Danny Boy

Oh, danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen and down the mountainside
The summer's gone and all the roses falling,
'tis you, 'tis you must go and i must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow,
'tis i'll be there in sunshine or in shadow,
Oh, danny boy, oh danny boy, i love you so.


And when you come and all the flowers are dying,
If i am dead - as dead as i well may be -
Ye'll come and find the place where i am lying
And kneel and say ave there for me;
And i shall hear, though soft you tread above me,
And all my grave shall warmer, sweeter be,
And ye shall bend and tell me that you love me,
And i shall sleep in peace until you come to me.

The minstrel boy to the war is gone,
In the ranks of death you'll find him;
His fathers sword he has girded on,
And his wild harp slung behind him.
"land of song!" said the warrior bard,
"though all the world betrays thee,
One sword at least thy rights shall guard,
One faithful harp shall praise thee!"


The minstrel fell! - but the foeman's chain
Could not bring that proud soul under;
The harp he loved ne'er spoke again
For he tore is chords asunder;
And said "no chains shall sully thee,
Thou soul of love and bravery!
Thy songs were made for the pure and free,
They shall never sound in slavery."

lonely i wander through scenes of my childhood
They bring back to memory the happy days of yore
Gone are the old folk, the house stands deserted
No light in the window, no welcome at the door

Here's where the children played games on the heather
Here's where they sailed their wee boats on the burn
Where are they now? some are dead, some have wandered
No more to their home will the children return

Lonely the house now, and lonely the moorland
The children have scattered, the old folk are gone
Why stand i here, like a ghost or a shadow?

Now when i was a young man and i carried my pack
And i lived the free life of the rover
From the murray's green basin to the dusty out back
I waltzed my matilda all over.
Then in 1915 my country said "son
It's time to stop rambling, there's work to be done"
And they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war.


And the band played waltzing matilda
As the ships pulled away from the quay
And amid all the tears, flag waving and cheers
We sailed off to galipolli


And how i remember that terrible day
How our blood stained the sand and the water
And how in that hell that they called suvla bay
We were butchered like lambs to the slaughter.


Johnnie turk was ready, oh he primed himself well
He rained us with bullets and he showered us with shell
And in five minutes flat we were all blown to hell
Nearly blew us all back home to australia.


But the band played waltzing matilda
As we stuck to bury our slain
We burned ours and the turks buried theirs
And we started all over again


Those who were living just tried to survive
In a mad world of blood death and fire
And for ten weary weeks, i kept myself alive
While 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 and i wished i was dead
Never knew there were worse things than dying
For no more i'll go waltzing matilda
All round the green bush far and near
For to hump tent and pegs a man needs both legs
No more waltzing matilda for me.


They collected the crippled, the wounded, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to australia
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane
Those proud wounded heroes of suvla
And as our ship pulled in to circular key
And i looked at the place where my legs used to be
I thanked christ there was no one there waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity


And the band played waltzing matilda
As they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared
And turned all their faces away


So now every april, i sit on my porch
And i watch the parade pass before me
And i see my old comrades, how proudly they march
Renewing their dreams of past glory


I see the old men all tired, stiff and sore
The weary old heroes of a forgotten war
And the young people ask "what are they marching for?"
And i ask myself the same question


And the band played waltzing matilda
And the old men still answer the call
But year after year, the numbers get fewer
Some day none will march there at all


Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda
Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me
And their ghosts may be heard as they march by the billabong
Who'll come a waltzing matilda with me.

My brave lad sleeps in his faded coat of blue;
In a lonely grave unknown lies the heart that beat so true
He sank faint and hungry among the famish'd brave
And they laid him sad and lonely within his nameless grave


No more the bugle calls the weary one,
Rest, noble spirit,
In thy grave unknown! i'll find you and know you,
Among the good and true,
When a robe of white is giv'n for the faded coat of blue


He cried, "give me water and just a little crumb,
And my mother she will bless you thro' all the years to come;
Oh! tell my sweet sister, so gentle, good and true,
That i'll meet her up in heaven, in my faded coat of blue."


No more the bugle calls the weary one,
Rest, noble spirit,
In thy grave unknown! i'll find you and know you,
Among the good and true,
When a robe of white is giv'n for the faded coat of blue


Long, long years have vanished, and though he comes no more,
Yet my heart will startling beat with each footfall at my door;
I gaze o'er the hill where he waved a last adieu,
But no gallant lad i see, in his faded coat of blue.


No more the bugle calls the weary one,
Rest, noble spirit,
In thy grave unknown! i'll find you and know you,
Among the good and true,
When a robe of white is giv'n for the faded coat of blue


No more the bugle calls the weary one,
Rest, noble spirit,
In thy grave unknown! i'll find you and know you,
Among the good and true,
When a robe of white is giv'n for the faded coat of blue

Oh, danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen and down the mountainside
The summer's gone and all the roses falling,
'tis you, 'tis you must go and i must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow,
'tis i'll be there in sunshine or in shadow,
Oh, danny boy, oh danny boy, i love you so.


And when you come and all the flowers are dying,
If i am dead - as dead as i well may be -
Ye'll come and find the place where i am lying
And kneel and say ave there for me;
And i shall hear, though soft you tread above me,
And all my grave shall warmer, sweeter be,
And ye shall bend and tell me that you love me,
And i shall sleep in peace until you come to me.

Oh my name is francis tolliver, i come from liverpool
Two years ago the war was waiting for me after school
From belgium and to flanders, germany to here
I fought for king and country i love dear.


Twas christmas in the trenches and the frost so bitter hung
The frozen fields of france where still no christmas songs were sung
Our families back in england were toasting us that day
There brave and glorious lads so far away.


I was lying with my mess mates on the cold and rocky ground
When across the lines of battle came a most peculiar sound
Says i now listen up me boys, each soldier strained to hear
As one young german voice sang out so clear.


He's singing bloody well you know, my partner says to me
Soon one by one each german voice joined in in harmony
The cannons rested silent and the gas cloud rolled no more
As christmas brought us respite from the war.


As soon as they were finished and a reverent pause was spent
God rest ye merry gentlemen struck up some lads from kent
The next thing sang was stille nach tis silent night says i
And in two tongues one song filled up that sky


There's someone coming towards us now the front line sentry said
All sights were fixed on one lone figure trudging from their side
His truce flag like a christmas star shone on the plane so bright
As he bravely trudged unarmed into the night.


Then one by one on either side, walked in to no mans land
With neither gun nor bayonet, we met there hand to hand
We shared some secret brandy and we wished each other well
And in a flare lit football game we gave them hell.


We traded chocolates, cigarettes and photographs from home
These sons and father far away from families of their own
Ton sanders played the squeeze box and they had a violin
This curious and unlikely band of men.


Soon daylight stole upon us and france was france once more
With sad farewells we each began to settle back to war
But the question haunted every heart that lived that wonderous night
Whose family have i fixed within my sights.


Twas christmas in the trenches and the frost so bitter hung
The frozen fields of france were warmed, the songs of peace were sung
For the walls they'd kept between us to exact the work of war
Had been crumbled and were gone forever more.
Oh my name is francis tolliver, from liverpool i dwell
Each christmas comes since world war i have learned its lesson well
For the one who calls the shots won't be among the dead and lame
And on each end of the rifle we're the same