The song tells of how an ordinary working class persons in the trenches thinking back to his wedding day and how his life is transformed from a life of love with his family into a the nightmare of trench warfare and death.
The Long Engagement
I put on my brothers chapel best
I scrubbed my hands so hard
And got the dirt out of the creases
A Pink Carnation for my left lapel
Her sisters helped to make
her bridal gown
Such beauty to behold
I could have melted in her presence
A crown of flowers did adorn her hair
And here in this trench
There’s nothing but the stench
Of death
That fills my senses
As the battle roars
It’s too much to endure
For this piece of cannon fodder
The bells chimed as we made our way from church
horse and cart was dressed
With streams of white ribbon
The glad procession then returned back home
And here in this trench
There isn’t no one left
Of the lads who stood here with me
No victorious applause
Would blunt the things I saw
In the name of king and country
They tore the pages from my book
And they replaced them
With these chapters from a nightmare
God a himself would have to weep
If he looked down and saw the madness Of this folly
I wish to be at home
With the people that I love
Next to me
I put on my brothers chapel best
I scrubbed my hands so hard
And got the dirt out of the creases
A Pink Carnation for my left lapel
Her sisters helped to make
her bridal gown
Such beauty to behold
I could have melted in her presence
A crown of flowers did adorn her hair
And here in this trench
There’s nothing but the stench
Of death
That fills my senses
As the battle roars
It’s too much to endure
For this piece of cannon fodder
The bells chimed as we made our way from church
horse and cart was dressed
With streams of white ribbon
The glad procession then returned back home
And here in this trench
There isn’t no one left
Of the lads who stood here with me
No victorious applause
Would blunt the things I saw
In the name of king and country
They tore the pages from my book
And they replaced them
With these chapters from a nightmare
God a himself would have to weep
If he looked down and saw the madness Of this folly
I wish to be at home
With the people that I love
Next to me
Contributed by Walter Brown - 2015/1/24 - 11:31
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