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The Green Fields Of France (No Man's Land)

Eric Bogle
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OriginalRETOROMANCIO (ROMANTSCH GRISCHUN) / SWISS RETO-ROMANIC (ROMANTSCH...
THE GREEN FIELDS OF FRANCE (NO MAN'S LAND)ILS VERDS CHOMPS DA FRANTSCHA
(La Terra da Nagin)
Well how do you do, Private William McBride
Do you mind if I sit here down by your grave side?
A rest for awhile in the warm summer sun,
I've been walking all day and I'm nearly done.
And I see by your gravestone that you were only 19
when you joined the glorious fallen in 1916.
Well I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean
Or, William McBride, was it slow and obscene?
Co che stas, schuldà simpel William McBride?
Ta dà fastidi sche ma ses in pau tranter las fossas
e pauss in pau en il chaud sulegl da stad?
Hai marschà tut il di e sun stanchel mort.
Da tes saiss vesi ch'avevas mo deschnov onns
cur ch'has suandà ils erois crudads en 1916.
Bain, sper ch'es mort spert e senza suffrir,
ubain è stad'ina mort plauna e starmentusa?
Did they beat the drum slowly?
did they sound the pipes lowly?
Did the rifles fire o'er ye as they lowered you down?
Did the bugle sing 'The Last Post' in chorus?
Did the pipes play 'The Flowers o' the Forest'?
Battevan ils tamburs plaun plaunet?
Sunavan bass las cornamusas?
Ta tiravan cun ils buis entant che murivas?
Chantavan ils corns "The Last Post" en chor?
Sunavan las cornamusas "The Flowers o'the Forest"?
And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind?
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined
And though you died back in 1916
To that loyal heart are you always 19.
Or are you just a stranger without even a name
Forever enclosed behind some glass-pane
In an old photograph torn and tattered and stained
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame?
Has laschà ina spusa ud in'amia a ta spetgar
ed en in cor fidaivel ta tegnan per semper?
E schebain che tia mort saja stada en 1916
per quel cor fidaivel has deschnov onns per semper?
Ubain n'es betg ch'in ester senza gnanc in num
per semper serrà en ina platta da vaider
en ina veglia foto stgarpada e plaina tacs
che melnescha en in rom da tgirom brin?
Did they beat the drum slowly?
did they sound the pipes lowly?
Did the rifles fire o'er ye as they lowered you down?
Did the bugle sing 'The Last Post' in chorus?
Did the pipes play 'The Flowers o' the Forest'?
Battevan ils tamburs plaun plaunet?
Sunavan bass las cornamusas?
Ta tiravan cun ils buis entant che murivas?
Chantavan ils corns "The Last Post" en chor?
Sunavan las cornamusas "The Flowers o'the Forest"?
Well the sun it shines down on these green fields of France,
The warm wind blows gently and the red poppies dance.
The trenches are vanished now under the plough
No gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing now.
But here in this graveyard it is still No Man's Land
And the countless white crosses in mute witness stand.
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man
And a whole generation that was butchered and downed.
Ussa splendura 'l sulegl sur quests verds chomps da Frantscha,
In vent chaud suffla plaunet e sautan ils papavers cotschens.
Ils spurs da las transcheas èn sparids sut l'arader,
Ussa n'èn pli gas ni fil spinà ni buis.
Ma igl è adina la terra da nagin en quest santeri,
Las cruschs alvas senza fin stattan là ad attestar
la tschorva indifferenza umana per il proxim,
per in'entira generaziun mazzada e scannada.
Did they beat the drum slowly?
did they sound the pipes lowly?
Did the rifles fire o'er ye as they lowered you down?
Did the bugle sing 'The Last Post' in chorus?
Did the pipes play 'The Flowers o' the Forest'?
Battevan ils tamburs plaun plaunet?
Sunavan bass las cornamusas?
Ta tiravan cun ils buis entant che murivas?
Chantavan ils corns "The Last Post" en chor?
Sunavan las cornamusas "The Flowers o'the Forest"?
And I can't help but wonder now Willie McBride
Do all those who lie here know why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you the cause?
Did you really believe them that this war would end war?
But the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame -
The killing, the dying - it was all done in vain.
For Willie McBride, it's all happened again
And again, and again, and again, and again.
E ma dumond ussa, schuldà Willie McBride,
San tuts quels che giaschan qua pertge èn morts?
Els has cartids davaira cur che t'han ditg pertge?
Has cartì davaira che quella fiss la davosa guerra?
E la suffrientscha, la dolur, la gloria e la vargugna,
mazzar e murir, tut è stà per nagut.
Pertge che, Willie McBride, tut è success da nov,
e da nov, e da nov, e da nov, e da nov.
Did they beat the drum slowly?
did they sound the pipe lowly?
Did the rifles fire o'er ye as they lowered you down?
Did the bugle sing 'The Last Post' in chorus?
Did the pipes play 'The Flowers o' the Forest'?
Battevan ils tamburs plaun plaunet?
Sunavan bass las cornamusas?
Ta tiravan cun ils buis entant che murivas?
Chantavan ils corns "The Last Post" en chor?
Sunavan las cornamusas "The Flowers o'the Forest"?


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