Intro: G Em C Am D D7 C G
G Em C Am
Well how do you do young Willie McBride,
D D7 C G
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside,
Em C Am
And rest for a while in the warm summer sun,
D D7 C G
I’ve been walking all day and I’m nearly done.
G Em C Am
I see by your gravestone you were only 19,
D C G
When you joined the great fallen in 1916,
G Em Am
I hope you died well and I hope you died clean,
D D7 C G
Or Willie McBride was it slow and obscene.
Chorus:
G D D7
Did they beat the drum slowly,
C G
Did they play the fife lowly,
D D7 C D
Did they sound the dead march, as they lowered you down,
C G Em
Did the band play the last post and chorus,
G C D7 G
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest.
G Em C Am
And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind,
D D7 C G
In some loyal heart is your memory enshrined,
G Em C Am
Although you died back in 1916,
D D7 C G
In that faithful heart you’re forever 19
G Em C Am
Or are you a stranger without even a name,
Am D C G
Enclosed forever behind a glass frame,
G Em Am
In an old photograph all torn battered and stained,
D D7 C G
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame.
G D D7
Did they beat the drum slowly,
C G
Did they play the fife lowly,
D D7 C D
Did they sound the dead march, as they lowered you down,
C G Em
Did the band play the last post and chorus,
G C D7 G
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest.
G Em C Am
The sun now it shines on the green fields of France,
D D7 C
Theres a warm summer breeze that makes
G
the red poppies dance,
Em C Am
and look how the sun shines from under the trees
D D7 C G G
thers no gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing now.
G Em C Am
But here in this graveyard it’s still “No Man’s Land”,
D C G D7
The countless white crosses stand mute in the sand,
G Em Am
To man’s blind indifference to his fellow man,
D D7 C G
To a whole generation that were butchered and damned.
Chorus:
G D D7
Did they beat the drum slowly,
C G
Did they play the fife lowly,
D D7 C D
Did they sound the dead march, as they lowered you down,
C G Em
Did the band play the last post and chorus,
G C D7 G
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest.
G Em C Am
Ah, Willie McBride I cant help wonder why
D D7 C G
Do all those who lie here know why they did die,
Em C Am
and did they believe when they answered the call
D D7 C G
Did they really believe that this war would end all wars.
G Em C Am
Well, the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the pain
D C G D7
The killing and dying it was all done in vain,
G Em Am
For young Willie McBride it all happened again,
D D7 C G
And again, and again, and again, and again.
Chorus:
G D D7
Did they beat the drum slowly,
C G
Did they play the fife lowly,
D D7 C D
Did they sound the dead march, as they lowered you down,
C G Em
Did the band play the last post and chorus,
G C D7 G
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest.
G Em C Am
Well how do you do young Willie McBride,
D D7 C G
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside,
Em C Am
And rest for a while in the warm summer sun,
D D7 C G
I’ve been walking all day and I’m nearly done.
G Em C Am
I see by your gravestone you were only 19,
D C G
When you joined the great fallen in 1916,
G Em Am
I hope you died well and I hope you died clean,
D D7 C G
Or Willie McBride was it slow and obscene.
Chorus:
G D D7
Did they beat the drum slowly,
C G
Did they play the fife lowly,
D D7 C D
Did they sound the dead march, as they lowered you down,
C G Em
Did the band play the last post and chorus,
G C D7 G
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest.
G Em C Am
And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind,
D D7 C G
In some loyal heart is your memory enshrined,
G Em C Am
Although you died back in 1916,
D D7 C G
In that faithful heart you’re forever 19
G Em C Am
Or are you a stranger without even a name,
Am D C G
Enclosed forever behind a glass frame,
G Em Am
In an old photograph all torn battered and stained,
D D7 C G
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame.
G D D7
Did they beat the drum slowly,
C G
Did they play the fife lowly,
D D7 C D
Did they sound the dead march, as they lowered you down,
C G Em
Did the band play the last post and chorus,
G C D7 G
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest.
G Em C Am
The sun now it shines on the green fields of France,
D D7 C
Theres a warm summer breeze that makes
G
the red poppies dance,
Em C Am
and look how the sun shines from under the trees
D D7 C G G
thers no gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing now.
G Em C Am
But here in this graveyard it’s still “No Man’s Land”,
D C G D7
The countless white crosses stand mute in the sand,
G Em Am
To man’s blind indifference to his fellow man,
D D7 C G
To a whole generation that were butchered and damned.
Chorus:
G D D7
Did they beat the drum slowly,
C G
Did they play the fife lowly,
D D7 C D
Did they sound the dead march, as they lowered you down,
C G Em
Did the band play the last post and chorus,
G C D7 G
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest.
G Em C Am
Ah, Willie McBride I cant help wonder why
D D7 C G
Do all those who lie here know why they did die,
Em C Am
and did they believe when they answered the call
D D7 C G
Did they really believe that this war would end all wars.
G Em C Am
Well, the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the pain
D C G D7
The killing and dying it was all done in vain,
G Em Am
For young Willie McBride it all happened again,
D D7 C G
And again, and again, and again, and again.
Chorus:
G D D7
Did they beat the drum slowly,
C G
Did they play the fife lowly,
D D7 C D
Did they sound the dead march, as they lowered you down,
C G Em
Did the band play the last post and chorus,
G C D7 G
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest.
