The Green Fields of France (Eric Bogle cover) Lyrics
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside
And rest for a while in the warm summer sun
I've been walking all day, and I'm nearly done
And I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
When you joined the great falling in 1916
Well I hope you died quick
And I hope you died clean
Oh Willy McBride, was it slow and obscene
Did the 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
In some loyal heart is your memory enshrined
And though you died back in 1916
To that loyal heart you're forever nineteen
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Forever enshrined behind some old glass pane
In an old photograph torn, tattered and stained
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame
Did the 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 warm wind blows gently and the red poppies dance
The trenches have vanished long under the plow
No gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing down
But here in this graveyard that's still no mans land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
Till' man's blind indifference to his fellow man
And a whole generation were butchered and damned
Did the 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
Do all those who lie here know why they died
Did you really believe them when they told you the cause
Did you really believe that this war would end wars
Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
The killing and dying it was all done in vain
Oh Willy McBride it all happened again
And again, and again, and again, and again
Did the 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
Celtic music is best in three flavors: drinking, rebellion, and tear jerking. Punking this song would be like punking Molly Malone or Oh Danny Boy- heresy.
what a song... my favorite dropkick song hands down... there is so much passion in this song... the words and the way they did it... so great... probably one of my favorite songs of all time...
This song's not Irish!!! It was written by a Scottish poet (can't remember his name) about a Scottish soldier who died in the first world war. It's just been popularised by the likes of the Fureys and the Dubliners in Ireland. It's a good tune. Brilliant lyrics, Very sad stuff. I was looking forward to hearing this song done into a punk cover to see how they went about it and was slightly disappointed that they left it in it's original state (practically).
I disagree with being disapointed, i find the way this song was made to be prefect for the type of song that it is. oh and the scottish poet was name was Scot Eric Bogle
*was named Scot Eric Bogle
i think it's better that they left it a ballad. the subject matter demands it. most of the folk songs DKM "punks up" are rather upbeat or positive Irish tunes to begin with, whereas this is more solemn
This is nice, though in the context of the album, it does slow it up quite a bit. I rather like it being different from most of their stuff because this album seemed to be about proving range. Fast paced punk, melodic ballads, fun rock and roll, even more traditional irish sounds mixed in (a la Shipping Out to Boston).
Overall, I think this song is appropriate.
Skrewdriver covered it also
Yeah there's no way you can punk up a song like this without coming across as a total arsehole.
I have no idea why this is the case, but this is my favorite DKM song. The words are so full of anger and passion. I'm thinking of bringing this song into my history class once we start getting into WWI.