[Intro]
G C G C G C G C G
[Verse]
C G C
My father sailed away, the band played tunes of glory
F C G F
A giant man with ribbons, bedevilled dignity
C F C
A regimental sergeant, the backbone of the Empire
F C G C G
For god and righteous glory, bound for High Germany
[Chorus]
C G F C F
Sweet lord, I was just seven when Margaret was eleven
C G F
They served us war for breakfast and soldiers' songs for tea
C F C F
"Your father's gone campaigning", was a way of not explaining
C G C
That soldiers are the living proof of our inhumanity
[Verse]
G C
My childhood passed away midst the tales and lurid stories
F C G F
Of manufactured glories and inhuman gallantry
C F C F
I asked, "When is war over?", but no one deemed to answer me
C G C G
And Margaret played that dreaded tune called High Germany
[Chorus]
C G F C F
Sweet lord, I was just seven when Margaret was eleven
C G F
They served us war for breakfast and soldiers' songs for tea
C F C F
"Your father's gone campaigning", was a way of not explaining
C G C
That soldiers are the living proof of our inhumanity
[Instrumental]
G C G C G C G C G
[Verse]
C G C
My father made it home, but he came without his reason
F C G F
Two eyes of molten madness, a senseless fool of war
C F C
"He's just a child," my mother cried, "to be dressed in full regalia
F C G C G
And paraded as a hero, home from High Germany"
[Chorus]
C G F C F
Sweet lord, I was just seven when Margaret was eleven
C G F
They served us war for breakfast and soldiers' songs for tea
C F C F
"Your father's gone campaigning", was a way of not explaining
C G C
That soldiers are the living proof of our inhumanity
[Chorus]
G F C F
Sweet lord, I was just seven when Margaret was eleven
C G F
They served us war for breakfast, aye, and soldiers' songs for tea
C F C F
"Your father's gone campaigning", was a way of not explaining
C G C
That soldiers are the living proof of our inhumanity
F C G C
There'll be no tunes of glory for Margaret and me