| The newspaper headlines were big and bold;
|
| Our country was going to war
|
| To fight for the freedom of nationhood
|
| To defend us from invading hordes
|
| The general pointed with steely glare
|
| Delivered the rallying call
|
| We signed off our lives with a stroke of a pen
|
| Joined our pals in the line
|
| We took the King’s shilling with pride
|
| From the towns and the cities we came
|
| From the fields and the countryside
|
| The mines and the factories
|
| Volunteers on the square, labourers and unemployed
|
| Clerks and delivery boys
|
| Skirling pipes charge the air, raising the cheering crowd
|
| Casting out any doubts
|
| Victory will soon be assured
|
| We know God’s on our side at the heart of the gathering
|
| Farewell to our homes and our families
|
| Farewell to the lives we once knew
|
| Farewell to our youth and our innocence
|
| We marched off with the band to the promise of a brave new world
|
| And I’ll write you a letter each passing day
|
| And I’ll cherish your every reply
|
| I’ll tie them with ribbons and Flanders lace;
|
| Hold them close to my heart in a sweet embrace
|
| Tell the children that I shall return
|
| Laden with medals and dripping with garlands
|
| We’ll sit by the banks of the Tyne
|
| And I’ll regale you with stories of honour and glory
|
| We’ll make up for all the lost time, jig to the fiddles
|
| And weave the White Willow
|
| In the evening like ferns we’ll entwine
|
| Our bodies surrender we give to the gathering
|
| I’ll long for my home and my family
|
| I will long for the life I once knew
|
| I’ll long for my youth and my innocence
|
| I’ll long for a brave new world
|
| In the holds of the ships out of training camps
|
| From the railheads to trudge open roads
|
| Shouldered rifles on heavy souls
|
| Our fears will add to our load
|
| Farewell to our homes and our families
|
| Farewell to the lives we once knew
|
| Farewell to our youth and our innocence
|
| We marched off with the band
|
| Pals in battalions to the promise of a brave new world
|
| Joining the gathering
|
| Pals in battalions to fight for a brave new world
|
| Pals in battalions, we took the King’s shilling
|
| And paid for a brave new world |