Lyrics

In my hometown I mowed the widow's lawns And helped my father with the colt In the barn on Sunday morn' And then the army came They called me up The letter said be at the docks By 6 o'clock sharp And I didn't know how to tell you Only knew how hard that'd be Less than one year beneath our belt Still you meant the world to me But you shouldered me And you took my hand Said that you would be here waiting No matter how far or long I went And when I returned Wе'd build a house by the water Whеre we would take long walks in our old age With our many sons and daughters So I took that wish And put it into my backpack And kissed you on the lips and said Don't worry, I'll be back Then I turned away I could not turn away my tears I didn't know if when I'd see you next Would be months or would be years So I fell in line And they handed me a gun And the beds were filled with guys like me Who had not reached 21 And though the rain was bad We took solace in our fleet Happy to have cigarettes And food enough to eat And then the orders came That tomorrow we would fight And if some of you have loves at home Then now's the time to write So I grabbed my pen And my writing book But no words would fall upon the page No matter how hard I shook So I took my shank And cut off a piece of hair And imagined you receiving it Sitting in your rocking chair When the boats pulled in And I could finally see my home And a band was waiting on the pier And the half-mast flags were flown I wheeled myself From my hospital room Trying to accept what kind of life I would resume And then I saw you there And you met my eyes And nothing could prepare for such A terrible surprise For in your arms Was a blue eyed child And after all the cannons I had faced This was my greatest trial In my hometown I mowed the widow's lawns And helped my father with the colts In the barn on Sunday morn'