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No Mans Land

Eric Bogle
Version1
90

Chords in this song

Strum
D-DU-UDU
 
 Well,  how do you  do, Private William Mc-Bride
 
 Do  you mind if I  sit here, down by your grave-side
 
 And  I'll rest for a while in the warm summer sun
 
 
 I've  been walking all day; Lord, and I'm nearly done
  * *
 And  I see by your gravestone, you were only nine-teen
 
 When  you joined  the glorious fallen in nineteen six-teen
 
 Well  I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean
 
 Or  Willie Mc-Bride,  was it slow and ob-scene
 
 Did  they beat the  drum slowly, did they sound the fife lowly
 
 Did  the rifles  fire o'er you as they lowered you down
 
 Did  the bugles play The Last Post in chorus
 Did  the pipes play  The Flowers Of  The For-est
 
 And  did you leave  a wife or a sweetheart be-hind
 
 In  some faithful  heart is your memory en-shrined
 
 And  though you died back in nineteen-six-teen
 
 
 To  that loyal heart are you always nine-teen
  * *
 Or  are you a stranger without even a name
 
 Enshrined  for-ever  be-hind a glass pane
 
 In  an old photo-graph, torn and tattered and stained
 
 And  fading to yellow  in a brown leather frame
 NO MAN'S LAND (page 2)
 
 The  sun's shining now  on these green fields of France
 
 The  warm wind blows  gently and the red poppies dance
 
 The  trenches have vanished, long under the plough
 
 
 No  gas and no barbed-wire, no guns firing now
  * *
 But  here in this graveyard, it's still No Man's Land
 
 The  countless white  crosses in mute witness stand
 
 To  man's blind in-difference to his fellow man
 
 To  a whole gener-ation  who were butchered and damned
 
 And  I can't help  but wonder now, Willie Mc-Bride
 
 Do  all those who  lie here know why they died
 
 Did  you really be-lieve them when they told you the cause
 
 
 Did  you really be-lieve that this war would end wars
  * *
 Well  the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame
 
 The  killing, the  dying, it was all done in vain
 
 For  Willie Mc-Bride, it's all happened a-gain
 
 
  -gain  and
  -gain  and
  -gain  and
  -gain
 ENDING: CHORUS, THEN REPEAT THE LAST TWO LINES OF THE CHORUS
 NOTES:
 - Asterisk (*) = new bar, no chord change
 - Period (.) = eighth-note rest
 - Initial underline (_) = half-note rest
 - Terminal underlines (_)= note sustained into the next bar

Source: Songsterr · Rights holder? Request removal.

Readable chord sheet for No Mans Land by Eric Bogle

[G]
W[C]ell, how do [Am]you do, Private William Mc-Bride

 [D]
D[G]o you mind if I[D] sit here, down by your grave-side

 [G]
A[C]nd I'll rest for a while in the warm summer sun

 [D]
 [C]
I[G]'ve been walking all day; Lord, and I'm nearly done
    *             *
A[Am]nd I see by your gravestone, you were only nine-teen

 [D7]
W[G]hen you joined[D] the glorious fallen in nineteen six-teen

 [G]
W[Am]ell I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean

 [D]
O[C]r Willie Mc-B[G]ride, was it slow and ob-scene

 [D]
D[C]id they beat the[G] drum slowly, did they sound the fife lowly

 [D]
D[C]id the rifles[G] fire o'er you as they lowered you down

 [C]
D[D]id the bugles play The Last Post in chorus

D[G]id the pipes pla[C]y The Flowers Of[D] The [G]For-est

 [G]
A[C]nd did you leav[Am]e a wife or a sweetheart be-hind

 [D]
I[G]n some fait[D]hful heart is your memory en-shrined

 [G]
A[C]nd though you died back in nineteen-six-teen

 [D]
 [C]
T[G]o that loyal heart are you always nine-teen
   *         *
O[Am]r are you a stranger without even a name

 [D7]
E[G]nshrined for-e[D]ver be-hind a glass pane

 [G]
I[Am]n an old photo-graph, torn and tattered and stained

 [D]
A[C]nd fading to ye[G]llow in a brown leather frame

NO MAN'S LAND (page 2)

 [G]
T[C]he sun's shining [Am]now on these green fields of France

 [D]
T[G]he warm wind [D]blows gently and the red poppies dance

 [G]
T[C]he trenches have vanished, long under the plough

 [D]
 [C]
N[G]o gas and no barbed-wire, no guns firing now
    *            *
B[Am]ut here in this graveyard, it's still No Man's Land

 [D7]
T[G]he countless w[D]hite crosses in mute witness stand

 [G]
T[Am]o man's blind in-difference to his fellow man

 [D]
T[C]o a whole gener[G]-ation who were butchered and damned

 [G]
A[C]nd I can't [Am]help but wonder now, Willie Mc-Bride

 [D]
D[G]o all those who[D] lie here know why they died

 [G]
D[C]id you really be-lieve them when they told you the cause

 [D]
 [C]
D[G]id you really be-lieve that this war would end wars
         *              *
W[Am]ell the suffering, the sorrow, the glory, the shame

 [D7]
T[G]he killing, t[D]he dying, it was all done in vain

 [G]
F[Am]or Willie Mc-Bride, it's all happened a-gain

 [D]
 [C]           [G][And]
 [A]-gain and
 [A]-gain and
 [A]-gain and
 [A]-gain

ENDING: CHORUS, THEN REPEAT THE LAST TWO LINES OF THE CHORUS

NOTES:
- Asterisk (*) = new bar, no chord change
- Period (.) = eighth-note rest
- Initial underline (_) = half-note rest
- Terminal underlines (_)= note sustained into the next bar

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