The Colours Lyrics - Singles - The Men They Couldt Hang

I am a member of the council of the naval mutiny 

And no traitor to my conscience having done my sworn duty 

These are my last words before the scaffold and I charge you all to hear 

How a wretched British sailor became a citizen mutineer 

Pressed into service to carry powder I was loyal to the crack of the whip 

It I starved on the streets of Bristol, I starved worse on a British ship 

Red is the colour of the new republic 

Blue is the colour of the sea 

White is the colour of my innocence 

Not surrender to your mercy 

I was woken from my misery by the words of Thomas Paine 

On my barren soil they fell like the sweetest drops of rain 

Red is the colour of the new republic 

Blue is the colour of the sea 

White is the colour of my innocence 

Not surrender to your mercy 

So in the spring of the year we took the fleet 

Every cask and cannon and compass sheet 

And we flew a Jacobin flag to give us heart 

While Pitt stood helpless we were waiting for Bonaparte 

Red is the colour of the new republic 

Blue is the colour of the sea 

White is the colour of my innocence 

Not surrender to your mercy 

All you soldiers, all you sailors, all you labourers of the land 

All you beggars, all you builders, all you come here to watch me hang 

To the masters we are the rabble, we are the 'swinish multitude' 

But we can re-arrange the colours of the red and the white and the blue 

Red is the colour of the new republic 

Blue is the colour of the sea 

White is the colour of my innocence 

Not surrender to your mercy 

Red is the colour of the new republic 

Blue is the colour of the sea 

White is the colour of my innocence 

Not surrender to your mercy