Welcome Home

"Welcome Home"
-Eric Bogle

Now when the boys came home, Annie cried and Annie cheered
She'd been on her own for a long and lonely year
Living for his letters from far away Vietnam
And dreading the official telegram

So she was waiting at the station when his train came rolling in
She ached with anticipation of holding him again
And suddenly he was standing there in his crumpled uniform
In a heartbeat she was in his arms

Welcome home, boys, welcome home
Don't you know, you've been gone too long
Did you wonder, over there,
When you were tired, when you were scared,
If your country really cared, welcome home

When a nation goes to war, everyone's a casualty
Some are maimed and scarred, most have wounds you cannot see
So in place of the man that she had known,
Annie found instead, a sick and troubled stranger in her bed

But she was stubborn, she was lovin', so she stayed all through the years
The hard times and the drinking, the nightmares and the tears
For where hate is muddy quicksand, love is tempered steel
Annie waited for his wounds to heal

Welcome home, boys, welcome home
Don't you know, you've been gone too long
We're just so glad that you're alive
And only you will wonder why
You lived when others died, welcome home

So on a sunny Sydney morning, I heard old war drums beat
And watched the boys come marching, down the city street*
To claim their place in the nation's heart
That their blood and pain had earned
A nation that rejoiced in their return

And if the day helped to heal some wounds is a matter of debate
For some it had come none too soon, for others far too late
But I found myself hoping, as the boys went marching past
That for them the war was over, at last

Welcome home, boys, welcome home
Don't you know, you've been gone too long
What you went through in Vietnam, we can't begin to understand
But to each and every man, welcome home

Welcome home, boys, welcome home
Don't you know, you've been gone too long
May the years bring you release, as the memories decrease
May you find some kind of peace, welcome home
May you find some kind of peace, welcome home


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NOTES:
ANZAC Day Parade. ANZAC Day is Australia's version of
Memorial Day in the US and Canada