A Soldier’s Song

I went away to fight a war, that small nations might be free
Got a soldier's gun and uniform to fight the enemy
I was trained to shoot my fellow man before he got to me
And I danced with death in the mud and wept
And prayed, my home to see

[Chorus]
So come over to me darling girl, come near me Molly dear
You are as welcome as the flowers in May
You're welcome here to me
No more I'll fire the musket shot or hear the cannon roar
I've done my time, now you'll be mine
I'm yours for ever more

While in the trenches there, I thought
Who starts these bloody wars?
And thought of these great Irishmen
Who died on these strange shores
Then a bomb did burst, to the air it thrust
Some shrapnel fire and blood
I escaped it, then shot back at them and lay back in the mud

[Chorus]
So come over to me darling girl, come near me Molly dear
You are as welcome as the flowers in May
You're welcome here to me
No more I'll fire the musket shot or hear the cannon roar
I've done my time, now you'll be mine
I'm yours for ever more

While I was off in foreign lands, fighting other people's wars
Some gallant men were fighting here to free their native shores
You shot our leaders of '16, saw our city sacked and burned
Then you sent us in the Black and Tans
To greet our home return

[Chorus]
So come over to me darling girl, come near me Molly dear
You are as welcome as the flowers in May
You're welcome here to me
No more I'll fire the musket shot or hear the cannon roar
I've done my time, now you'll be mine
I'm yours for ever more

I don't need your hero's welcom, I don't want your bugle call
No brass bands, no pipes, no drums, no medal badge or star
But give me what you promised me when first I went to war
That's freedom for old Ireland and I'll go to fight no more

[Chorus]
So come over to me darling girl, come near me Molly dear
You are as welcome as the flowers in May
You're welcome here to me
No more I'll fire the musket shot or hear the cannon roar
I've done my time, now you'll be mine
I'm yours for ever more