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How do you do, Private William McBride?
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside?
And I'll rest for a while in the warm summer sun.
I've been walking all day and I'm nearly done.
And I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
When you joined the dead heroes in nineteen-fifteen.
Well, I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean.
Or for Willie McBride was it slow and obscene?
Did they beat the drum slowly; did they play the pipe lowly;
Did the rifles fire o'er you as they lowered you down?
Did the bugle play The Last Post And Chorus;
Did the pipe play The Flowers Of The Forest?
And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind;
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined?
And, though you died back in nineteen-fifteen,
In some faithful heart are you forever nineteen?
Or are you a stranger without even a name,
Enshrined forever behind a glass pane,
In an old photograph, torn and tattered and stained,
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame?
Did they beat the drum slowly; did they play the pipe lowly;
Did the rifles fire o'er you as they lowered you down?
Did the bugle play The Last Post And Chorus;
Did the pipe play The Flowers Of The Forest?
Ah the sun's shining now on these green fields of France.
The warm wind blows gently, and the red poppies dance.
And the trenches have vanished under the plow.
No gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing now.
But here in this graveyard it's still no man's land.
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man.
To a whole generation who were butchered and damned.
Did they beat the drum slowly; did they play the pipe lowly;
Did the rifles fire o'er you as they lowered you down?
Did the bugle play The Last Post And Chorus;
Did the pipe play The Flowers Of The Forest?
And I can't help but wonder now, William McBride,
Do all those who lie here know why they died?
Did you really believe them when they told you the cause?
Did you really believe that this war would end war?
Well, the suffering and the sorrow and the glory, the shame,
The killling, the dying, it was all done in vain,
For, Willie McBride, it's all happened again,
And again, and again, and again, and again.
Did they beat the drum slowly; did they play the pipe lowly;
Did the rifles fire o'er you as they lowered you down?
Did the bugle play The Last Post And Chorus;
Did the pipe play The Flowers Of The Forest?
The YouTube video above features an excellent cover performance by Ed Mulrooney of Grand Falls-Windsor, NL.
See more songs by Ed Mulrooney.
A variant was arranged and recorded as Willie McBride by Ryan's Fancy.
See more songs by Ryan's Fancy.
(The Last Post And Chorus)xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Notes On Guitar Tabs:
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All guitar tabs have been contributed by visitors to this site and represent their interpretation of the tune. We are unable to verify their accuracy.
In 3/4 time - Intro: | G | G | C | Am | D | D | G | D |
[G] How do you [G] do, Private [C] William Mc- [Am] Bride?
Do you [D] mind if I [D] sit here down [G] by your grave- [D] side?
And I'll [G] rest for a [G] while in the [C] warm summer [Am] sun,
I've been [D] walking all [D] day, and [C] I'm nearly [G] done.
And I [G] see by your [G] gravestone, you were [C] only nine- [Am] teen,
When you [D] joined the dead [D] heroes in [G] nineteen- [D] fifteen;
Well, I [G] hope you died [G] quick, and I [C] hope you died [Am] clean,
Or for [D] Willie Mc- [D] Bride, was it [C] slow and ob- [G] scene?
Did they [D] beat the drum [D] slowly; did they [C] play the pipe [G] lowly?
Did the [D] rifles fire [D] o'er you as they [C] lowered you [G] down?
Did the [C] bugle play The [C] Last Post And [D] Chorus?[D]
Did the [C] pipe play The [Am] Flowers Of The [D] For- [G] est?
Outro: | G | G | C | Am | D | D | C | G |
