1916

16 years old
When I went to the war
To fight for a land fit for heroes
God on my side
And a gun in my hand
Chasing my days down to zero

And I marched
And I fought
And I bled
And I died
And I never did get
Any older

But I knew at the time
That a year in the line
Was a long enough life
For a soldier

We all volunteered
And we wrote down our names
And we added two years to our ages
Eager for life
And ahead of the game
Ready for history's pages

And we brawled
And we fought
And we whorled 'til we stood
Ten thousand shoulder to shoulder
A thirst for the Hun
We were food for the gun
And that's what you are
When you are soldiers

I heard my friend cry
And he sank to his knees
Coughing blood as he screamed
For his mother
And I fell by his side
And that's how we died
Clinging like kids to each other

And I lay in the mud
And the guts and the blood
And I wept as his body grew colder
And I called for my mother
And she never came
Though it wasn't my fault
And I wasn't to blame

And the day's not half over
And ten thousand slain
And now there's nobody
Remembers our names

And that's how it is for a soldier