Greenfields of France

The Greenfields Of France 
Words and music by Eric Bogle


6      6    6 6    7   7       
Well  how  do you  do  young 
-6     -6  -5    -4
Will-ie  Mc  Bride
7     7  -7    -7  7  -8   8     -8    7   -5 
Do  you  mind  if  I  sit  here  down  by  your 
-6    6     6    6     6    6 7
Grave-side  and  rest  for  a-while 
7      7    -6    -6  -5   -4   7     7   
Neath  the  warm  sum-mer  sun  I've  been
-7   -7   7    -8   8     7   7    -8  7
Work-ing  all  day  and  I'm  near-ly  done
9   9    9    9   9     -9     -9   8 
I  see  by  your  grave-stone  you  were 
-8 -8  8    -9    -9    8    -8      -8   8
On-ly  nine-teen  when  you  joined  the  great  
-9   8   -8  7      -8  8    -8--------9  9   
Fall-en  in  nine-teen  six-teen        I  hope  
9    9      9    -9    8 -8     -8  7     -6
You  died  well  and  I  hope  you  died  clean 
-7  7      -8   -8   8  -9     8   -8
Or  young  Will-ie  Mc  Bride  was it 
7     7    -8   7
Slow  and  ob-scene
CHORUS
7    -8    -8    -8    -8   -8   8   -9   -9 
Did  they  beat  the  drum  slow-ly  did  they 
-9     9      -9     8  7   7    7
Sound  the    fife  low-ly  did  they
-8     -8  -8    -8     -8   8
Sound  the dead  march  as  they 
-9    9   -9   -8  
Lower-ed  you down
-8   -8   8    -9    -9    -9   -9    9
And  did  the  band  play  the last  post
-9   -9   8   8    -8   7      7     -8 
And  chor-us  did  the  pipes  play  the 
8       -9  8    -8    7   -7   7
Flower  O'  The  For--------est

The rest of the verses follow on page 2

The Green fields of Francel

And did you leave e;er a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined
Although you died back in nineteen sixteen
In some faithful heart are you forever nineteen
Or are you astranger without even a name 
Enclosed in forever behind a glass frame
In an old photograph torn,battered and stained 
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame 

The sun now it shines o;er the green fields of France
There's warm summer breeze makes the red poppies dance
And look how the sun shines from under the clouds
There's no gas or barbed wire,there's no guns firing now
But here in this graveyard it's still nomans land
The countless white crosses stand mute in the sand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man
To a whole generation who were butchered and damned  

Now young Willie McBride,I can't help wonder why
Do all those who lie here know why did they die
And did they believe when they answered the call
Did they really believe that this war would end wars
Well the sorrow,the suffering,the glory,the pain,
The killing,the dying was all done in vain
For young Willie Mc Bride it all happened again
And again and again and again.