What was my boy Billy doing in the Town Hall yard?
As the day was a-dawning on that cold morning that he met his end.
It’s knowing where and when but not the why, that’s oh so very hard,
Did his hand still hold a rifle, did he lay down his life to save a friend?
Two miles away from the front line,
You’d think out of harm’s reach but what do we know?
I don’t know what he was doing when he died,
But I bet he died a hero.
What was my boy Billy doing in the Town hall yard?
What was my boy Billy doing in the Town hall yard?
Will the echo ever answer from the cobblestones in Flanders where he fell?
And who were the comrades that must have held him in such high regard?
Those few faithful soldiers, that wrote and told us all that they could tell.
So brave he broke the heart and soul that bore him,
My Billy was a hero through and through,
When the sun rose on recruiting day,
My Billy was the first one in the queue.
So what was my boy Billy doing in the Town Hall yard.
He would wake up every morning with the sunrise,
The morning was his favourite time of day,
I bet he left the whole platoon asleep,
And he was up and on his way.
So what was my boy Billy doing in the Town Hall yard?
As the day was a-dawning on that cold morning that he met his end.
It’s knowing where and when but not the why, that’s oh so very hard,
Did his hand still hold a rifle, did he lay down his life to save a friend?
Two miles away from the front line,
You’d think out of harm’s reach but what do we know?
I don’t know what he was doing when he died,
But I bet he died a hero.
What was my boy Billy doing in the Town hall yard?
What was my boy Billy doing in the Town hall yard?
Will the echo ever answer from the cobblestones in Flanders where he fell?
And who were the comrades that must have held him in such high regard?
Those few faithful soldiers, that wrote and told us all that they could tell.
So brave he broke the heart and soul that bore him,
My Billy was a hero through and through,
When the sun rose on recruiting day,
My Billy was the first one in the queue.
So what was my boy Billy doing in the Town Hall yard.
He would wake up every morning with the sunrise,
The morning was his favourite time of day,
I bet he left the whole platoon asleep,
And he was up and on his way.
So what was my boy Billy doing in the Town Hall yard?
Contributed by Bernart Bartleby - 2018/5/7 - 13:57
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Parole e musica di Jez Lowe
Nell’album “The Ballad Beyond”
Testo trovato sul sito dell’autore
Jez Lowe scrisse questa canzone dopo aver visitato i campi di battaglia della Grande Guerra nelle Fiandre. A Poperinge, cittadina a pochi chilometri da Ypres, nel cortile del municipio, oggi c’è un monumento che ricorda il luogo dove avvenivano le esecuzioni dei disertori…