David Olney 1917 Lyrics

The strange young man who comes to me
A soldier on a three day spree
Who needs one night's cheap ecstasy
And a woman's arms to hide him
He greets me with a courtly bow
And hides his pain by acting proud
He drinks too much and he laughs too loud
How can I deny him?
Let us dance beneath the moon
I'll sing to you Claire de Lune'
The morning always comes too soon
But tonight the war is over
He speaks to me in schoolboy French
Of a soldier's life inside a trench
Of the look of death and the ghastly stench
I do my best to please him
He puts two roses in a vase
Two roses sadly out of place
Like the gallant smile on his haggard face
Playfully I tease him
Hold me 'neath the Paris skies
Let's not talk of how or why Tomorrow's soon enough to die
But tonight the war is over
We make love too hard too fast
He falls asleep, his face a mask
He wakes with the shakes and he drinks from his flask
I put my arms around him
They die in the trenches and they die in the air
In Belgium and France the dead are everywhere
They die so fast there's no time to prepare
A decent grave to surround them
Old world glory, old world fame
The old world's gone, gone up in flames
Nothing will ever be the same
And nothing lasts forever
Oh I'd pray for him but I've forgotten how
And there's nothing, nothing that can save him now
There's always another with the same funny bow
And who am I to deny them