Sing me to sleep where bullets fall,
Help me forget the war and all.
Damp is my dugout, cold are my feet,
Nothing but biscuits and bully to eat.
Sing me to sleep where bombs explode,
With shrapnel shells around the mould.
Over the sandbags and helmets you’ll find
Corpses in front of us, corpses behind.
Far from Gallipoli I want to be,
Where Turkish snipers can’t snipe at me.
Think of me standing where Turkish creep,
Waiting for someone to sing me to sleep.
Sing me to sleep in some old shed,
Where fleas are busy around my head.
Stretched out upon my waterproof,
Dodging the raindrops through the roof.
Sing me to sleep where campfires glow,
To two three course dinners I wouldn’t say no.
Dreams of the Savoy, the opera as well,
Wishing that all of the Turks were in heaven -
Far from the Lone Pine I want to be,
Lights of Australia I’d rather see.
Think of me standing; my guard I’ll keep,
But I’d rather have my girl to sing me to sleep.
Help me forget the war and all.
Damp is my dugout, cold are my feet,
Nothing but biscuits and bully to eat.
Sing me to sleep where bombs explode,
With shrapnel shells around the mould.
Over the sandbags and helmets you’ll find
Corpses in front of us, corpses behind.
Far from Gallipoli I want to be,
Where Turkish snipers can’t snipe at me.
Think of me standing where Turkish creep,
Waiting for someone to sing me to sleep.
Sing me to sleep in some old shed,
Where fleas are busy around my head.
Stretched out upon my waterproof,
Dodging the raindrops through the roof.
Sing me to sleep where campfires glow,
To two three course dinners I wouldn’t say no.
Dreams of the Savoy, the opera as well,
Wishing that all of the Turks were in heaven -
Far from the Lone Pine I want to be,
Lights of Australia I’d rather see.
Think of me standing; my guard I’ll keep,
But I’d rather have my girl to sing me to sleep.
inviata da Bernart Bartleby - 7/8/2014 - 10:40
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Scritta da tal Arthur Buchannan, che combattè a Gallipoli tra le fila dell’ANZAC.
Si tratta di una parodia di una canzoncina dallo stesso titolo molto famosa all’epoca (di Clifton Bingham ed Edwin Greene, 1902)
Nel disco intitolato “The Riderless Horse - An Australian Impression of World War 1” (2004) in cui i Roweth, musicisti australiani, hanno raccolto più di 30 canzoni e poesie dal primo e dal secondo fronte durante la Grande Guerra.
Più di 11.000 soldati australiani e neozelandesi morirono nel corso della campagna dei Dardanelli, in luoghi come Suvla, Anzac Cove (Arıburnu), Lone Pine (Kanlı Sırt), Gallipoli (Gelibolu Yarımadası)…