[Intro] [David Hamilton]
I want to share with you tonight, my testimony
[Verse 1] [Jun Tzu]
I was born in the winter of 1956
In Cooks Turn, way out in the sticks
We moved to Belfast when I was six
We moved to Rathcoole;
The Biggest housing estate in Northern Ireland, And that's true
At that time it was mixed, there was Catholics too - This
Was before all the troubles began
We used to
Live around about four doors down
From Bobby Sans
We used to play football together
On the front, with mucky faces and boggy hands
But this was before all the troubles began
We used to
Run around the estate, just some troublesome lads
But, on one day coming home from school everything changed
I see a gang of lads I knew from school and they were shouting my name
So, I walked over and said "What's up Craic Kids"
They said "Listen Davy
You're a protestant and we're all Catholics
So we're gonna be just, and throw you into the river"
I said "Why!?"
They said "You said you're a prod"
I said "No I never!"
They said "Yes you did, you're going into the river"
They beat me up and then they threw me in
That day I learned two lessons
One: learn to swim
Two: don't play with Catholics they're bad news
And that's how it was
From that day forward in Rathcoole
1972, we were only kids
But we had hardened minds, back then
I thought the, smartest thing to do was join the tartan gangs
We would set upon them
At first we would smash their windees (Windows)
Later we would petrol bomb them
We would burn them, out of their homes
Some people would say
We live the wrong life
I spent my eighteenth birthday
As a political prisoner locked up in long house
I got released but the same week
I was planting bombs and robbing banks
While at the same time trying to live a modest life
But I got arrested again and broke the officers nose to say thanks
Ya wee get back in jail
We have military status and we called ranks
We have bomb making cla**es in the morning
And prison and weapon training in the afternoons
With some live bullets not blanks
Thanks to the trouble in the streets there are more tanks
And in my mind I wanted to do more
Because if I'm doing this I'm doing it raw
I want to join the most feared terror group of them all
I put the word out around the jail
The paki wants to be a lobster volunteer
And two weeks later when I got released
There was a knock at my door
Saying is it true you wanted to join
I said yes I do
They said think it over
Because once you do you don't leave
I said no, I believe
This, is a cause worth fighting for
A cause worth living and a cause worth dying for
[Interlude] [David Hamilton]
And I says
Why not?
I'm a loyalist
I have all these tattoos on my arm
No surrender for God and Ulster
Remember 1690 and everything
And I thought
Now I believe in this
This is a good cause
And I thought well if you're going to be a terrorist
You may as well be a good terrorist
And I thought
The most feared group in Northern Ireland
In the paramilitary scene is the UVF
They're very militant, very secretive
And you can't just join this group
You must be invited by them to be a member
A week later I went with these men
And they took me to a bar In Belfast
They took me upstairs into a room
There were three men standing behind a table
And they had an Ulster flag over the table
And there was something else sitting on the table
And I'm sure this will surprise you
Because you know what it was?
One of these, a bible
And the guy in the middle said to me
"Do you believe in the Protestant cause?"
And I said "I do"
He said "Are you prepared to die for the Protestant cause?"
I said "I am"
He said "Are you prepared to k** for the Protestant cause?"
And I said "You know..."
[Verse 3] [Jun Tzu]
I carried on with my mission
And moved up in position
Done everything you could envision
My whole life revolved around the organisation
Became an area commander
Turned streets into military stations
I got arrested along with the rest of my team
Because a snitch turned super gra**
And gave the police information
We got sentenced to court
So I told my team to dress in uniform for the occasion
We got lined up on the docks like thunder birds
They called my name and then the list of offences
They sentenced me to 48 years in the underworld
He said I'd serve at least 12 at the minimum
I turned my back in the judge
Like I wasn't even listening
I saw my mother stood at the back of the court with tears
Running down her face
She looked at me and said
"You're a hopeless case
You're never gonna change"
I said go home and get my head piece Ma
Before they took away the chains
I thought I'd never see the light of day again
But meanwhile
My mum didn't go home
She went to tell my relatives what happened
And there was a wee women sat on her own
She said
"Mrs Hamilton - I think that God could change your son"
She said
"Thank you but there's nothing can be done"
Before stating to cry she said
"What is to be done with my son
I never wanted this"
The wee women said
"don't you be worrying love
I'm putting him on my wanted list"
She said
"I believe God's grace creates changes
I don't believe in hopeless cases
She said I don't believe In hopeless cases"
Listen, about a week went by and I was sat in my cell
Thinking about life, and how I'm trapped In hell
I saw a piece of paper lay on my bed
I picked it up and it read:
"Jesus Christ is coming back soon"
I laughed and said
"Aye right! To a cinema near you!"
I ripped it up and threw it straight in the bin
Made myself a cup of tea without taking it in
But the next thing that happened, was very strange
I heard a voice in my head saying
"David, it's time to change, become a Christian"
Well I thought that I was slipping or tripping cause I was mid sipping
And burnt my lip on my tea
I said
"I know what's happening here, these fellas are playing a trick on me
They've slipped trips in my tea"
So I poured it out and looked down the sink
I couldn't see no tab, and I started to think:
What if the voice that I heard was right?
What if all these years, it was god that spurred my life
Cause I've been shot three times and survived
Stabbed in the head with an axe and survived
I've been blown up in a bomb, there's been many attempts on my life
The fact I'm even alive is a reason to believe in the divine
And I realised I was deceived in the mind
So I got down on my knees and I started to cry
Asked the Lord for forgiveness
I said
"Lord let me be your witness
Please rid me of the bigotry and leave me sinless
Let me spread your word and go about your heavenly business
Please change my life, let me live this"
And from that minute on I felt freedom in my soul even though I was in prison
[Interlude] [David Hamilton]
I do, I think the Lord Jesus Christ
Most of all what he has done is he has given me a story
And I believe it tells people there's no such thing as a hopeless case
If that was true...
If that were really true then you're looking upon:
A hopeless case
And I think think God gave me an opportunity just to share
And you know I said today:
Some of the best brains...in England
Are trying to find the solution to bring the north and the South
And the Protestant and the catholic together
And yet today we can stand before people and say
"We know a solution... That works"
That's because Jesus Christ is Lord
And we reconcile not only with God
But with their fellow man
Because God changed the heart
It's not a United Kingdom, or a United Ireland
But it's God's Kingdom
That's what it comes down to
God's Kingdom