Dancing on the Ashes

Lyrics

[Verse 1] Harry came home with an old man's eyes 'Cross the channel in his brother's red Mack Two crossed over, now the wrong one lies Way downriver where the past is London's walled itself from the worst Chalk heaps littered with stakes and rings Nights, they rise 'til the floodgates burst And Harry goes back to the trenches [Chorus 1] Down, down, a hundred years down Down with the cold vast wreckage of men Listen to the sound of the little ones' feet Dancing on the ashes [Verse 2] Flares rained down on the Somme that fall Men spilled steady on a ten-mile wire Wave after wave, they crumpled like dolls And the shells never quit crashing On a low bank where the smell hangs think Harry huddles over a leg-less wretch "Yes, dear Jack, I'll finish you quick "And we'll leave Mother to imagine" [Chorus 2] Lives bend, memories shake Time turns, staggers and spins How deep a track does one man make Dancing on the ashes? [Instrumental] [Verse 3] Crosses, monuments, sticks, and stones Turn to motes in a blank boy's eyes No one noticed how cold they shone Under the pretty blonde lashes Lost, he [?] in a cathode mist Leveling cities while worlds away Great-granddaddy lies bound at the wrists And turning his face from the flashes [Chorus 3] Down, down, a hundred years down Down where God's hands fumble in vain Listen to the sound of the little ones' feet Dancing on the ashes