My mother cried the day I told her
And my father had a tear in his eye
At seventeen I became a Kitchener boy
To fight the enemy to do or die
And the band played Tipperary as we marched away
I’d signed my name upon the line for the Front Line
And the Kings Country
My best mate Joe said we’d be heroes
But now I look around and see heroes none
All tired and scared cold wet and hungry
Fearing for their lives and the German guns
And in my heart I don’t feel hatred for the enemy
But I’ll follow Haig’s orders as a soldier
Of the Kings Country
The first of July nineteen sixteen
In flooded trenches by the River Somme
I’ve had a smoke and drank a cup of tea
I’m so damn scared now I’m feeling numb
We’ve had the orders to advance into no man’s territory
Over the top into the onslaught of the German artillery
And I know we’ll all fall like lemmings heading for the sea
To be mown down like wheatshief in Autumn
For the Kings Country
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