Danny Boy

The sun is burning in the sky,
Strands of clouds go slowly driftin' by
In the park, the dreamy bees are droning in the flowers among the trees
And the sun burns in the sky.


Now the sun is in the west
Little babies lay down to take their rest
And the couples in the park are holding hands and waiting for the dark
And the sun is sinking low.


Now the sun has come to earth
Shrouded in a mushroom cloud of death.
Death comes in a blinding flash of hellish heat that leaves a smear of ash
And the sun has come to earth.


Now the sun has disappeared
All that's left is darkness, pain and fear.
Twisted sightless wrecks of men go crawling on their knees and cry in pain
And the sun has disappeared

By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes,
Where the sun shines bright on loch lomon'
Where me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of loch lomon'


Oh, ye'll tak' the high road and i'll tak' the low,
And i'll be in scotland afore ye;
For me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of loch lomon'


'twas there that we parted in yon shady glen,
On the steep, steep sides o' ben lomon'
Where in a purple hue the heilan' hills we view,
An the moon comin' out in the gloamin'.


Oh, ye'll tak' the high road and i'll tak' the low road,
And i'll be in scotland afore ye;
But me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of loch lomon'


The wee birdies sing and the wild flowers spring
And in sunshine the waters are sleepin'
But the broken heart it kens nae second spring again
Tho' the waefu' may cease frae their greetin'.


Oh, ye'll tak' the high road and i'll tak' the low road,
And i'll be in scotland afore ye;
But me and my true love will never meet again.
On the bonnie, bonnie banks of loch lomon'

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o' auld lang syne?


For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne;
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet
For days of auld lang syne.


And here's a hand, my trusty friend
And gie'd a hand o' thine
And we'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne


For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne;
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet
For days of auld lang syne.

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.

'tis the last rose of summer,
Left blooming alone,
All her lovely companions
Are faded and gone;
No flower of her kindred,
No rosebud is nigh
To reflect back her blushes
Or give sigh for sigh.


I'll not leave thee, thou lone one,
To pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping,
Go, sleep thou with them.
Thus kindly i scatter
Thy leaves o'er the bed
Where thy mates of the garden
Lie scentless and dead


So soon may i follow,
When friendships decay,
And from love's shining circle
The gems drop away!
When true hearts lie wither'd
And fond ones are flown,
Oh, who would inhabit
This bleak world alone?

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