[Intro]
C F C F C G C
[Verse]
N.C. C F C
The sun was shining on the English Channel
F C G C
On a ferry off the coast of France
F C
And it was summer and a pleasant morning
F C G C
And high above gulls wheeled and danced
F Am G
And high above the cliffs of morning
C F
The gun emplacements had stood in ranks
N.C. C F C
And I walked over to the railings
F C G C
And heard the ghosts of the Calgary tanks
[Instrumental]
C F C F C G C
[Verse]
N.C. C F C
And I remembered pictures I'd seen
F C G C
In history books and magazines
F C
Of three men standing, smoking, staring
F C G C
Among the dead on a rocky beach
F Am G
And in the light of that pleasant morning
C F
As we sailed under the cliffs above
N.C. C F C
I thought of all their silent prayers
F C G C F C G C
And the final thoughts of the ones they loved
[Verse]
N.C. C F C
That they left behind at prairie stations
F C G C
Waving to their pride and joy
F C
Waving to the smiling faces
F C G C
Smiling faces of the soldier boys
F Am G
No waves of grain could claim the fallen
C F
Just the Channel, cold and grey as steel
N.C. C F C
And no return to the rolling prairie
F C G C
Or a silent cross on a lonely field
[Instrumental]
C F C F C G C
[Verse]
F C
The sun was shining on the rolling prairie
F C G C
Far from the Channel, cold and grey
F C
Shone on the families, friends and lovers
F C G C
Of the prairie boys who fell that day
F Am G
But they could not know on that sunny morning
C F
The future held for them no joy
N.C. C F C
They'd wait in vain at prairie stations
F C G C
Wait in vain for their soldier boys
[Outro]
G C G C