Last night I left the army,
The colonel was ragging on me bad
He hurt me and beat me, in general mistreat me
My sunken pride's the only thing I had..
Been thinking a lot 'bout my girlfriend
The darlingest thing I ever seen
One day I did spy the officer's eye..
On the mark on the bed where she'd been.
Oh, unhappy country,
Oh, endless battalions
All this is going to swoop down on our houses..
And still it must be obeyed
Her mother told her: « Verily,
Here come the officers in town.
My daughter, I ought to get you married,
Before they saunter up 'n' start lurking around ».
My father worn and forgotten
And officer-of-fortune born low
He sang in a song that his weary soul longs..
To perform only generous actions.
Oh, unhappy country
Oh, endless battalions
All this is going to swoop down on our houses..
And still it must be obeyed.
My fatherland commands me,
« I can scarcely silence this sickness in my heart.. »
My superiors demand me:
« Rewrite this sentence and merely do my part ».
That young officer tried to help me
He spoke the colonel in tow
But it was all too late, must accept my fate..
Heaven bound, my soul must go.
Last night I left the army
They surely will hunt me down
And murder, my friend, a deserter; his end..
Will be known in all the locals in town.
The colonel was ragging on me bad
He hurt me and beat me, in general mistreat me
My sunken pride's the only thing I had..
Been thinking a lot 'bout my girlfriend
The darlingest thing I ever seen
One day I did spy the officer's eye..
On the mark on the bed where she'd been.
Oh, unhappy country,
Oh, endless battalions
All this is going to swoop down on our houses..
And still it must be obeyed
Her mother told her: « Verily,
Here come the officers in town.
My daughter, I ought to get you married,
Before they saunter up 'n' start lurking around ».
My father worn and forgotten
And officer-of-fortune born low
He sang in a song that his weary soul longs..
To perform only generous actions.
Oh, unhappy country
Oh, endless battalions
All this is going to swoop down on our houses..
And still it must be obeyed.
My fatherland commands me,
« I can scarcely silence this sickness in my heart.. »
My superiors demand me:
« Rewrite this sentence and merely do my part ».
That young officer tried to help me
He spoke the colonel in tow
But it was all too late, must accept my fate..
Heaven bound, my soul must go.
Last night I left the army
They surely will hunt me down
And murder, my friend, a deserter; his end..
Will be known in all the locals in town.
Contributed by giorgio - 2012/12/2 - 09:50
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Lyrics by Sumanth Gopinath
Music by The Gated Community
Album: Power to My Friends
This song was inspired by an 18th-century French pre-revolutionary play about an army deserter, and uses the murder ballad genre to make an antiwar critique.