NEIL w YOUNG

Lyrics

I stood alone and wondered at the crosses on the ground
At the poppies and the flowers and the names forever gone
I heard the cannons, heard the rockets, heard the screaming sound of planes
Heard no answer, saw no reason, for the killing and the pain

They said it was the price of freedom we were paying for
When we threw waves of soldiers onto god-forsaken shores

Was it the victors or the vanquished all the sacrifice was for
Or just the countless helpless victims of all the god-forsaken wars

There were children holding little flags tightly in their hands
There were little flags on rows of graves on shores of distant lands
A piper played ‘Amazing Grace’, veterans stood proudly side-by-side
Memories of war buried deep inside their minds

They felt the chill of early morning, heard death’s lonely bugler play
They wondered as they waited who would die out there that day
Across the gray horizon their eyes could only see
Their dreams all disappearing, a grim reality

They said it was the price of freedom we were paying for
When we threw waves of soldiers onto god-forsaken shores
Was it the victors or the vanquished all the sacrifice was for
Or just the countless helpless victims of all the god-forsaken wars

There were screams and crashing thunder as a thousand guns let go
Trenches were exploding into black and bloody holes
There was no past, no future, a burning flash and then, no more
There was no answer, just a question: What was the killing for?

They said it was the price of freedom we were paying for
When we threw waves of soldiers onto god-forsaken shores
Was it the victors or the vanquished all the sacrifice was for
Or just the countless helpless victims of all the god-forsaken wars
Just the countless helpless victims of all the god-forsaken wars

Copyright © 1986 - 2007 Neil w Young, Bear Creek Music Canada and Restless Wind Records All Rights Reserved