Trenches and fences
we put up our defences
shot down in the sea
nine days in a yellow raft
only to wind up in a prison camp
nothing but cards, cigarettes and a fading lamp
shoes have been damp for thirty days
trench foot, time to set this prison camp ablaze

Volunteered for hell in a hand basket
nothing but caskets
running out of room to bury my brothers
rush to the com to call out the others
death all around, I have to put up my blinders
or we'll never get out of here
wishing my family was here
but glad as hell they're not
this will be the war that no one forgot

Away from our wives, sons and daughters
prepare for the slaughter
look around and all I see is water
but never a drop to drink
no time to think
I'm afraid to blink
It could all be over so soon
Benny Goodman remains in my brain with a swing tune
reminding me of better days
when everything was fine
remember the days before nineteen thirty nine?

I swear after this I will never smoke again
god help us
shifting the balance of world power
I'd trade my life for a clean shower
and to be living my life back at home
some day I will be neglected in a seniors home and die alone
I hear the clock ticking on my life
living on the edge of a knife
P.T.S.D. is **ing with my sleep
I hear gunshots and screams
the blood in the trenches is almost knee deep

This is not a clean sweep
this is just bloody murder
I swear to god, my wife, I heard her crying
The bomb on Japan was our game plan
I hope this will never happen again
why do we keep killing
will there ever be an end

To this mayhem we live in
I fear for my unborn son
His name is Malcolm
if I make it though this;
**** it
I'm leaving Europe
for what I hope will be a better place

To raise my family
the ones who will never forget me
you can banish me and at this point I don't really care
I was there. I was unprepared and unaware
a dollar is a dollar
heed my legacy and do not follow
this is the tale of Len MacLean
a fighter pilot of only who's ashes remain

But more important are the memories
of a soldier willing to give up his existence
how far have we come?
how much damage has been done?
what have we really one?
I look on and no one seems to remember.