WELCOME HOME

"Welcome Home"



-Eric Bogle







Now when the boys came home, Annie cried and Annie cheered



She'd been on her own for a long and lonely year



Living for his letters from far away Vietnam



And dreading the official telegram







So she was waiting at the station when his train came rolling in



She ached with anticipation of holding him again



And suddenly he was standing there in his crumpled uniform



In a heartbeat she was in his arms







Welcome home, boys, welcome home



Don't you know, you've been gone too long



Did you wonder, over there,



when you were tired, when you were scared,



If your country really cared, welcome home







When a nation goes to war, everyone's a casualty



Some are maimed and scarred, most have wounds you cannot see



So in place of the man that she had known,



Annie found instead, a sick and troubled stranger in her bed







But she was stubborn, she was lovin', so she stayed all through the years



The hard times and the drinking, the nightmares and the tears



For where hate is muddy quicksand, love is tempered steel



Annie waited for his wounds to heal







Welcome home, boys, welcome home



Don't you know, you've been gone too long



We're just so glad that you're alive



And only you will wonder why



You lived when others died, welcome home







So on a sunny Sydney morning, I heard old war drums beat



and watched the boys come marching, down the city street*



To claim their place in the nation's heart



that their blood and pain had earned



A nation that rejoiced in their return







And if the day helped to heal some wounds is a matter of debate



For some it had come none too soon, for others far too late



But I found myself hoping, as the boys went marching past



That for them the war was over, at last







Welcome home, boys, welcome home



Don't you know, you've been gone too long



What you went through in Vietnam, we can't begin to understand



But to each and every man, welcome home







Welcome home, boys, welcome home



Don't you know, you've been gone too long



May the years bring you release, as the memories decrease



May you find some kind of peace, welcome home



May you find some kind of peace, welcome home











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NOTES:



ANZAC Day Parade.ANZAC Day is Australia's version of



Memorial Day in the US and Canada