They were old when I was young
Now they're all but passed away
Now it's just a second hand
Memory of the day.
When from all around the world
They sailed off to Spain
Where they fought against the fascists
Where so many men were slain...
Who will recall the days
When we all stood side by side
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died..
Beside Martin Luther King
Or in a Veterans Parade
You could see the men who made the journey
To join the Fifteenth Brigade.
When men of many nations
Of most every creed and hue
Catholics and Protestants
Atheists and Jews
Joined together in the trenches
To turn back the fascist tide
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died..
The working class of many nations
Joined in a desperate bid
With what weapons they could find
They fought to save Madrid
From Brussels and Berlin
Galway and London town
Who will recall the Brigadistas
Who tried to take the fascists down
When there beside the people
Even the figs and olives cried
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died..
The Republic had the people
But the fascists had the tanks
Il Duce and Der Führer
Deserve only some of Franco's thanks
'Cause the fuel to move the armor
Came from the USA
And the men that they gunned down
Were from New York and Frisco Bay
Uncle Sam said he was neutral
Who will remember how he lied
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died..
They say people get conservative
The older that they age
They say that being radical
Is just a youthful stage
But the finest communist I've known
Lived to 95
And he spent his whole life striving
For democracy to thrive
To forget these fallen heroes
Is something I cannot abide
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died,
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died.
Now they're all but passed away
Now it's just a second hand
Memory of the day.
When from all around the world
They sailed off to Spain
Where they fought against the fascists
Where so many men were slain...
Who will recall the days
When we all stood side by side
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died..
Beside Martin Luther King
Or in a Veterans Parade
You could see the men who made the journey
To join the Fifteenth Brigade.
When men of many nations
Of most every creed and hue
Catholics and Protestants
Atheists and Jews
Joined together in the trenches
To turn back the fascist tide
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died..
The working class of many nations
Joined in a desperate bid
With what weapons they could find
They fought to save Madrid
From Brussels and Berlin
Galway and London town
Who will recall the Brigadistas
Who tried to take the fascists down
When there beside the people
Even the figs and olives cried
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died..
The Republic had the people
But the fascists had the tanks
Il Duce and Der Führer
Deserve only some of Franco's thanks
'Cause the fuel to move the armor
Came from the USA
And the men that they gunned down
Were from New York and Frisco Bay
Uncle Sam said he was neutral
Who will remember how he lied
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died..
They say people get conservative
The older that they age
They say that being radical
Is just a youthful stage
But the finest communist I've known
Lived to 95
And he spent his whole life striving
For democracy to thrive
To forget these fallen heroes
Is something I cannot abide
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died,
Now that the last Lincoln Veteran died.
Contributed by giorgio - 2010/7/13 - 13:09
×
![]()
Note for non-Italian users: Sorry, though the interface of this website is translated into English, most commentaries and biographies are in Italian and/or in other languages like French, German, Spanish, Russian etc.
Lyrics and Music by David Rovics
Album: Ten New Songs
It's strange getting older.. When I was young the old people around me were the 1930's generation, veterans of the massive Depression-era struggles of the day. Bob Steck lived a few miles down the road from my mother in Connecticut and was, among other things, a veteran of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and spent 16 months in one of Franco's concentration camps. He died a couple years ago at the venerable old age of 95, and this song is for him and others like him. Many of them of course were killed in battle in Spain long ago. Most of those who survived the war spent the rest of their lives serving humanity in one way or another. The few survivors are now in their nineties.