Viva La Quinta Brigada    (video)    (sample)

 

     F - G - Am      - F - G - C      - F - G - Am

 

              C                   G                       C

1. Ten years before I saw the light of morning,

         C                                         F

    a comradeship of heroes was laid,

             F                                                 G

    from every corner of the world came sailing

           G             G7             C

    the Fifth International Brigade.

 

               G                                                     C

2. They came to stand beside the Spanish people,

         C                                             F

    to try and stem the rising fascist tide,

                    F                                             G

    Franco's allies were the powerful and wealthy,

                 G                          G7                  C

    Frank Ryan's men came from the other side.

 

      G                                C

3. Even the olives were bleeding,

                 C                                           F

    as the battle for Madrid it thundered on,

      F                                                   G

    truth and love against the force of evil,

       G                  G7                        C

    brotherhood against the fascist clan.

 

  F

Viva la Quinta Brigada,

         F                     G                                 C

"No Pasaran", the pledge that made them fight.

         C                Em                  Am

"Adelante" is the cry around the hillside,

 F                  G                     C

let us all remember them tonight.

 

              C                      G                      C

4. Bob Hilliard was a Church of Ireland pastor,

              C                                                   F

    form Killarney across the Pyrenees he came,

               F                                                         G

    from Derry came a brave young Christian Brother,

     G                         G7                            C

    side by side they fought and died in Spain.

 

                      G                                                  C

5. Tommy Woods aged seventeen died in Cordoba,

                   C                                            F

    with Na Fianna he learned to hold his gun,

               F                               G

    from Dublin to the Villa del Rio,

                      G                           G7                       C

    where he fought and died beneath the blazing sun.

 

  F

Viva la Quinta Brigada,

         F                     G                                 C

"No Pasaran", the pledge that made them fight.

         C                Em                  Am

"Adelante" is the cry around the hillside,

 F                 G                      C

let us all remember them tonight.

 

                C             G                        C

6. Many Irishmen heard the call of Franco,

                 C                              F

    joined Hitler and Mussolini, too.

                F                                               G

    Propaganda from the pulpit and newspapers,

                      G        G7             C

    helped O'Duffy to enlist his crew.

 

              G                                                              C

7. The word came from Maynooth, "Dupport the Nazis!"

              C                             F

    The men of cloth failed again.

                       F                                                           G

    When the Bishops blessed the Blueshirts in Dun Laoghaire,

                  G                              G7              C

    as they sailed beneath the swastika to Spain.

 

+ CHORUS

 

             C             G                        C

8. This song is a tribute to Frank Ryan,

            C                                        F

    Kit Conway and Dinny Coady, too,

                 F                                              G

    Peter Daly, Charlie Regan and Hugh Bonar,

                   G               G7                      C

    though many died, I can but name a few.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                  G                                                   C

9. Danny Boyle, Blaser-Brown  and Charlie Donnelly,

               C                                                      F

    Liam Tumilson and Jim Straney from the Falls,

               F                                                 G

    Jack Nalty, Tommy Patton and Frank Conroy,

            G                 G7                      C

    Jim Foley, Tony Fox and Dick O'Neill.

 

  F

Viva la Quinta Brigada,

         F                     G                                 C

"No Pasaran", the pledge that made them fight.

         C                Em                  Am

"Adelante" is the cry around the hillside,

 F                 G                     Am      

let us all remember them tonight.

 

     F            G            C       F           G           Am

    Viva la Quinta Brigada, viva la Quinta Brigada.

 

+ F - G - C    - F - G - Am  (4x)  ...

 

    (Christy Moore)