1917
David Olney

Thanks to Neil S.



Am                          Dm 
 The strange young man who comes to me
E7               Am
 A soldier on a three day spree
                             Dm
 Who needs one night's cheap ecstasy
E7                     Am
 And a woman's arms to hide him


Am                    Dm
 He greets me with a courtly bow
E7                    Am
 He hides his pain by acting proud
                               Dm       
 And he drinks too much and he laughs too loud
E7          Am
 How can I deny him


C            G7
 Let us dance beneath the moon
Dm                Am
 I'll sing to you "Claire de Lune"
C                    Dm
 The morning always comes too soon
E7                      Am
 But tonight the war is over


He speaks to me in schoolboy French             We make love too hard, too fast
Of a soldier's life inside a trench             He falls asleep, his face a mask
The look of death, the ghastly stench           And he wakes with the shakes and drinks from his flask
I do my best to please him                      I put my arms around him

He puts two roses in a vase                     They die in the trenches, they die in the air
Two roses sadly out of place                    In Belgium and France the dead are everywhere
Like the gallant smile on his haggard face      They die so fast there's no time to prepare
Playfully I tease him                           A decent grave to surround them
	
Hold me 'neath the Paris sky                    Old World glory, Old World fame
Let's not talk of how or why                    The Old World's gone, gone up in flames
Tomorrow's soon enough to die                   Nothing will ever be the same
Tonight the war is over                         Nothing lasts forever

I'd pray for him but I've forgotten how
And there's nothing that can save him now
There's always another with the same funny bow
And who am I do deny them
La la la, etc.  (then) Tonight the war is over