[Verse 1] Oh lads Do you know How our bright banner rose From the smoke and the sorrow of ages Green hills in the rain White hope through the pain Gold faith that held fast through the cages In ’48’s days When the young men were brave And the old crown still counted us beaten They lifted that cloth By the cold northern lough Swore its colors would never be eaten [Chorus] Green White And gold Lift it up Let it roll From the cliffs to the cobbled old quays For the lost and the found Who lie under this ground May its folds catch the wild Irish breeze May its folds catch the wild Irish breeze [Verse 2] The green for the fields And the farmers who’d yield Every last scrap of bread for their neighbors For the tongue that they banned For the songs that still stand Carried soft over rivers and labors The bright stripe between Holds a dream still unseen That the quarrels might quiet and soften Where two churches ring Hear one people sing And the guns rust in dark attic coffins [Chorus] Green White And gold Lift it up Let it roll From the cliffs to the cobbled old quays For the lost and the found Who lie under this ground May its folds catch the wild Irish breeze May its folds catch the wild Irish breeze [Bridge] Gold glints in the light Of each candle at night For the mothers who waited by windows For the young who were gone Before breaking of dawn And the names carried home on the wind’s blows So we’ll stand Hand in hand From the bog to the strand Let the past be remembered Not bind us As that tricolor flies Under gray northern skies Guide the children of Erin behind us [Chorus] Green White And gold Lift it up Let it roll From the cliffs to the cobbled old quays For the lost and the found Who lie under this ground May its folds catch the wild Irish breeze May its folds catch the wild Irish breeze
