A sarcastic line that juxtaposes oppression with benevolence. The English, while clearly oppressing and exploiting the Irish, have portrayed themselves as protectors, as imperialists are wont to do. Thus the English, the colonizers of the Irish, see themselves as loving, despite orchestrating mass violence.

This may also be a jab at the mentalities of Irish unionists/loyalists that want to maintain ties to the United Kingdom.

Connolly, distinct from many other Irish Republicans, was a socialist. In a rather intersectional fashion, he held that in order for the Irish to be free, they needed to both free Ireland from the yoke of England and to free the workers from capitalism. Because of this, Connolly fought not just for the freedom of Irish monarchs, but for the likes of the Druids and their listeners, the masses of Ireland.

He is a Provo, a member of the Provisional IRA, a paramilitary group of physical force Irish Republicans. The Provos are known as the most active Republican group during the conflict in Northern Ireland known as The Troubles, and they see themselves as the true successors to the original IRA (the old IRA).

As later touched on in the song, this group believes physical violence to be a necessary tool toward creating a united Ireland. The Provos are widely condemned as a terrorist organization due to a high civilian-death ratio, although to be fair, statistics indicate their civilian-death ratio was significantly lower than that of the unionists/loyalists.

These are names traditionally associated with either the orange or the green. Further than that, they represent firmly entrenched historical figures representing either ancient Irish culture or English influence.

The use of the term orange to refer to Protestants of the island of Ireland is derived from the Dutch-born William of Orange.

Pat, short for Patrick, is a very Irish Catholic name. The name was not used often in Ireland until the 17th century, however, because it was considered too holy, as Saint Patrick is the long-standing patron saint of Ireland.

Ireland has a long history of conflict between two groups: the orange and the green. These represent Protestants, the name derived from William the Orange, and the Catholics, green being associated with Gaelic tradition. The flag of Ireland even represents these factions, with white in the middle to represent a supposed peace between the two.

The singer’s father was Protestant while his mother was Catholic. The song thus centers around the complications that created.

James Connolly, like many other advocates of Irish Republicanism, believed that the true freedom of the Irish people entailed both the political independence of Ireland and the economic freedom of the Irish working people. This is well expressed in such short essays as Socialism and Nationalism, in which Connolly argued about how Irish nationalism and Irish socialism needed to be combined,

If you remove the English army to-morrow and hoist the green flag over Dublin Castle, unless you set about the organisation of the Socialist Republic your efforts would be in vain.
England would still rule you. She would rule you through her capitalists, through her landlords, through her financiers, through the whole array of commercial and individualist institutions she has planted in this country and watered with the tears of our mothers and the blood of our martyrs.

The Starry Plough was the flag of the Irish Citizen Army, of which the Irish socialist James Connolly was the most prominent member.

A modern rendition of the Starry Plough

James Connolly is the most well-known figure in the history of Irish socialism and is a martyr. The Druids are calling to raise the starry plough in honor of his efforts towards the freedom of the Irish people.

Molotov cocktails are a classic symbol for resistance and class warfare. Cops enforce the laws of the government and are thus the antithesis of the molotov. Sadistik has rapped about class warfare before and clearly sides with the oppressed over the instruments over this oppression. Sadistik favors insurrection over submission.

Stand up for your beliefs through your own power rather than pleading for powers that won’t genuinely help your cause.

This is an allusion to the murder of Oscar Grant. Grant was killed while being detained by a BART police officer and got 2 years in prison, claiming to have meant to use a taser rather than shooting him with a firearm.