Christy Moore - The old mans song

At the t^Durning of the ce^Cntury I w^Aas a lad of fi^Dve My f^Dather went to fight the Boers, he n^Cever came back a^Alive My m^Dother had to bring us up no ch^Carity did she s^Geek She ru^Dbbed and scrubbed and sc^Craped along on se^Aven-and-six a w^Deek

At the a^Dge of twelve I l^Ceft my school and w^Aent to get a j^Dob With gr^Dowing kids my ma could do with the ^Cextra couple of ^Abob I kn^Dew that longer schooling would have st^Cood me better s^Gtead But you ca^Dn’t afford ref^Cinement when you’re str^Auggling for your b^Dread

Wh^Den the Great War sta^Crted I di^Ad not hesita^Dte I to^Dok the royal shilling and w^Cent to do my b^Ait We f^Dought in blood and sweat and mud three y^Cears or thereab^Gouts Till I co^Dpped some gas in ^CFlanders and was in^Avalided o^Dut

W^Dhen the war was ^Cover and we’d s^Aettled with the H^Dun We w^Dent back to our civvies we th^Cought the fighting d^Aone We t^Dhoguht we'd earned our wages but ^Cwe were out of ^Gluck Soon w^De found we h^Cad to fight for the r^Aight to go to w^Dork

In ’^D26 the ^CGeneral Strike f^Aound me upon the s^Dtreet By t^Dhen I had a wife and kids their ^Cneeds I had to m^Aeet The ^Dbrave new world was coming and the ^Cbrotherhood of ^Gman But wh^Den the strike was ^Cover we were b^Aack where we be^Dgan

I s^Dtruggled through the t^Chirties out of ^Awork now and a^Dgain I sa^Dw the Blackshirts marching and the ^Cthings they did in S^Apain But I b^Drought me kids up decent sh^Cowed them wrong from ^Gright But Hi^Dtler was the m^Can who came and t^Aaught them how to f^Dight

Me d^Daughter was a la^Cnd girl she got m^Aarried to a Y^Dank My s^Don he got a medal for stopping o^Cne of Rommel’s t^Aanks He w^Das wounded near the end of the w^Car and convalesced in R^Gome He got m^Darried to an 'e^Cyetie' nurse and never ^Abothered to come h^Dome

Me daugh^Dter writes me ev^Cery week a c^Aheerful little n^Dote Abou^Dt the coloured telly and the o^Cther things she’s ^Agot She’s g^Dot a son a likely lad he’s j^Cust turned twenty-^Gone No^Dw I hear he’s b^Ceen called up to ^Afight in Vietn^Dam

No^Dw we’re on the p^Cension and it d^Aoesn’t go too f^Dar Not ^Dmuch to show for a life that’s been like ^Cone long bloody ^Awar When I t^Dhink of all the wasted lives it m^Cakes me want to c^Gry I d^Don’t know how we’ll c^Change things but by ^AChrist we’ll have to t^Dry