Saddest Song

Leaving Nancy - The Fureys or The Green Fields of France - The Fureys.

Leaving Nancy



In comes the train and the whole platform shakes
It stops with a shudder and a screaming of brakes
The parting has come and my weary soul aches
I'm leaving my Nancy-O

And you stand there so calmly, determinedly gay
You talk of the weather and events of the day
But your eyes tell me all that your tongue doesn't say
Goodbye my Nancy-O

And come a little closer
Put your head upon my shoulder
And let me hold you one last time
Before the whistle blows

My suitcase is lifted and stowed on the train
A thousand regrets whirl around in my brain
The ache in my heart is a black sea of pain
I'm leaving my Nancy-O

But you stand there beside me so lovely to see
But the grip of your hand is an unspoken plea
You're not fooling yourself and you're not fooling me
Goodbye my Nancy-O

And come a little closer
Put your head upon my shoulder
And let me hold you one last time
Before the whistle blows

But our time has run out and the whistle has blown
So here I must leave you standing alone
We had so little time and now the time's gone
Goodbye my Nancy-O

And as the train starts gently to roll
And as I lean out to wave and to call
I see the first tears trickle and fall
Goodbye my Nancy-O

And come a little closer
Put your head upon my shoulder
And let me hold you one last time
Before the whistle blows
And let me hold you one last time
Before the whistle blows.

The Green Fields of France
Well, how do you do Private William McBride?
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside?
And rest for awhile neath the warm summer sun
I've been walking all day, and I'm nearly done

And I see by your gravestone, you're only nineteen
When you joined the great fallen in nineteen sixteen
Well I hope you died quickly, I hope you died clean
Or poor Willy Mcbride, was it slow and obscene?

Did they beat the drums slowly?
Did they play the pipes lowly?
Did they bugles carry you over as they lowered you down?
And did the band play 'The Last Post' in chorus?
Did the pipes play 'The Flowers Of The Forest'?

And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind?
In some loyal heart is your memory enshrined?
And though you died back in nineteen-sixteen
In that faithful heart are you always nineteen?

Or are you a stranger without a name?
Forever enshrined behind some glass pane
In an old photograph, torn and tattered, and stained.
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame.

Did they beat the drums slowly?
Did they play the pipes lowly?
Did they bugles carry you over as they lowered you down?
And did the band play 'The Last Post' in chorus?
Did the pipes play 'The Flowers Of The Forest'?

Well the sun's shining down on these green fields of France
The warm wind blows gently, and the red poppies dance
The trenches have vanished long under the plow
There's no gas, no barb wire, there's no guns firing now

But here in this graveyard that's still no-man's land
The countless white crosses stand mute in the sand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man
The whole generation was butchered and damned

Did they beat the drums slowly?
Did they play the pipes lowly?
Did they bugles carry you over as they lowered you down?
And did the band play 'The Last Post' in chorus?
Did the pipes play 'The Flowers Of The Forest'?

And I can't help but wonder young Willy McBride
Do those that lie here know why that they died?
And did they really believe you when you told them the cause
Did they really believe that this war would end wars?

Well the suffering, and the sorrow, the glory of pain
The killing and dying they were all done in vain
For young Willy McBride it's all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again...

Did they beat the drums slowly?
Did they play the pipes lowly?
Did they bugles carry you over as they lowered you down?
And did the band play 'The Last Post' in chorus?
Did the pipes play 'The Flowers Of The Forest'?

Sad Stuff.

You're going straight to hell young lady.

I'm already there.

St. Hell

No, it's OK; I too find it funny.

I should have known really, I was round your neck of the woods a few weeks ago for that beer and cider festival thingy, had a good afternoon actually. Wasn't too clever the morning after though as I recall.

My Mum went there!

Anything by Limp Bizkit. They're pretty damn sad.

And by Frank Zappa?

Place to Be- Nick Drake

I wouldn't say any of Frank's songs are sad. Now if he had written 'Nookie'....

Never heard.

Lucky you.