Battle Hymns

Battle hymns for the broken

Battle hymns for the misled

Battle hymns for the wretched

The forgotten and the dead

Battle hymns of redemption

Of solidarity and pride

Battle hymns we will be singing

At the turning of the tide


Can you explain to the mothers

And the fathers of those

Who come riding home in coffins

In their military clothes

Shiny medals pinned

To their dead teenage chests

While the trumpets blare

And you lie your best

So ask all you want

From the dusk til the dawn

The answer's still no

Cause brother I'm gone


Battle hymns for the broken

Battle hymns for the misled

Battle hymns for the wretched

The forgotten and the dead

Battle hymns of redemption

Of solidarity and pride

Battle hymns we will be singing

At the turning of the tide


Can you explain away the sleight of hand

And the criminality

Of spending souls for oil

Well in the mirror I can see

I am the path that leads down

I am a dark and bloody hall

I'm the reaper, executioner

Hangman, judge, and the law

So tie a yellow ribbon

Round the oak tree on the lawn

But the cavalry's not comin'

Cause brother they're gone


Battle hymns for the broken

Battle hymns for the misled

Battle hymns for the wretched

The forgotten and the dead

Battle hymns of redemption

Of solidarity and pride

Battle hymns we will be singing

At the turning of the tide


So I'm sharpening my shovel

I'm firing the kiln

I'm blind and I am purposeful

A martyr on the hill

The dream you might be dreaming

Might be someone else's dream tonight

I'm the whisperer of misgivings

I'm the fading tail light

I'm the call for retribution

From the back of the smoke filled hall

I'm the vow of bitterness

I'm the poison in the well

I've a photographic memory

Of the deeds I will avenge

I'm the cold in the river hollow

I've a hatpin, I've a plan

I don't care of cause or consequence

Head shaved and body lean

I'm the go-getter, the score settler

I'm the shadow on the green

There's a flock of blackbirds flying

Nearly ten thousand strong

Who set off this morning

And brother they're gone


Battle hymns for the broken

Battle hymns for the misled

Battle hymns for the wretched

The forgotten, for the dead

Battle hymns of redemption

Of solidarity and pride

Battle hymns we will be singing

At the turning of the tide