My name it is Mark Bennett, I am a Yorkshire man
I earn my living by my pen, tell a stirring tale I can
But the one I tell you now, boys, was writ by foolish men
And the petals fell from the rose of York, never to bloom again
Come all you young married men, you boys of the bulldog breed
We're looking for the strong and brave, that's what Britannia needs
And we'll fight the Hun in Flanders, and the Germans on the Seine
And the petals fell from the rose of York, never to bloom again
We first set out to Egypt where the heat was hard to bear
We were waiting for the call to France, for the boches were fighting there
And we talked of what we'd do, boys, brother, son, and friend
And the petals fell from the rose of York, never to bloom again
At last we heard the push was on and we sailed across the Med
We little thought in two weeks' time we'd most of us be dead
And the girls at home would weep with a grief that's hard to mend
And the petals fell from the rose of York, never to bloom again
With shouts of joy we lads did charge towards the German wire
Our handsome mate was the first to fall as the guns they opened fire
His face no longer handsome, on the barbed wire met his end
And the petals fell from the rose of York, never to bloom again
We had a sergeant-major, bold by nature, Bold by name
But the German guns don't pick and choose, and Bold died just the same
And the other gallants followed, their kind of lives to spend
And the petals fell from the rose of York, never to bloom again
We did not want to lose you, but we thought you ought to go
Your king and country needed you - Lord Kitchener told us so
But the story now I've told you was writ by foolish men
And the petals fell from the rose of York, never to bloom again
I earn my living by my pen, tell a stirring tale I can
But the one I tell you now, boys, was writ by foolish men
And the petals fell from the rose of York, never to bloom again
Come all you young married men, you boys of the bulldog breed
We're looking for the strong and brave, that's what Britannia needs
And we'll fight the Hun in Flanders, and the Germans on the Seine
And the petals fell from the rose of York, never to bloom again
We first set out to Egypt where the heat was hard to bear
We were waiting for the call to France, for the boches were fighting there
And we talked of what we'd do, boys, brother, son, and friend
And the petals fell from the rose of York, never to bloom again
At last we heard the push was on and we sailed across the Med
We little thought in two weeks' time we'd most of us be dead
And the girls at home would weep with a grief that's hard to mend
And the petals fell from the rose of York, never to bloom again
With shouts of joy we lads did charge towards the German wire
Our handsome mate was the first to fall as the guns they opened fire
His face no longer handsome, on the barbed wire met his end
And the petals fell from the rose of York, never to bloom again
We had a sergeant-major, bold by nature, Bold by name
But the German guns don't pick and choose, and Bold died just the same
And the other gallants followed, their kind of lives to spend
And the petals fell from the rose of York, never to bloom again
We did not want to lose you, but we thought you ought to go
Your king and country needed you - Lord Kitchener told us so
But the story now I've told you was writ by foolish men
And the petals fell from the rose of York, never to bloom again
inviata da Bernart - 28/8/2013 - 14:19
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Scritta da Ken Thompson e Leslie Hale (?)
Nell’album con Leon Rosselson intitolato “That's Not the Way It's Got to Be” (1975), in seguito riproposto dalla Paredon Records con il diverso titolo “Songs of Life from a Dying British Empire” (1981).
La Rosa della Yorkshire che più non fiorirà è il paese che ha perso gran parte della sua gioventù nelle trincee della Grande Guerra…
Il Lord Kitchener citato nell’ultima strofa è Horatio Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (1850-1916), alto ufficiale che combattè in tutte le guerre, da quelle coloniali in Sudan, Sudafrica ed India fino alla prima guerra mondiale, nel corso della quale trovò la morte affondando con la sua nave bersagliata da un sommergibile tedesco… L’immagine di Lord Kitchener corrisponde in Gran Bretagna a quella dello Zio Sam americano: era proprio lui ad apparire sui manifesti di reclutamento inglesi pronunciando “Britons! Lord Kitchener wants you! Join your Country’s Army! God Save The King!”