lunes, 14 de febrero de 2011

The green fields of France

Añadir leyenda

La primera vez que escuché esta hermosa canción titulada "The green fields of France" (asimismo se la conoce como "No man's land" o "Willie McBride") y compuesta por el australiano-escocés Eric Bogle en 1976, fué una hermosa mañana de Carnaval al Mr. de la foto superior, - el me dijo el título - en Galway (Irlanda). Es una melancólica  canción que trata de un soldado de 19 años muerto en la primera guerra mudial. Al parecer murieron  en la citada guerra, según la Comisión de la Commonwealth, al menos 6 soldados llamados  Willie McBride y al menos 8 con el nombre de W. McBride. Os dejo esta versión de The Dropkick Murphys.


Oh how do you do now, young Willy McBride
Do you mind if I sit down beside your graveside
And rest for a while 'neath the warm summer sun
I've been walking all day, and I'm nearly done
Well I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
When you joined the great fallen of 1916
Well I hope you died well
And I hope you died clean
Or Willy McBride, was is it slow and obscene

Did they beat the drums slowly
And play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down?
Did the band sound the last post and chorus?
Did they pipe the Flowers of the Forest?

And did you leave a wife or a sweetheart behind
In some loyal heart is your memory enshrined
And though you died back in 1916
To that loyal heart you're forever nineteen
Or are you a stranger without even a name
Forever enshrined behind some old glass pane
In an old photograph torn, tattered, and stained
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame

Did they beat the drums slowly
Did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

The sun shining down on these green fields of France
The warm wind blows gently and the red poppies dance
The trenches have vanished long under the plow
No gas, no barbed wire, no guns firing now
But here in this graveyard that's still no mans land
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man
And a whole generation were butchered and damned

Did they beat the drums slowly
Did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

And I can't help but wonder oh Willy 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 wars
Well the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
The killing and dying it was all done in vain
Oh Willy McBride it all happened again
And again, and again, and again, and again

Did they beat the drums slowly
Did they play the fife lowly
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down
Did the band play the last post and chorus
Did the pipes play the flowers of the forest

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