He was court-martialled one morning in May
There on the battlefield they dragged him away
The charge was desertion. He was sentenced next day
In the year of our Lord, Nineteen Fifteen
His name was McMichaels. His age, 20 years
A ragged foot soldier in the bold Grenadiers
Like a million before him, just a boy volunteer
Sent to fight for his king and his country
The church bells will ring and the ravens will sing
And the rifles will sound in the square-o
And by the old barracks wall a soldier will fall
Far from the green fields of old England
With the big guns a-roaring, the smoke in his eyes
He kept the late watch - midnight to sunrise
And while death danced around him and screams rent the skies
Like a statue he stood there 'til morning
The dawn brought the nightmare on home to him then
Shell-shocked, he wandered past the wounded and slain
And on to Jerusalem he walked in the rain
Leaving all, but the madness, behind him
The church bells will ring and the ravens will sing
And the rifles will sound in the square-o
And by the old barracks wall a soldier will fall
Far from the green fields of old England
The sergeant-at-arms took his rifle away
When they found him days later in a ditch-water grave
He had his arms round a dead man, a German they say
And he was singing "The Rose Of Trelawney"
His Mother is weeping, his sweetheart the same
For death and dishonour, a grave with no name
Just the Lily-Of-The-Valley for all England's shame
And who'll mourn the death of this soldier
The church bells will ring and the ravens will sing
And the rifles will sound in the square-o
And by the old barracks wall a soldier will fall
Far from the green fields of old England.
There on the battlefield they dragged him away
The charge was desertion. He was sentenced next day
In the year of our Lord, Nineteen Fifteen
His name was McMichaels. His age, 20 years
A ragged foot soldier in the bold Grenadiers
Like a million before him, just a boy volunteer
Sent to fight for his king and his country
The church bells will ring and the ravens will sing
And the rifles will sound in the square-o
And by the old barracks wall a soldier will fall
Far from the green fields of old England
With the big guns a-roaring, the smoke in his eyes
He kept the late watch - midnight to sunrise
And while death danced around him and screams rent the skies
Like a statue he stood there 'til morning
The dawn brought the nightmare on home to him then
Shell-shocked, he wandered past the wounded and slain
And on to Jerusalem he walked in the rain
Leaving all, but the madness, behind him
The church bells will ring and the ravens will sing
And the rifles will sound in the square-o
And by the old barracks wall a soldier will fall
Far from the green fields of old England
The sergeant-at-arms took his rifle away
When they found him days later in a ditch-water grave
He had his arms round a dead man, a German they say
And he was singing "The Rose Of Trelawney"
His Mother is weeping, his sweetheart the same
For death and dishonour, a grave with no name
Just the Lily-Of-The-Valley for all England's shame
And who'll mourn the death of this soldier
The church bells will ring and the ravens will sing
And the rifles will sound in the square-o
And by the old barracks wall a soldier will fall
Far from the green fields of old England.
inviata da Alessandro - 13/11/2008 - 08:01
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Album "Trust"
Testo trovato su Mudcat