David Olney - 1917 lyrics

rate me

The strange young man who comes to me

A soldier on a three day spree

Who needs one night's cheap ecstasy

And a woman's arms to hide him

He greets me with a courtly bow

And hides his pain by acting proud

He drinks too much and he laughs too loud

How can I deny him?

Let us dance beneath the moon

I'll sing to you Claire de Lune'

The morning always comes too soon

But tonight the war is over

He speaks to me in schoolboy French

Of a soldier's life inside a trench

Of the look of death and the ghastly stench

I do my best to please him

He puts two roses in a vase

Two roses sadly out of place

Like the gallant smile on his haggard face

Playfully I tease him

Hold me 'neath the Paris skies

Let's not talk of how or why

Tomorrow's soon enough to die

But tonight the war is over

We make love too hard too fast

He falls asleep, his face a mask

He wakes with the shakes and he drinks from his flask

I put my arms around him

They die in the trenches and they die in the air

In Belgium and France the dead are everywhere

They die so fast there's no time to prepare

A decent grave to surround them

Old world glory, old world fame

The old world's gone, gone up in flames

Nothing will ever be the same

And nothing lasts forever

Oh I'd pray for him but I've forgotten how

And there's nothing, nothing that can save him now

There's always another with the same funny bow

And who am I to deny them