Chords with lyrics
Tuning: Standard (
E MajorE 
A augmentedA 
D MajorD 
G+G 
BB E MajorE)
Intro:
FF 
C majorC 
DmDm C majorC (x2)
Verse 1:
FF 
A#A# C majorC
Well how do you do, young Willy McBride?
C majorC A#A# C majorC
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside
FF A#A# C majorC
And rest for a while 'neath the warm summer sun
C majorC A#A# FF
I've been walking all day, and I'm nearly done
FF C majorC
I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
C majorC FF A#A# C majorC
When you joined the great fallen in nineteen-sixteen
FF
I hope you died well
A#A#
And I hope you died clean
C majorC A#A# FF
Or young Willy McBride, was is it slow and obscene?
Chorus:
C majorC
Did they beat the drums slowly?
A#A# C majorC
Did they play the fife lowly?
C majorC A#A# C majorC
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down?
A#A# FF
Did the band play the Last Post in chorus?
DmDm A#A# C majorC FF
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?
Interlude:
FF C majorC DmDm C majorC
Verse 2:
FF A#A# C majorC
Did you leave here a wife or a sweetheart behind?
C majorC A#A# FF
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined?
FF A#A# C majorC
Although you died back in nineteen-sixteen
C majorC A#A# FF
In that faithful heart, are you forever nineteen?
FF C majorC
Or are you a stranger without even a name
C majorC A#A# C majorC
Enclosed then forever behind a glass pane
FF A#A#
In an old photograph torn, battered, and stained
C majorC A#A# FF
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame?
Chorus:
C majorC
Did they beat the drums slowly?
A#A# C majorC
Did they play the fife lowly?
C majorC A#A# C majorC
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down?
A#A# FF
Did the band play the Last Post in chorus?
DmDm A#A# C majorC FF
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?
Verse 3:
FF A#A# C majorC
The sun now shines o'er the green fields of France
C majorC A#A# FF
There's a warm summer breeze that makes the red poppies dance
FF A#A# C majorC
And look how the sun shines from under the clouds
C majorC A#A# C majorC
There's no gas, no barbed wire, there's no gun firing now
FF C majorC
But here in this graveyard it's still No Man's Land
C majorC FF A#A# C majorC
The countless white crosses stand mute in the sand
FF A#A#
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man
C majorC A#A# FF
To a whole generation that were butchered and damned
Chorus:
C majorC
Did they beat the drums slowly?
A#A# C majorC
Did they play the fife lowly?
C majorC A#A# C majorC
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down?
A#A# FF
Did the band play the Last Post in chorus?
DmDm A#A# C majorC FF
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?
Verse 4:
FF A#A# C majorC
Now young Willy McBride, I can't help but wonder, why?
C majorC A#A# FF
Do those that lie here know why they died?
FF A#A# C majorC
And did they believe when they answered the call?
C majorC A#A# C majorC
Did they really believe that this war would end wars?
FF FF C majorC FF
For the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the shame
C majorC FF A#A# C majorC
The killing and dying were all done in vain
FF A#A#
For young Willy McBride it all happened again
C majorC C majorC A#A# FF
And again, and again, and again, and again
Chorus:
C majorC
Did they beat the drums slowly?
A#A# C majorC
Did they play the fife lowly?
C majorC A#A# C majorC
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down?
A#A# FF
Did the band play the Last Post in chorus?
DmDm A#A# C majorC FF
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?
Chorus:
C majorC
Did they beat the drums slowly?
A#A# C majorC
Did they play the fife lowly?
C majorC A#A# C majorC
Did they sound the death march as they lowered you down?
A#A# FF
Did the band play the Last Post in chorus?
DmDm A#A# C majorC FF
Did the pipes play the Flowers of the Forest?
