Lyrics to "Flowers of the Forest" or "Green Fields of France".
Matthew Bradford
Could anyone please give me the lyrics to the above antiwar folk song
(It has two different titles)......I've heard a version by June Tabor
and I absolutely fell in love with it! Thanks!
Kenneth Crouch
Matthew Bradford <m.bra...@sk.sympatico.ca> wrote in article
<335A9F...@sk.sympatico.ca>...
> Could anyone please give me the lyrics to the above antiwar folk song
> (It has two different titles)......I've heard a version by June Tabor
> and I absolutely fell in love with it! Thanks!
Actually, you've mentioned two different songs,
but I think this is the one you want.
Green Fields of France (or No Man's Land)
(by Eric Bogle)
Well, how do you do, Private William McBride,
Do you mind if I sit down here down by your graveside?
And rest for awhile in the warm summer sun,
I've been walking all day, and I'm nearly done.
And I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
When you joined the glorious fallen in 1916,
Well, I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean
Or, Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene?
Did they Beat the drum slowly, did they play the pipes lowly?
Did the rifles fir o'er you as they lowered you down?
Did the bugles sound 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 1916,
To that loyal heart are you forever nineteen?
Or are you a stranger without even a name,
Forever enshrined behind some glass pane,
In an old photograph, torn and tattered and stained,
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame?
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;
No gas and no barbed wire, no guns firing now.
But here in this graveyard that's still No Man's Land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man.
And a whole generation who were butchered and damned.
I can't help but wonder, Willie McBride,
Do all those who lie here know why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you "The Cause?"
Did you really believe that this war would end wars?
Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain,
For Willie McBride, it all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again.
Tim.Shirley
Matthew Bradford wrote:
>
> Could anyone please give me the lyrics to the above antiwar folk song
> (It has two different titles)......I've heard a version by June Tabor
> and I absolutely fell in love with it! Thanks!
Although I understand where the other titles come from, the song you
mean is originally called "No Man's Land", and was written by Eric
Bogle, an Australian/Scottish singer/songwriter. Eric has lived in
Australia since the late 1960's and much of his music is Australian, but
he still retains close ties to Scotland including a truly Scottish
accent!
Even as an Australian (who has heard eric do it many times), I very much
like June Tabor's version of this song. And whoever sings it, it
remains one of the all-time great anti-war songs.
"Well how d'ye do Private William McBride
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside?
I'll rest for a while in the warm summer sun
I've been walking all day Lord and I'm nearly done
And I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
When you joined the glorious fallen in 1916
Well I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean
Or William McBride was it slow and obscene
Chorus:
Did they beat the drum slowly did they sound the fife lowly
Did the rifles fire o'er ye as they lowered you down
Did the bugles sing the Last Post in chorus
Did the pipes play the floo'ers o' 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 1916
To that loyal heart are you always nineteen
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Forever enclosed behind a glass pane
In an old photograph torn and tattered and stained
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame
Chorus
The sun's shining now on the green fields of France
The warm wind blows gently and the red poppies dance
The trenches have vanished long under the plough
No gas and no barbed wire no guns firing now
But here in this graveyard its still no man's land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man
And a whole generation who were butchered and damned
Chorus
And I can't help but wonder now Willie McBride
Do all those who lie here know why they died
Did you really believe them when they told you the cause
Did you really believe that this war would end wars
Well the suffering the sorrow the glory the pain
The killing the dying it was all done in vain
For Willie McBride its all happened again
And again and again and again and again
Chorus.
Regards
Tim (cracking another tinny and picking up the guitar...)
Barrie McCombs
Matthew Bradford (m.bra...@sk.sympatico.ca) wrote:
: Could anyone please give me the lyrics to the above antiwar folk song
: (It has two different titles)......I've heard a version by June Tabor
: and I absolutely fell in love with it! Thanks!
I see that other posters have already filled in the lyrics for "No Man's
Land", AKA "The Green Fields Of France".
"The Flowers Of The Forest" is a Scottish tune which is apparently played
at military funerals. I've heard one version of NML where the group
played a verse of FOTF as an instrumental break in th middle.
- Barrie
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| Barrie McCombs | Guitarist On The Roof |
| bmcc...@acs.ucalgary.ca | Fiddler In The Closet |
| Calgary Folk Music URL: http://www.ucalgary.ca/~bmccombs/calfolk.html |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
J. Roy Cash
Matthew Bradford <m.bra...@sk.sympatico.ca> wrote:
>Could anyone please give me the lyrics to the above antiwar folk song
>(It has two different titles)......I've heard a version by June Tabor
>and I absolutely fell in love with it! Thanks!
Eric Bogle (Author) has a songbook with words and music of the above.
I think that Liam Clancy has also put it out in a book. The words and
a simple arrangement is also in The "SingOut" songbook.
J. Roy Cash
cap...@mindspring.com
Red Hook Technology Group
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Hauppauge, NY 11788
516 724 7300 ext 104
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visit The Red Hook Technology Group at: http://www.rht.com
C Stuart Cook
The Fureys also did a well received version of "No Man's Land".
"Flowers of The Forest is" a pipe tune of renown, the words of the song
relating to a battle between the Scots and English where the Scots were
on the losing end.
Fairport recorded a very good version with Swarb taking the lead vocals.
stranger
On Sun, 20 Apr 1997 17:56:11 -0500, Matthew Bradford
<m.bra...@sk.sympatico.ca> wrote:
>Could anyone please give me the lyrics to the above antiwar folk song
>(It has two different titles)......I've heard a version by June Tabor
>and I absolutely fell in love with it! Thanks!
Check www.deltablues.com and go to the Digital Tradition Database.
Both of those songs are there, and all the others you always wanted
the lyrics to.
Craig Cockburn
Ann an sgriobhainn <335d509d...@news.concentric.net>, sgriobh
stranger <stra...@thewindow.com>
The green fields of France are also in the frequently asked songs
section of the soc.culture.scottish FAQ
http://www.scot.demon.co.uk/scotfaq.html
--
Craig Cockburn ("coburn"), Du\n E/ideann, Alba. (Edinburgh, Scotland)
http://www.scot.demon.co.uk/ E-mail: cr...@scot.demon.co.uk
Sgri\obh thugam 'sa Gha\idhlig ma 'se do thoil e.
Jens Koch
So, folks, what song is "flowers of the forest" - the title sounds
familiar, but it would, wouldn't it ?
Robert Clayton
>Could anyone please give me the lyrics to the above antiwar folk song
>(It has two different titles)......I've heard a version by June Tabor
>and I absolutely fell in love with it! Thanks!
I have a live version of NML with the the following preamble from Eric
Bogle :-
In 1975 I was across in Northern France and I went to asmall battalion
cemetary near the Belgian border, there was 310 soldiers buried
there,the oldest was 27, the youngest was 18 years old.At the time I
walked through the cemetary I was 32 so I was 5 years older than the
oldest soldier buried there.I felt really uneasy....it was a beautiful
little cemetary...white crosses and I feltthe atmosphere was one of
anger and futility rather than one of peace...though it was a
beautiful peaceful setting I didnt feel at ease in the cemetary and
eventually I wrote this song about it
Bob Clayton
Mallanganee Man