Chords with lyrics
Tuning: Standard (
E MajorE 
A augmentedA 
D MajorD 
G+G 
BB E MajorE)
Difficulty: Novice
Verse:
D MajorD G+G 
E minorEm
Well, how do you do, Private William McBride
A augmentedA G+G A augmentedA
D'you mind if I sit here down by your graveside?
D MajorD G+G E minorEm
And rest for awhile in the warm summer sun
A augmentedA G+G D MajorD
I've been walking all day, and I'm nearly done
E minorEm G+G
And I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
A augmentedA G+G D MajorD A augmentedA
When you joined the glorious fallen in Nineteen Sixteen
D MajorD E minorEm
Well, I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean
A augmentedA G+G D MajorD
Or, William McBride, was it slow and obscene?
Chorus:
A augmentedA G+G D MajorD
Did they beat the drum slowly, did they sound the pipes lowly?
E minorEm A augmentedA D MajorD
Did the rifles fire o'er thee as they lowered thee down?
G+G A augmentedA
Did the bugles sing 'The Last Post' in chorus?
G+G E minorEm A augmentedA D MajorD
Did the pipes play the 'Flowers of the Forest'?
Verse:
G+G E minorEm
And did thee leave wife or a sweetheart behind
A augmentedA G+G A augmentedA
In some loyal heart, is your memory enshrined?
D MajorD G+G E minorEm
And, though you died back in Nineteen Sixteen
A augmentedA G+G D MajorD
To that faithful heart, are you always nineteen?
E minorEm G+G
Or are you just a stranger without even a name
A augmentedA G+G D MajorD A augmentedA
Forever enclosed behind some glass pane
D MajorD E minorEm
In an old photograph, torn and tattered and stained
A augmentedA G+G D MajorD
And fading to yellow in a brown leather frame?
Chorus:
A augmentedA G+G D MajorD
Did they beat the drum slowly, did they sound the pipes lowly?
E minorEm A augmentedA D MajorD
Did the rifles fire o'er thee as they lowered thee down?
G+G A augmentedA
Did the bugles sing 'The Last Post' in chorus?
G+G E minorEm A augmentedA D MajorD
Did the pipes play the 'Flowers of the Forest'?
Verse:
G+G E minorEm
The sun is shining down on these green fields of France
A augmentedA G+G A augmentedA
The warm wind blows gently and the red poppies dance
D MajorD G+G E minorEm
The trenches have vanished now under the plough
A augmentedA G+G D MajorD
No gas and no barbed-wire, no guns firing now
E minorEm G+G
But here in this graveyard it's still No Man's Land
A augmentedA G+G A augmentedA
And the countless white crosses, in mute witness stand
D MajorD E minorEm
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man
A augmentedA G+G D MajorD
And a whole generation who were butchered and damned
Chorus:
A augmentedA G+G D MajorD
Did they beat the drum slowly, did they sound the pipes lowly?
E minorEm A augmentedA D MajorD
Did the rifles fire o'er thee as they lowered thee down?
G+G A augmentedA
Did the bugles sing 'The Last Post' in chorus?
G+G E minorEm A augmentedA D MajorD
Did the pipes play the 'Flowers of the Forest'?
Verse:
G+G E minorEm
And I can't help but wonder now, Willie McBride
A augmentedA G+G A augmentedA
Do all those who lie here know why they died?
D MajorD G+G E minorEm
Did you really believe them when they told you 'The Cause'?
A augmentedA G+G D MajorD
Did you really believe that this war would end wars?
E minorEm G+G
Well, the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
A augmentedA G+G D MajorD A augmentedA
The killing, the dying, it was all done in vain
D MajorD E minorEm
For Willie McBride, it all happened again
A augmentedA G+G D MajorD
And again, and again, and again, and again
Chorus:
A augmentedA G+G D MajorD
Did they beat the drum slowly, did they sound the pipes lowly?
E minorEm A augmentedA D MajorD
Did the rifles fire o'er thee as they lowered thee down?
G+G A augmentedA
Did the bugles sing 'The Last Post' in chorus?
G+G E minorEm A augmentedA D MajorD
Did the pipes play the 'Flowers of the Forest'?
Outro:
N.C.
Did the bugles sing 'The Last Post' in chorus?
N.C.
Did the pipes play the 'Flowers of the Forest'?
