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One Word War

by Nigel Parry

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about

Men came home from the terrible war, but couldn't talk about what they had experienced. My grandad refused to even tell his new wife. Never.
Not one word.

The first verse is his. The second is my great great uncle's. He only spoke about it once, to my grandmother. Just once.

One word war.

.

lyrics

The glint of the silver cigarette case
Exchanged with a man like me
A pause in the daily grime and blood
Then friend, back to enemy
Bodies in pain and pieces
You can’t guess who’ll live on
A bullet true or missing is
Just a toss of the devil’s coin

One shot - and heads or tails will fall
One word - about the terrible war
He would never say any more

Black and brass, barrel and bullets
Me job to pick off the Hun
In the sights a lad like me
One shot, and I’m alone
It could have been anyone given a gun
In trench or up skeleton tree
Nerves on edge, for years on end
Then home but never free

One shot - and heads or tails will fall
One word - about the terrible war
He would never say any more

We marched off under skies of blue
To foreign fields of green
Turned boggy brown, and bloody too
Now just a museum scene
Green grass came back while friends did not
Just young men sent to Hell
Now graves fill with silent stories
They would never tell

One shot - and heads or tails will fall
One word - about the terrible war
They would never say any more

credits

released November 10, 2021
Music & Lyrics: Nigel Parry
Vocals: Nigel Parry
Harp: Gordon Chamley
Additional vocals: Darrel Greaney, Don Mackay
Bagpipes: Lelnick

Recorded by Nigel Parry at Southgate Music
Final mix and master: Jake Booth, Mordecai Records

Photograph of a WW1 Advance Dressing Station.
Find out more on this blog; nigelmusic.wordpress.com/2021/10/31/one-word-war-the-story-behind-the-song/

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Nigel Parry New Zealand

Soulful Folkiwi Music
"..rapidly becoming an established player.., bringing his strong, mellow voice and sympathetic guitar sounds to songs old and new, traditional and his own compositions.”

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