U2 - Van Diemen's Land Lyrics

Hold me now, oh hold me now
Till this hour has gone around
And I gone, on the rising tide
For to face Van Diemen's Land

It's a bitter pill I swallow here
To be rent from one so dear
We fought for justice and not for gain
But the magistrate sent me away

Now kings will rule and the poor will toil
And tear their hands as they tear the soil
But a day will come in this dawning age
When an honest man sees an honest wage

Hold me now, oh hold me now
Till this hour has gone around
And I'm gone on the rising tide
For to face Van Diemen's Land

• Anonymous

  Its U2 trying to be poetic and meaningful, failing as usual. It's about the cynical fabrication of crimes to rid the industrialists in the UK of troublesome workers, and send them to Australia

• Anonymous

  it's about the poor being sent to australia