The Green fields of France

Eric Bogle's song set in a war cemetery in Northern France.
The British Army suffered 60'000 casualties in the first day of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916, a record to this day.

"The Green Fields of France"
(by Eric Bogle)

Well how do you do young Willie MacBride
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside
And rest for a while 'neath the warm summer's sun
I've been walking all day and I'm nearly done.
I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
When you joined the great fallen in nineteen-sixteen.
I hope you died well and I hope you died clean
Young Willie MacBride was it slow and obscene?

Did they beat the drums slowly, did they play the fife lowly?
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down?
And did the band play the "Last Post" and chorus?
Did the pipes play "The Flowers of the Forest"?

Did you leave ere a wife or a sweetheart behind,
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined.
Although you died back in nineteen-sixteen
In that faithful heart are you forever nineteen.
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Enclosed in forever behind a glass frame.
In an old photograph, torn, battered, and stained,
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame.

Did they beat the drums slowly, did they play the fife lowly?
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down?
And did the band play the "Last Post" and chorus?
Did the pipes play "The Flowers of the Forest"?

The sun now it shines on the green fields of France,
There is a warm summer breeze, it makes the red poppies dance.
And look how the sun shines from under the clouds,
There's no gas, no barbed wire, there's no guns firing now.
But here in this graveyard, its still no man's land,
The countless white crosses stand mute in the sand,
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man,
To a whole generation that were butchered and damned.

Did they beat the drums slowly, did they play the fife lowly?
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down?
And did the band play the "Last Post" and chorus?
Did the pipes play "The Flowers of the Forest"?

Ah, young Willie MacBride, I can't help wondering why,
Do those that lie here do they know why they died.
And did they believe when they answered the call,
Did they really believe that this war would end wars.
Well the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the pain,
The killing and dying were all done in vain,
For young Willie MacBride it all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again.

Did they beat the drums slowly, did they play the fife lowly?
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down?
And did the band play the "Last Post" and chorus?
Did the pipes play "The Flowers of the Forest"?

Category:

Music

Tags:

• the
• green
• fields
• of
• france
• eric
• bogle
• folk
• guitar
• battle
• somme
• washburn
• j6
• fureys

[mike03a3]

Excellent rendition - I agree that it's better than many of the covers I've heard.

[classican]

Thank you.

[jammyw2k8]

very good man

[classican]

Thank you.

[hetrodoxly]

@sabradan

Eric's gone on record saying the soldier has no nationality, it was used to rhyme with graveside.

[sabradan]

It was written about a young Ulsterman (So, Northern Irish, so Irish but loyal to King and Country) about a young man named William McBride who fought and died in the 36th Ulster Division.

[classican]

Thank you Antonella, it is very much appreciated.

[classican]

Cheers, I appreciate it. It's written a Scot Eric Bogle who I believe emigrated to Australia.

[classican]

Thank you again Antonella, I appreciate your comments.

[classican]

Thank you very much.