G
|
And the flag draped coffins are a sailin' home
|
Am D7
|
And the waves are watching as the engine drones
|
Bm G C Am
|
As the ship draws near, hear the bugle moan
|
G Em Am D7 G
|
The sad and silent song of a soldier
|
|
With a hero's greeting we will welcome him,
|
With hero's speeches we will honor him,
|
With a hero's ending we will bury him,
|
That's the sad and silent song of a soldier.
|
|
And comfort his family with a telegram,
|
We regret to inform you we have lost a man,
|
But we gave him the highest medal of the land,
|
That's the sad and silent song of a soldier.
|
|
We know what an awful price he had to pay,
|
But the enemy was contained for another day,
|
We trained him well, but he would have wanted it that way,
|
That's the sad and silent song of a soldier.
|
|
Oh, the weary wounded they wait by his side,
|
Wondering why they hadn't also died,
|
the picture of victory on its pride,
|
That's the sad and silent song of a soldier.
|
|
And the flag is at half mast wet with foreign rain,
|
Ignored by the stranger he had helped to train,
|
To him it was his duty to them again,
|
That's the sad and silent song of a soldier.
|
|
At Arlington he's lowered down without a pause,
|
And his native land welcomes him with open jaws,
|
And the tombstone reads such a noble cause,
|
That's the sad and silent song of a soldier.
|
|
Now a moment of silence for the broken man,
|
While the president proudly crows "we'll never bend",
|
And cheers their replacements marching off again,
|
That's the sad and silent song of a soldier.
|
|
And the flag draped coffins are a sailin' home,
|
And the waves are a watchin' as the engines drone,
|
As the ship draws near, hear the bugle moan
|
The sad and silent song of a soldier.
|
|
-----------------
|
The Sad and Silent Song of a Soldier
|
| Phil Ochs |
