Intro 1C
Trumpets
Intro (Spoken)
CG
More than fifty thousand names are carved on Ypres' Menin gate
AmFC
of soldiers who have no known graves, just their destiny and date.
/BAm
Witness and last testament, name and rank and regiment,
GFCCFGG
is now all that survives from so many squandered lives.
[Part 1
CEmFF
And for every name inscribed
CEmFFC
the poor bereaved were left to mourn,
DmGCC
the passing of each one who died
GAmAmFF
with no white cross on tended lawn.
GCEmFG
No place to go to contemplate
CGFC
the sacrifice, the wicked waste,
DmG
no footprint left to show where once they trod
FG
Allegedly known unto Interlude god.
InterludeCCGGAmCFF
[Part 2
CEmFG
From Ypres, Arras, Aisne and Somme,
CEmFFC
six unknown soldiers were exhumed,
DmGCC
a blindfold general picked one man
GAmAmFFG
and reverently they brought him home.
CEmFG
Six black horses drew the hearse
CGFC
through silent London crowds immersed,
DmG
in deepest thought belief or wishful prayer
FG
that this might be their own boy Interlude there.
InterludeCCFGGAmEmFGG
[Spoken]
AmEm
The metal tyres on the carriage wheels, played the tuneless requiem,
FAm
the sky as grey as bayonet steel above the sombre hatless men.
EmAm
One more enemy to kill, that remaining sense of guilt,
D
that through it all somehow they had survived,
GG
returned to mothers sweethearts wives.
[Spoken]
AmEm
Familiar streets their own backyards,
F
their medals and all praise ignored,
AmF
prayed to be his honour guard and walk with him their true reward.
GC
While far from pomp and circumstance,
FC
across the autumn fields of France,
DmCC
the trenches start to slowly fill and fade,
EmAmF
the bloody page turned by the ploughman's blade.
[Part 3
CEmFFG
Thankfully we'll never know
CEmFFC
if he was constant strong or frail,
DmGCC
scared or brave in equal parts,
GAmFFG
country tanned or city pale.
CEmFGA carefree youth or thoughtful lad,
CGFC
not wholly good nor wholly bad,
DmG
a bomb does not judge how you played your part,
FG
a bullet stops a lions Interlude heart.
InterludeCEmFFGCEmFFCDmGCCAmAmFFGCEmFGCGFCDmDmGGFFGGCCFGG
[Part 4
CEmFFG
With softest cloth and gentlest broom
CEmFFC
to sweep and wipe cathedral dust,
DmGCC
like dried tears on this marble tomb,
GAmFFG
take care for he was one of us.
CEmFG
In perfect irony and grief
CGFC
the bride's bouquet becomes a wreath,
DmG
and wrapped beneath dark angels folded wings,
FFGG
Tommy Atkins rests with Outro kings.
OutroCEmFGG7C
This arrangement for the song is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the song. You may only use this for private study, scholarship, or research.