Well how do you do, young Willy 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 fallen in 1916.
Well I hope you died quick, and I hope you died clean.
Or Willy McBride, was it slow and obscene?
[Chorus:]
Did they beat the drums 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"? [ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/c/celtic_thunder/green_fields_of_france.html ]
Did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind,
In some faithful heart, is your memory in shrine?
And though you died back in 1916,
In that faithful heart, you're forever 19.
Or are you a stranger without even a name,
Enclosed forever behind a glass pane.
In an old photograph, torn and battered and stained,
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame.
[Chorus]
Now Willy McBride, I can't help wondering why
Do those who lie here know why they died.
Did they really believe when they answered the cause,
Did they really believe that this war would end wars?
But the sorrow, the sufferin', the glory, the pain
The killing and dying were all done in vain.
But, Willy McBride, it all happened again, and again, and again, and again, and again.
They are talking about a young boy who marched out into battle and he dies. And a person comes and visets his grave and is wandering what is death was like. They also wander who the boy was
by Unregistered on Feb 10th 2012 10:02 pm
This song reminds me of my dad - he loved the furey's who sang this song (amongst many other fantastic irish songs). I feel privledged to introduce it to my husband and daughter as a great part of our heritedge!
by Unregistered on Jan 11th 2012 10:53 am
The futulity of war. Madness madness! Talk talk talk and avoid it!
by Unregistered on Jan 10th 2012 4:55 pm
I love this lyric because it my favorite song and i started to cry so much.
A sincere graveside meditation where a young soldier is buried; reflecting on what it was like at that fateful time? A lyical picture of the truth of war.