Print This Page#00459 Print This Page
Click Here for guitar tabs.
Well, how do you 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, and I'm nearly done.
And I see by your gravestone, you were only nineteen
When you joined the dead heroes in 1915.
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 sound the fifes lowly;
Did the rifles fire o'er you as they lowered you down?
Did the bugle play The Last Post And Chorus;
Did the pipes play The Flowers Of The Forest?
And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind;
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined?
And, though you died back in 1915,
In some faithful heart are you forever nineteen?
Or are you a stranger without even a name,
Enshrined forever behind a glass frame,
In an old photograph, torn and tattered and stained,
And fading to yellow in a bound leather frame?
Did they beat the drum slowly; did they sound the fifes lowly;
Did the rifles fire o'er you as they lowered you down?
Did the bugle play The Last Post And Chorus;
Did the pipes play The Flowers Of The Forest?
Well, the sun, it shines down on these green fields of France.
The warm wind blows gently, and the red poppies dance.
The trenches have vanished now, under the plow.
No gas and no barbed wire, no guns fire now.
But here in this graveyard it's still no man's land.
And the countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man.
And a whole generation who butchered and damned.
Did they beat the drum slowly; did they sound the fifes lowly;
Did the rifles fire o'er you as they lowered you down?
Did the bugle play The Last Post And Chorus;
Did the pipes play The Flowers Of The Forest?
Well, 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 this war would end all wars?
Well, the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame,
The killling, the dying, it was all done in vain,
For, William McBride, it's all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again.
Did they beat the drum slowly; did they sound the fifes lowly;
Did the rifles fire o'er you as they lowered you down?
Did the bugle play The Last Post And Chorus;
Did the pipes play The Flowers Of The Forest?
A variant was recorded as Willie McBride by Ryan's Fancy (Dance Around This One ©1981, Boot Records).
See more songs by Ryan's Fancy.
(The Last Post And Chorus)
(The Flowers Of The Forest)xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Notes On Guitar Tabs:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
All guitar tabs have been contributed by visitors to this site and represent their interpretation of the tune. We are unable to verify their accuracy.
In 3/4 time - Intro: | G | G | C | Am | D | D | G | D |
Well, [G] how do you [G] do, Private [C] William Mc- [Am] Bride?
Do you [D] mind if I [D] sit here down [G] by your grave- [D] side?
I'll [G] rest for a [G] while in the [C] warm summer [Am] sun,
I've been [D] walking all [D] day, and [C] I'm nearly [G] done.
And I [G] see by your [G] gravestone, you were [C] only nine- [Am] teen,
When you [D] joined the dead [D] heroes in [G] 19- [D] 15;
Well, I [G] hope you died [G] quick, and I [C] hope you died [Am] clean,
Or, [D] Willie Mc- [D] Bride, was it [C] slow and ob- [G] scene?
Did they [D] beat the drum [D] slowly; did they [C] sound the fifes [G] lowly?
Did the [D] rifles fire [D] o'er you as they [C] lowered you [G] down?
Did the [C] bugle play The [C] Last Post And [D] Chorus?[D]
Did the [C] pipes play The [Am] Flowers Of The [D] For- [G] est?
Outro: | G | G | C | Am | D | D | C | G |
