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I always meant to ask you
What it was that happened to you
On the black hillsides of the Rhondda
In the nightmare tunnels of danger
That marked your soul harder that the coal
Giving you the wisdom of the old
Took the king's shilling to the Western Front
All the pain you could want
Just another hole to crawl in
Just another journey to begin
I always meant to ask you
What it was that happened to you
When the whistles blew across the Somme
The mud and canon, gas and gun
Into no man's land with friends from home
And the wasteland walking on alone
And all the ghosts you carry in your head
I now can't instead
And all the dreams you dream for me
I try to make a reality
And everyday I talk to the ghosts in my mind
In this perfect life you helped me find
And everyday I talk to the ghosts in my head
All the time wishing I were you instead
Ghosts along the way
I always meant to ask you
What it was that happened to you
In the mountains of the Hindu Kush
When the bayonets held the Khyber pass
Ice by night, flames from Kashmir by day
The ghosts that walk the road to Mandalay
At night the talk was Irish and treason
And it stood to reason
Celt firing squads for Celt traitors
More ghosts for you to carry later
I always meant to ask you
What it was that happened to you
In the thirties with a striker's sign
When the law you stood for crossed the line
And all God's children had hungry eyes
Fed nothing but politicians lies
A thousand miles walked on a thousand roads
More ghosts add to the load
And all the dreams you dreamed for us
I still carry like some sacred trust
And every day I talk to the ghosts in my mind
Those you left and those you helped me find
And everyday I talk to the ghosts in my head
And I still wish that I were you instead
Ghosts along the way |
