Marchin' down O'Connell Street with the Starry Plough on high There goes the Citizen Army with their fists raised in the sky Leading them is a mighty man with a mad rage in his eye My name is James Connolly, I didn't come here to die But to fight for the rights of the working man, the small farmer tooProtect the proletariat from the bosses and their screwsSo hold on to your rifles, boys, don't give up your dreamsOf a Republic for the workin' class, economic liberty Then Jem yells out, "Oh Citizens, this system is a curseAn English boss is a monster, an Irish one even worseThey'll never lock us out again and here's the reason whyMy name is James Connolly, I didn't come here to die" But to fight for the rights of the working man, the small farmer tooProtect the proletariat from the bosses and their screwsSo hold on to your rifles, boys, don't give up your dreamsOf a Republic for the workin' class, economic liberty And now we're in the GPO with the bullets whizzin' by With Pearse and Sean McDermott biddin' each other good-byeUp steps our citizen leader and he roars out to the skyMy name is James Connolly, I didn't come here to die But to fight for the rights of the working man, the small farmer tooProtect the proletariat from the bosses and their screwsSo hold on to your rifles, boys, don't give up your dreamsOf a Republic for the workin' class, economic liberty Oh Lily, I don't want to die We've got so much to live forAnd I know we're goin' out to get slaughteredBut I just can't take any more Just the sight of one more child screamin' from hunger in a Dublin slumOr his mother slavin' 14 hours a day for the scum, who exploit herAnd take her youth and throw it on a factory floor?Oh Lily, I just can't take any more They've locked us out, they've banned our unionsThey even treat their animals better than usOh no, it's far better to die like a man on your feetThan to live forever like some slave, on your knees, Lily But don't let them wrap any green flag around meAnd for God's sake, don't let them bury meIn some field full of harps and shamrocksAnd whatever you do, don't let them make a martyr out of meOh no, rather raise the Starry Plough on high, sing a song of freedomHere's to you, Lily, the rights of man and international revolution We fought them to a standstill while the flames lit up the sky'Til a bullet pierced our leader and we gave up the fightThey shot him in Kilmainham jail but they'll never stop his cryMy name is James Connolly, I didn't come here to die But to fight for the rights of the working man, the small farmer tooProtect the proletariat from the bosses and their screwsSo hold on to your rifles, boys, don't give up your dreamsOf a Republic for the workin' class, economic liberty, economic liberty