Well I was just 16 when I left the school
No qualifications but nobody’s fool
Me mates all got caught up in crime, drugs and court
This isn’t the life that I’m wanting I thought
They said
Come join the Army son, come learn a trade
There’s nobody wants you out here I’m afraid
Come join the Army son, gi’ yerself a chance
And sign on the old dotted line
When I told me Mam and me Dad me idea
I could see that their faces were riddled with fear
But they thought of the options I’d otherwise find
And the broken down streets I’d be leaving behind
Come join the Army son, come learn a trade
There’s nobody wants you out here I’m afraid
Come join the Army son, gi’ yerself a chance
And sign on the old dotted line
So I signed the papers at just seventeen
When Wigan’s the furthest place I’d ever been
Too young for the dangers of ciggies and beer
They sent me to Helmund in spite of my fear
Come join the Army son, come learn a trade
There’s nobody wants you out here I’m afraid
Come join the Army son, gi’ yerself a chance
And sign on the old dotted line
I turned 18 far away from me home
In a far foreign land I was all on me own
No loved ones to toast me becoming a man
No pint off me Dad and no hug from me Mam
Come join the Army son, come learn a trade
There’s nobody wants you out here I’m afraid
Come join the Army son, gi’ yerself a chance
And sign on the old dotted line
Just two days on with the corporals behind
They sent the young privates to clear all the mines
So wide eyed and frightened I went with me mate
And the blast ripped right through us as I stepped on that plate
Come join the Army son, come learn a trade
There’s nobody wants you out here I’m afraid
Come join the Army son, gi’ yerself a chance
And sign on the old dotted line
Now I hope to God noone else ever learns
The smell of the stench as your own young flesh burns
But more than the agony, all I could see
Was me very best pal lying dead next to me
Come join the Army son, come learn a trade
There’s nobody wants you out here I’m afraid
Come join the Army son, gi’ yerself a chance
And sign on the old dotted line
Now I’m back in Manchester where I begun
And me Mam’s give her job up to care for her son
On the same rough estate I was trapped in before
With both of my legs and a lung lost to war
Come join the Army son, come learn a trade
There’s nobody wants you out here I’m afraid
Come join the Army son, gi’ yerself a chance
And sign on the old dotted line
I’m stuck in this wheelchair just me and my mind
And they gave me the cheapest false legs they could find
And I see the recruiters when I’m pushed into town
Hunting for young lads whose prospects are down
Saying
Come join the Army lads, come learn a trade
There’s nobody wants you out here I’m afraid
Come join the Army son, gi’ yerself a chance
And sign on the old dotted line
No qualifications but nobody’s fool
Me mates all got caught up in crime, drugs and court
This isn’t the life that I’m wanting I thought
They said
Come join the Army son, come learn a trade
There’s nobody wants you out here I’m afraid
Come join the Army son, gi’ yerself a chance
And sign on the old dotted line
When I told me Mam and me Dad me idea
I could see that their faces were riddled with fear
But they thought of the options I’d otherwise find
And the broken down streets I’d be leaving behind
Come join the Army son, come learn a trade
There’s nobody wants you out here I’m afraid
Come join the Army son, gi’ yerself a chance
And sign on the old dotted line
So I signed the papers at just seventeen
When Wigan’s the furthest place I’d ever been
Too young for the dangers of ciggies and beer
They sent me to Helmund in spite of my fear
Come join the Army son, come learn a trade
There’s nobody wants you out here I’m afraid
Come join the Army son, gi’ yerself a chance
And sign on the old dotted line
I turned 18 far away from me home
In a far foreign land I was all on me own
No loved ones to toast me becoming a man
No pint off me Dad and no hug from me Mam
Come join the Army son, come learn a trade
There’s nobody wants you out here I’m afraid
Come join the Army son, gi’ yerself a chance
And sign on the old dotted line
Just two days on with the corporals behind
They sent the young privates to clear all the mines
So wide eyed and frightened I went with me mate
And the blast ripped right through us as I stepped on that plate
Come join the Army son, come learn a trade
There’s nobody wants you out here I’m afraid
Come join the Army son, gi’ yerself a chance
And sign on the old dotted line
Now I hope to God noone else ever learns
The smell of the stench as your own young flesh burns
But more than the agony, all I could see
Was me very best pal lying dead next to me
Come join the Army son, come learn a trade
There’s nobody wants you out here I’m afraid
Come join the Army son, gi’ yerself a chance
And sign on the old dotted line
Now I’m back in Manchester where I begun
And me Mam’s give her job up to care for her son
On the same rough estate I was trapped in before
With both of my legs and a lung lost to war
Come join the Army son, come learn a trade
There’s nobody wants you out here I’m afraid
Come join the Army son, gi’ yerself a chance
And sign on the old dotted line
I’m stuck in this wheelchair just me and my mind
And they gave me the cheapest false legs they could find
And I see the recruiters when I’m pushed into town
Hunting for young lads whose prospects are down
Saying
Come join the Army lads, come learn a trade
There’s nobody wants you out here I’m afraid
Come join the Army son, gi’ yerself a chance
And sign on the old dotted line
inviata da Bernart Bartleby - 12/1/2016 - 13:59
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Parole di Alun Parry, songwriter ed attivista di Liverpool
Una canzone, eseguita senza accompagnamento musicale, che racconta una storia vera, quella di un ragazzo della working class di Manchester convinto ad arruolarsi nell’esercito a soli 17 anni e poi spedito in qualche teatro di guerra in Medio Oriente, da dove è tornato quasi subito su di una sedia a rotelle su cui resterà per tutta la vita.