You are absolutely right about the effect of the Great War on English neighborhoods. The effect was intensified by the British practice of forming territorial units. Every village has a war memorial.
Some predate WWI, and many of them have added casualties from later wars. I think the list of names is supposed to be from the local war memorial "...on and on".
The song's structure comes from how our experiences seem fixed, because the seasons circle around even as time slips away. The second verse is about the official commemoration; the first verse, speaks of remembering the fallen at May Day and in mid-summer.
You are absolutely right about the effect of the Great War on English neighborhoods. The effect was intensified by the British practice of forming territorial units. Every village has a war memorial.
Some predate WWI, and many of them have added casualties from later wars. I think the list of names is supposed to be from the local war memorial "...on and on".
The song's structure comes from how our experiences seem fixed, because the seasons circle around even as time slips away. The second verse is about the official commemoration; the first verse, speaks of remembering the fallen at May Day and in mid-summer.