RadiantLlamaCinema presents renowned Irish rebel/folk band The Druids' powerhouse live cover of Dominic Behan's Irish rebel song "Come Out, Ye Black & Tans."

The melody of "Come Out, Ye Black and Tans" was adapted by Behan from "Rosc Catha na Mumhan" (Irish for "Battlecry of Munster") by Piaras Mac Gearailt, which is also used by "The Boyne Water." A variant of "Come Out, Ye Black and Tans" migrated to Scotland and to the Appalachian Mountains, where it became the most common melody for the traditional folk ballad "Barbara Allen."

The nationalistic tune "Come Out, Ye Black and Tans" was written about the British paramilitary police in Ireland during the 1920s. Irish republicans have held sustained opposition to British rule through resistance and rebellion, following hundreds of years of British conquest, discrimination against Catholics and nonconformists, and concentrated attempts to suppress Irish language and Irish culture.

Formed in 2008, acclaimed Irish rebel/ballad band The Druids won Best Live Act at the 2016–2017 Irish Folk Music Awards and continues to tour, delivering patriotic songs and impassioned ballads to international audiences and bringing rich Irish history to life. The high-octane, Co. Kildare-based quartet comprises: Paddy Mangan [mandolin, vocals], Micheál Ó Brien [bodhrån, vocals], Gary Lawlor [guitar, vocals] and Zak Moran [bass, vocals]. Lead vocals: Gary Lawlor.

Recorded live 3.16.19 at Connolly's, NYC.
Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit!
2019 RadiantLlamaCinema

"Come Out, Ye Black & Tans"
Lyrics:
I was born on a Dublin street where the royal drums did beat,
And those loving English feet they tramped all over us,
And each and every night when me father came home tight
He'd invite the neighbors outside with this chorus:

Come out, ye Black and Tans, come out and fight me like a man,
Show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders,
Tell them how the IRA made you run like hell away
From the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra.

Come tell us how you slew them poor Arabs two by two,
Like the Zulus they had spears and bows and arrows,
How you bravely faced each one with your 16-pounder gun,
And you frightened them poor natives to their marrow.

Come out, ye Black and Tans, come out and fight me like a man,
Show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders,
Tell them how the IRA made you run like hell away
From the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra.

Come let us hear you tell how you slandered great Parnell,
When you thought him well and truly persecuted,
Where are the sneers and jeers that you bravely let us hear
When our heroes of '16 were executed?

Come out, ye Black and Tans, come out and fight me like a man,
Show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders,
Tell them how the IRA made you run like hell away
From the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra.

Well the day is coming fast and the time is here at last,
When each yeoman will be cut aside before us,
And if there be a need, sure me kids would sing, "Godspeed, "

Come out, ye Black and Tans, come out and fight me like a man,
Show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders,
Tell them how the IRA made you run like hell away
From the green and lovely lanes of Killashandra.
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2019 RadiantLlamaCinema