Pro Patria Suite

I. Back Along (We Were Young)

It was the final summer
Nightingales still sung
Young girls' making daisy chains
Back along we were young

Kissing her for the first time
Finding her tongue
Brushing her chest by accident
Back along we were young

Meeting her brother Billy
All highly-strung
Sensitive, rather quiet
Back along we were young
Making hay by day
Making love by night
Watching as the storm clouds gathered

II. All for Each Other

Then war broke out
Lads had no doubt
Billy was right
Whatever

All stood in line
What's yours is mine
One final night
Together

Basic training for a week
Crap in Sergeant Major speak
Hell was no place for the weak
All for each other

Christ, the battlefield was sparse
No place to go to wipe your arse
Weeks when nothing came to pass
All for each other

Bright burning flares
Padre said prayers
Billy broke down
Whatever

Shell fire immense
Smoke red and dense
One last showdown
Together

Rain turned rivers into flood
Shattered bones, pools of blood
We knelt together in the mud
All for each other

I'm not ashamed to say I cried
The day the lads were crucified
We fought together side by side
All for each other

Billy caught one in the eye
He took at least an hour to die
I held his hand, just him and I
All for each other

Life was never meant like this
I'd love to give my girl a kiss
The last words Billy said were
I miss her

III. Home Is Where the Heart Was Ever

Home is where the heart was ever
Hallowed ground where thousands lie
Buried in the fields of honour
Whichever country's flag may fly

Home is where the heart was ever
Where a single church bell tolls
Bounded by a field of poppies
Each one bears a thousand souls

Home is where the heart was ever
City, town or countryside
Where the spirits of the fallen
Live forever, named with pride