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.

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,
I've been walking all day and i'm nearly done
I see by your gravestone you were only 19
When you joined the great fall-in in 1916
I hope you died well and i hope you died clean
Or young willie mcbride was it slow and obscene.


Did they beat the drum slowly did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest


Did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined
Although you died back in 1916
In that faithful heart are you forever 19
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Enclosed then forever behind a glass frame
In an old photograph torn, battered and stained
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame.


Did they beat the drum slowly did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest


The sun now it shines on the green fields of france
There's a warm summer breeze makes the red poppies dance
And look how the sun shines from under the clouds
There's no gas, no barbwire, there's no guns firing now
But here in this graveyard it's still no man's land
The countless white crosses stand mute in the sand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man
To a whole generation that were butchered and damned.


Did they beat the drum slowly did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest


Now young willie mcbride i can't help wonder why
Do those who lie here know why did they die
Did they believe when they answered the call
Did they really believe that this war would end wars
Well the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the pain
The killing and the dying were all done in vain
For young willie mcbride it all happened again,
And again and again and again and again


Did they beat the drum slowly did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest