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?

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