On patrol the following night...
pop
rock
peace
jazz
folk
antiwar
musical
war
rock opera
ww1
Story behind the song
On patrol the following night they stumble upon a party of Geman sappers who are repairing the wire, and in a brief and bloody skirmish kill for the first time.
The realities of war and death begin to make their mark
on the lads particularly Ron, who realises that taking the life of another man has changed him irreversably.
Lyrics
Killing Field
Ron:
It happened so fast with no time to reflect
A frantic few seconds of fire
Bodies lay slumped in the no-mans-land waste
Where they'd been repairing the wire
We shared in that instant the dead man and I
As everything changed for us both
I became a killer he fell and died
Who got the worst deal I don't know
Its a strange situation can someone explain
As I just don't understand
How the armchair warriors back in the rear
Make you a hero for killing a man
But God save the man who can't take any more
No matter how brave he has been
They'll have him in front of a firing squad
As a warning for others to see
Sometimes in the mud its so hard to tell
If the bodies are theirs or our own
Some say that you know which is which by the smell
And some by the colour of the bone
But whoever they are the dead are the dead
And no longer take part in the game
No matter which side they were fighting for
The grave treats them all just the same
Dead men don't symbolise nations
They only represent waste
And the sorrow of friends and relations
And a scavengers carrion feast
But God save the man who can't take any more
No matter how brave he has been
They'll have him in front of a firing squad
As a warning for others to see