[Verse 1] They said he’d be home when the tide rolled back, With a medal on his chest and a pack on his back. I kept the kettle warm, I kept the fire on, But the tea’s gone cold and the man’s still gone. [Verse 2] They said he’d be home when the frost had cleared, With a soldier’s grin and a battle-scarred beard. I stitched his coat, I laid his plate, But the chair sat empty I just sat late. [Verse 3] They said he’d be home when the banners waved, With a band struck up for the men they saved. I strained my ears for his boots on stone, But all I heard was the wind alone. [Bridge] The letters stopped, the ink ran dry, The vicar preached, but I knew he’d lie. He blessed the lords, he blessed their wine, He left the widows to rot in line. The bells rang hope, but they rang for none, The drink flowed red but it weren’t my son. “Be proud,” they said, “Stand tall, don’t cave,” But they flogged his skin for a shallow grave. The cot’s gone dust, the vows are scrap, The bed’s ice-cold where I lay me cap. And if God looks down, he just looks queer They said he’d be home, but he ain’t here. [Verse 4] So I tell the kids when the fire burns low, Of a march to a place where no men go. Of a promise broke, of a dream gone slack, Of a dawn that died and won’t come back. [Verse 5] I tell of kings with their bellies fat, While the widows starve and they laugh at that. Of prayers that fade and a sky turned grim, Where no one returns from the road to him. [Verse 6] And I say he came home, though he walks no more, He’s the crow on the field, he’s the stain on the floor. He’s the silence at night, he’s the marrow in bone, Aye, he came home but I sit alone.
