrumental Chorus:
G+G D MajorD - Dsus2Dsus2
A augmentedA B minorBm
G+G D MajorD
A augmentedA B minorBm - Bsus2Bsus2


Verse:
  D MajorD         B minorBm      - Bsus2Bsus2
We fought them in five major battles
   G+G       D MajorD  Dsus2Dsus2
Churobusco was the last
  G+G              D MajorD   - F# minorF#m
Overwhelmed by the cannons from Boston
  B minorBm     F# minorF#m     B minorBm  - A augmentedA G+G
We fell after each mortar blast
      G+G      D MajorD    - Dsus2Dsus2
Most of us died on that hillside
    G+G           B minorBm
In the service of the Mexican state
  D MajorD           G+G
So far from our occupied homeland
    A augmentedA           B minorBm
We were heroes and victims of fate


Chorus:
      G+G      D MajorD   - Dsus2Dsus2
From Dublin City, to San Diego
A augmentedA           B minorBm
We witnessed freedom denied
   G+G             D MajorD
So we formed the Saint Patrick Battalion
    A augmentedA           B minorBm - Bsus2Bsus2
And we fought on the Mexican side
  G+G             D MajorD
We formed the Saint Patrick Battalion
    A augmentedA           B minorBm