Lyrics Phil Ochs – Song Of A Soldier

And the flag draped coffins are a sailin’ home
And the waves are watching as the engine drones
As the ship draws near, hear the bugle moan
The sad and silent song of a soldier

With a hero’s greeting we will welcome him
With hero’s speeches we will honor him
With a hero’s ending we will bury him
That’s the sad and silent song of a soldier

And comfort his family with a telegram
We regret to inform you we have lost a man
But we gave him the highest medal of the land
That’s the sad and silent song of a soldier

We know what an awful price he had to pay
But the enemy was contained for another day
We trained him well, but he would have wanted it that way
That’s the sad and silent song of a soldier

Oh, the weary wounded they wait by his side

Wondering why they hadn’t also died
The picture of victory on it’s pride
That’s the sad and silent song of a soldier

And the flag is at half mast wet with foreign rain
Ignored by the stranger he had helped to train
To him it was his duty to them again
That’s the sad and silent song of a soldier

At Arlington he’s lowered down without a pause
And his native land welcomes him with open jaws
And the tombstone reads such a noble cause
That’s the sad and silent song of a soldier

Now a moment of silence for the broken man
While the president proudly crows «we’ll never bend»

And the flag draped coffins are a sailin’ home
And the waves are a watchin’ as the engines drone
As the ship draws near, hear the bugle moan
The sad and silent song of a soldier