Mount Street Bridge

When I was a young lad
I worked as a postal boy
In a slick navy outfit, I cycled all day and night
Now I'm a young man, it's time for a new plan

I've a pressed shirt on my back
Polished boots so shiny and black
A beret to match them
Trousers that taper at the hem
Now I'm a young man
It's time to roll back my shoulders
And be a good honest soldier

Three months and counting
I've been stationed in Nottingham
Tomorrow we set sail
With a battallion from Tottenham
For Kingstown Harbour
For a one-day operation
An army of rebels
Cease their illegal occupation

Down by the schoolhouse
At the corner of Mount Street Bridge
The crack of a bullet
Echoes from the Surgeon's College
And here by the canal
A silence descends like death
Little do some know
They're about to draw their final breath

Officer Rigby
Screams for a forward march
For a well drilled army
A handful of firebrands can be no match
But if there's a God in the Heavens
He'll protect me and my friends
For we've been good Christians
Hard-working Britons

And when the day is done
My time will come
But not yet for I've so much to do
Fall in love, settle down
Start a family
Watch them grow up to be like me
Or their beautiful mother
Or a mix of both
I don't mind once their healthy
I'll keep them safe
Just let me get past this bridge
I don't want to be here
I'm crippled with fear
I'm frozen and frightened
And the deafening silence
The silence is killing me