The Lost Generation chords by Nic Hoy

• Capo on 2nd
• Difficulty: Beginner 👶

Key: E

Intro:

D   A   G   D

Verse 1:
                 A
You volunteered;
G            D
we couldn't stop you
     Bm          A           G
from joining the rest of the boys.
Nowt we could say
           D
would make you stay away
         G
from the noise of the guns
and the bombs
              Bm      A
going off all around;
G

killing and maiming without hesitating
in case it was one of their own
      D     A
going down.

Chorus:
 G                      D
"Why were you running away from the battle ",
       Bm      A             G
that's all the Captain could say.
                                   D
Were you yellow or were you just frightened,
   G             A        D
a coward or just not very brave?

A   G   D

Verse 2:
                       A
You looked like a man,
     G        D
your uniform sparkling;
     Bm         A            G
your mother was prouder than punch.
As you marched down the street
         D
in your fresh booted feet,
    G
the town gathered round
to cheer you all off
       Bm   A
to the war.
            G
Where you'd kill and you'd maim
        D
without knowing the name
       G
of the man you were shooting
or stabbing to death
    D          A
for the cause.

Chorus:
  G                             D
A whistle blew shrill and then over the top;
         Bm              A                G
you were running through mud that's knee high.
                                D
Past the bodies of men you grew up with.
        G                A           D
Did the thought send you out of your mind?

A   G   D

Verse 3:
                       A
Your ship sailed away.
    G         D
You were so excited
    Bm          A           G
you didn't look back to the shore.
Where we waved and we prayed
         D
and we wished you'd have stayed
          G
but you'd gone with your friends
to meet glorious ends;
         Bm     A
men will sing -
       G
of the days and the nights when you stood tall
to fight for the country, the corps
    D         A
and the King.

Chorus:
    G                         D
You took the first bullet between the shoulders,
     Bm            A                  G
the second went straight through your head.
                                   D
Even though you were running the wrong way,
    G             A             D
the bastards made sure you were dead.

A   G   D

Outro:
                  A    G            D
History will tell of a Lost Generation
    Bm          A              G
the "Flower of Youth" gone for good.
                                 D
With the poppies; blood-red, a reminder
         G          A          D
that the war to end wars never could.

A   G   D