Eric Bogle - Welcome Home lyrics
rate me"Welcome Home"<br />
-Eric Bogle<br />
<br />
Now when the boys came home, Annie cried and Annie cheered<br />
She'd been on her own for a long and lonely year<br />
Living for his letters from far away Vietnam<br />
And dreading the official telegram<br />
<br />
So she was waiting at the station when his train came rolling in<br />
She ached with anticipation of holding him again<br />
And suddenly he was standing there in his crumpled uniform<br />
In a heartbeat she was in his arms<br />
<br />
Welcome home, boys, welcome home<br />
Don't you know, you've been gone too long<br />
Did you wonder, over there,<br />
When you were tired, when you were scared,<br />
If your country really cared, welcome home<br />
<br />
When a nation goes to war, everyone's a casualty<br />
Some are maimed and scarred, most have wounds you cannot see<br />
So in place of the man that she had known,<br />
Annie found instead, a sick and troubled stranger in her bed<br />
<br />
But she was stubborn, she was lovin', so she stayed all through the years<br />
The hard times and the drinking, the nightmares and the tears<br />
For where hate is muddy quicksand, love is tempered steel<br />
Annie waited for his wounds to heal<br />
<br />
Welcome home, boys, welcome home<br />
Don't you know, you've been gone too long<br />
We're just so glad that you're alive<br />
And only you will wonder why<br />
You lived when others died, welcome home<br />
<br />
So on a sunny Sydney morning, I heard old war drums beat<br />
And watched the boys come marching, down the city street*<br />
To claim their place in the nation's heart<br />
That their blood and pain had earned<br />
A nation that rejoiced in their return<br />
<br />
And if the day helped to heal some wounds is a matter of debate<br />
For some it had come none too soon, for others far too late<br />
But I found myself hoping, as the boys went marching past<br />
That for them the war was over, at last<br />
<br />
Welcome home, boys, welcome home<br />
Don't you know, you've been gone too long<br />
What you went through in Vietnam, we can't begin to understand<br />
But to each and every man, welcome home<br />
<br />
Welcome home, boys, welcome home<br />
Don't you know, you've been gone too long<br />
May the years bring you release, as the memories decrease<br />
May you find some kind of peace, welcome home<br />
May you find some kind of peace, welcome home<br />
<br />
<br />
***********************<br />
NOTES:<br />
ANZAC Day Parade. ANZAC Day is Australia's version of<br />
Memorial Day in the US and Canada
