John Mcdermott - The Green Fields Of France Lyrics
How do you do young willie mcbride,Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside,And rest for a while neath the warm summer sun,Ive been walking all day and Im nearly doneI see by your gravestone you were only 19When you joined the great fall-in in 1916I hope you died well and I hope you died cleanOr young willie mcbride was it slow and obscene.Did they beat the drum slowly did they play the fife lowlyDid they sound the death march as they lowered you downDid the band play the last post and chorusDid the pipes play the flowers of the forestDid you leave a wife or a sweetheart behindIn some faithful heart is your memory enshrinedAlthough you died back in 1916In that faithful heart are you forever 19Or are you a stranger without even a nameEnclosed then forever behind a glass frameIn an old photograph torn, battered and stainedAnd faded to yellow in a brown leather frame.Did they beat the drum slowly did they play the fife lowlyDid they sound the death march as they lowered you downDid the band play the last post and chorusDid the pipes play the flowers of the forestThe sun now it shines on the green fields of franceTheres a warm summer breeze makes the red poppies danceAnd look how the sun shines from under the cloudsTheres no gas, no barbwire, theres no guns firing nowBut here in this graveyard its still no mans landThe countless white crosses stand mute in the sandTo mans blind indifference to his fellow manTo a whole generation that were butchered and damned.Did they beat the drum slowly did they play the fife lowlyDid they sound the death march as they lowered you downDid the band play the last post and chorusDid the pipes play the flowers of the forestNow young willie mcbride I cant help wonder whyDo those who lie here know why did they dieDid they believe when they answered the callDid they really believe that this war would end warsWell the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the painThe killing and the dying were all done in vainFor young willie mcbride it all happened again,And again and again and again and againDid they beat the drum slowly did they play the fife lowlyDid they sound the death march as they lowered you downDid the band play the last post and chorusDid the pipes play the flowers of the forest
