Bye Bye Ballymena! The Irish Brigade

So bye bye Ballymena, we're going far away
For they tell us that the RUC will be disbanded any day
We've served a lifetime in its ranks to God and Ulster true
Now they've given us a medal and said, 'Sign up on the brew'

I became an RUC cadet as soon as I left school
And I earned a pretty packet for maintaining British rule
I was proud to wear the emblem of that harp beneath the crown
And to uphold law and order, just by tramping Fenians down

Well, they taught all RUC to cadets to be loyal, fair and kind
And to never hit a Catholic unless it's from behind
When it came to target practice, I scored ten out of ten
But there were no cardboard provos when I went to Crossmaglen

I've been stoned and spat and sniped at and it seems unfair to me
We were piggies in the middle at the stand-off at Drumcree
Our parentage has been questioned, they've called us lazy slobs
And to add insult to injury, we've lost our bloody jobs

So bye bye Ballymena, for we won't be back again
We just can't stand the prospect of taking orders from Sinn Féin
We're leaving in the morning, we really R, U-C
We just hope the foreign legion still takes lads like Bert and me
I's just hope the foreign legion still takes lads like Bert and me