Christy Moore

Viva La Quinta Brigada

Christy Moore


Tom: C

(intro) F G Am F G C F G Am

          C             G                C
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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
    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.

 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
    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
    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)