And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda - by Eric Bogle

 Now when I was a young man I carried my pack
And lived the free life of the rover
From the Murray's Green Basin to the dusty outback
I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in 1915 my country said "Son,
It's time you stopped rambling, there's work to be done."
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they marched me away to the war

 And the band played Waltzing Matilda
As the ship pulled away from the quay
And amidst all the cheers, flag waving and tears
We sailed off for Gallipoli

 And how well I remember that terrible day
How our blood stained the sand and the water
And of how in that hell that they called Souvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
'Johnny Turk' he was ready, he'd primed himself well
He rained us with bullets and he showered us with shell
And in five minutes flat he'd blown us all to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia

 And the band played Waltzing Matilda
While we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs
Then it started all over again

 And those that were left, well we tried to survive
In that mad world of death, blood and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
Though around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse-over-head
And when I awoke in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, well, I wished I was dead
Never knew there was worse things than dying

 For  I'll go no more waltzing Matilda
All around the green bush far and free
For to hump tent and pegs a man needs both legs
No more waltzing Matilda for me

 So, they collected the wounded, the crippled, the maimed
And shipped us back home to Australia
The legless, the armless, the blind, the insane
The proud, wounded heroes of Souvla
And when our ship pulled into Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my legs used to be
And thanked Christ there was no one there waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity

 But the band played Waltzing Matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared
Then they turned all their faces away

 So now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me
I see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Reliving old dreams and  past glories
And the old men march slowly, old bones stiff and sore
They're tired old heroes of a forgotten war
And the young people ask  "What are they marching for?"
And I ask myself the same question

 But the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And the old men still answer the call
But as year follows year, more old men disappear
Some day no one will march there at all

 Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
Who'll go a'waltzing Matilda with me?
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by that billabong
Who'll come a'waltzing Matilda with me?

Well, how'd you do, Private Willie McBride,
D'you mind if I sit down down here by your graveside?
I'll rest for awhile in the warm summer sun,
Been walking all day, Lord, and I'm nearly done.
I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
When you joined the glorious fallen in 1916,
I hope you died quick and I hope you died "clean,"
Or, Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene?
CHORUS:
Did they beat the drum slowly, did they sound the fife lowly?
Did the rifles fire o'er ye as they lowered ye down?
Did the bugles sing "The Last Post" in chorus?
Did the pipes play the "Floors1 O' The Forest"?
And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined?
And, though you died back in 1916,
To that loyal heart are you forever nineteen?
Or are you a stranger, without even a name,
Forever enshrined behind some glass pane,
In an old photograph, torn and tattered and stained,
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame?
Well, the sun's shining down on these green fields of France
The warm wind blows gently, the red poppies dance.
The trenches have vanished long under the plow
No gas and no barbed wire, no guns firing now.
But here in this graveyard it's still No Man's Land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man.
And a whole generation who were butchered and damned.

And I can't help but wonder now, Willie McBride,
Do all those who lie here know why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you "the cause?"
Did you really believe that this war would end wars?
Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame,
The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain,
For Willie McBride, it's all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again.

 

Oops...second half is 'No Man's Land' again by Bogle....

Everybody hurts -REM

Lest we forget.
[Message Edited]

Send in the Clowns- Frank Sinatra, Tears in Heaven-Eric Clapton.

Although originally a poem, it was set to music and is sometimes sung, rather than spoken, at rememberance day observances here in Canada.

In Flanders Fields - John McCrae


In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.


We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.


Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.





[Message Edited]

Bright Eyes by Art Garfunkel. Played in the movie Water Ship Down.
As if that was not sad enough in itself, I think of my first cat every time I hear this song. She lived a nice long life but seeing her so old and frail broke my heart.

Is it a kind of dream,
Floating out on the tide,
Following the river of death downstream?
Oh, is it a dream?

There's a fog along the horizon,
A strange glow in the sky,
And nobody seems to know where you go,
And what does it mean?
Oh, is it a dream?

Bright eyes,
Burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
How can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes.

Is it a kind of shadow,
Reaching into the night,
Wandering over the hills unseen,
Or is it a dream?

There's a high wind in the trees,
A cold sound in the air,
And nobody ever knows when you go,
And where do you start,
Oh, into the dark.

Bright eyes,
burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
how can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
bright eyes.

Bright eyes,
burning like fire.
Bright eyes,
how can you close and fail?
How can the light that burned so brightly
Suddenly burn so pale?
Bright eyes

SUPERTRAMP - LORD IS IT MINE LYRICS

I know that there’s a reason why I need to be alone
I need to find a silent place that I can call my own
Is it mine, lord is it mine?

when everything’s dark and nothing seems right,
there’s nothing to win and there’s no need to fight

I never cease to wonder at the cruelty of this land
But it seems a time of sadness is a time to understand
Is it mine, lord is it mine?

when everything’s dark and nothing seems right,
you don’t have to win and there’s no need to fight

If only I could find a way
To feel your sweetness through the day
The love that shines around me could be mine.
So give us an answer, won’t you,
We know what we have to do,
There must be a thousand voices trying to get through.




or



"Ballad Of the Green Berets" Words and Music by Robin Moore and SSgt. Barry Sadler.





Fighting soldiers from the sky
Fearless men who jump and die
Men who mean just what they say
The brave men of the Green Beret.



Silver Wings upon their chest
These are men, America's best
One hundred men will test today
But only three win the Green Beret.



Trained to live off nature's land
Trained in combat, hand to hand
Men who fight by night and day
Courage picked from the Green Beret.



Silver Wings upon their chest
These are men, America's best
One hundred men will test today
But only three win the Green Beret.



Back at home a young wife waits
Her Green Beret has met his fate
He has died for those oppressed
Leaving her his last request.



Put Silver Wings on my son's chest
Make him one of America's best
He'll be a man they'll test one day
Have him win the Green Beret.

ONLY NINETEEN
Redgum

Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing out parade at Puckapunyal
It was a long march from cadets
The sixth battalion was the next to tour
and it was me who drew the card
We did Canungra and shoal water before we left

And Townsville lined the footpaths as we marched down to the quay
This clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and clean
And there's me in my slouch hat with my SLR and greens
God help me I was only nineteen

From Vung Tau riding chinooks to the dust at Nui Dat
I'd been in and out of choppers now for months
But we made our tents a home, VB, and pinups on the lockers
And an Asian Orange sunset though the scrub

And can you tell me doctor why I still can't get to sleep
And why nighttime's just a jungle dark and a barking M16
And what's this rash that comes and goes can you tell me what it means
God help me, I was only nineteen

A four week operation every step could be your last one on two legs
It was a war within yourself
But you wouldn't let your mates down till they had you dusted off
so you closed your eyes and thought about something else

Then someone yelled out "contact" and a bloke behind me swore
We hooked in there for hours then a god almighty roar
Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon
God help me, he was going home in June

I can still see Frankie lying drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel
On a thirty six hour rec leave in Vung Tau
And I can still see Frankie lying screaming in the jungle
till the morphine came and killed the bloody row

And the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood and tears
And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real
I caught some pieces in my back that I didn't even feel
God help me I was only nineteen

And can you tell me doctor why I still can't get to sleep
And why the channel seven chopper chills me to my feet
And what's this rash that comes and goes can you tell me what it means
God help me, I was only nineteen..

Ok, I have another one also. This was played on the radio a lot in the 70"s and as a kid it really touched me. Actually during my childhood there were many tear jerkers so I may have more.

THE LAST GAME OF THE SEASON (A BLIND MAN IN THE BLEACHERS)
David Geddes

He's just the blind man in the bleachers
To the local home town fans
And he sits beneath the speakers
Way back in the stands
And he listens to the play by play
He's just waiting for one name
He wants to hear his son get in the game

But the boy's not just a hero
He's strictly second team
Tho he runs each night for touchdowns
In his father's sweetest dreams
He's gonna be a star some day
Tho you might never tell
But the blind man in the bleachers knows he will

And the last game of the season is a Friday night at home
And no one knows the reason but the blind man didn't come
And his boy looks kinda nervous
Sometimes turns around and stares
Just as tho' he sees the old man sittin' there

The local boys are tryin' but they slowly lose their will
Another player's down and now
He's carried from the field
At halftime in the locker room
The kid goes off alone
And no one sees him talkin' on the phone

The game's already started
When he gets back to the team
And half the crowd can hear his coach yell
"Where the hell you been?"
"Just gettin' ready for the second half,"
Is all he'll say
"Cause now you're gonna let me in to play."

Without another word, he turns and runs into the game
And through the silence on the field
Loudspeakers call his name
It'll make the local papers
How the team came from behind
When they saw him playin' his heart to win

And when the game was over
The coach asked him to tell
What was it he was thinkin' of
That made him play so well
"You knew my dad was blind," he said
"Tonight he passed away"
"It's the first time that my father's seen me play

practically anything by Nick Drake

The song from Titanic movie. Celine Dion sang it. That song makes me sick. Blech!

Deep Purple...When a Blind Man Cries

If you’re leaving close the door.
I’m not expecting people anymore.
Hear me grieving, I’m lying on the floor.
Whether I’m drunk or dead I really ain’t too sure.
I’m a blind man, I’m a blind man and my world is pale.
When a blind man cries, lord, you know there ain’t no sadder tale.

Had a friend once in a room,
Had a good time but it ended much too soon.
In a cold month in that room
We found a reason for the things we had to do.

I’m a blind man, I’m a blind man, now my room is cold.
When a blind man cries, lord, you know he feels it from his soul.

Corny, but it touches me:

Listen, children, to a story that was written long ago,

About a kingdom on a mountain and the valley folk below.

On the mountain was a treasure buried deep beneath a stone,

And the valley people swore they'd have it for their very own.



Chorus:

Go ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend.

Do it in the name of heaven, justify it in the end.

There won't be any trumpets blowin', come the judgment day.

On the bloody morning after, one tin soldier rides away.



So the people of the valley sent a message up the hill,

Asking for the buried treasure, tons of gold for which they'd kill.

Came an answer from the kingdom: "With our brothers, we will share, All the secrets of our mountain, all the riches buried there." (Chorus)



Now the valley cried with anger mount your horses, draw your swords,

And they killed the mountain people, so they won their just rewards.

Now they stood beside the treasure on the mountain, dark and red,

Turned the stone and looked beneath it,

'Peace on earth' was all it said. (Chorus)

Yes MGiff, that is a good one.